Flames captain Mikael Backlund makes damning admission on Rasmus Andersson's future in Calgary

Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund spoke with clarity about Rasmus Andersson’s future. Andersson has one year left on his contract with Calgary. He is signed to a six-year, $27.3 million deal, with a cap hit of $4.55 million per season.

Backlund said at the NHL player media tour that Rasmus Andersson will be traded.

"Yeah, he’s getting traded. It’s obvious," Backlund said via The Athletic.

He talked about the team and Anderson's expectations and explained that both sides need Andersson to play well.

"But the team wants value. He wants a big contract," Backlund said. "So he wants to play well. The team needs him to play well. So, just go out and play. I talked to him, and he doesn’t want to be a distraction. So it’s all good."

Rasmus Andersson was one of Calgary’s most dependable players last season. He played 81 games before resting in the final match. He scored 11 goals and had 20 assists. He also recorded 196 blocked shots and 36 hits.

Despite making a firm statement on the trade, Backlund has doubts about the eventual decision on Andersson's future. He said that things could still change.

"It’s too bad it’s come to this," Backlund said. "I don’t think that they’re close to getting an agreement or anything, but you never know. Things could change. We’ll see."

Rasmus Andersson's comments on his trade out of Calgary

In the second week of August, Rasmus Andersson spoke about trade rumors. He was linked to the LA Kings and Golden Knights. Andersson told Expressen that he never gave Calgary a preferred trade destination.

"Then some insider comes with wrong information...," Andersson said. "I have not given Calgary a team, that I only want to play with one team. That is not true,"

Andersson has six-team no-trade clause in the 2025-26 season, leaving his future uncertain. He made it clear he has not set limits on Calgary’s trade talks.

"I communicated that decision to Calgary," Andersson said. "I said if you want to trade me, this is the number of teams I can think of signing for. But this wasn’t one of them,"

The Flames missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season as they finished with 96 points and a record of 41-27-14, showing some progress from last season. However, their special teams struggled with a weak power play and penalty kill.