Calgary Flames frustrated by missing playoffs, but upbeat about future
Rasmus Andersson admitted he played his final 12 games of the season on a broken foot, but it’s the defenceman’s future that was the biggest talking point Saturday as Calgary Flames players and staff spoke for the final time before heading into the off-season.
“I grew up in Calgary,” said Andersson, who was the club’s second-round draft pick in 2015. “I hope the fans know that I loved every second of it. I’ve never taken it for granted.
The expectation this summer is that either the 28-year-old will sign an extension after he becomes eligible to do so on July 1, or he will be traded.
“There’s a lot of good young players in the organization, and there’s only a certain amount of right-shot defencemen you can have on the team,” Andersson said.
Right-shooting blue liner MacKenzie Weegar is signed through 2031. Also a right shot is 2024 first-round pick Zayne Parekh, the team’s most exciting prospect, who just joined Bobby Orr in becoming the second defenceman in OHL history to record multiple 30-goal seasons. He also scored in his NHL debut in the Flames’ final game.
Third pairing defenceman Brayden Pachal, under contract for another two seasons, is also a righty, as is another highly touted prospect, Hunter Brzustewicz, who also made his NHL debut in game No. 82.
General manager Craig Conroy said talks with Andersson and his agent are still to come.
“What is the number? What is the years? What makes sense? What makes sense for the team moving forward, and him,” asked Conroy. “It’s more of a we’re working with him. This is the first time he’d be an unrestricted free agent.”
Andersson’s dedication and willingness to battle through pain has never been questioned.
“That was a tough one, actually, because it took me about half the game to feel OK,” Andersson said about his broken fibula.
“You try everything. You numb it up. You take pills and everything. Could I have played better those games? Absolutely. Am I happy with those games? Not really.”
With the Flames embroiled in a furious push for the playoffs, Andersson was a critical player averaging 24 minutes per night and playing in all game situations.
“I don’t like sitting out. I never have and I don’t think I ever will. If I can get my skate on I’ll most likely play,” said Andersson.
The other theme on Saturday was the lingering disappointment that their 41-27-14 record for 96 points wasn’t good enough to get into the playoffs. They tie the 2014-15 Boston Bruins, the 2017-18 Florida Panthers and 2018-19 Montreal Canadiens for the highest point total to miss the post-season.
“Proud of our group,” said Blake Coleman.
Calgary finished the season with points in their last eight (6-0-2) and went 11-2-3 over their last 16.
“Maybe on paper, we weren’t the strongest group, but I think we had the best team and it allowed us to win a lot of games this year,” said coach Ryan Huska.
Along with Andersson, also eligible to sign an extension this summer is goaltender Dustin Wolf, but as a pending restricted free agent after next season, the 24-year-old isn’t going anywhere.
“It was fun,” said Wolf, asked about his first full NHL season.
“You never want to not be playing this time here, but a heck of a learning experience, just to kind of be around guys that have been in the league for so many years, and really having a chance to prove myself in the league, and I’m obviously really looking forward to getting next year going already.”
Wolf went 29-16-8 and is in the running for the Calder Memorial Trophy for NHL rookie of the year.
“There’s a strong belief from all of us inside, and everybody, probably, from the outside, that we have a goaltender that’s going to be a part of this team for many, many years,” Huska said.
Looking at Conroy’s off-season to-do list, the Flames list of pending unrestricted free agents includes Anthony Mantha and Justin Kirkland, who were both lost early on to season-ending knee injuries, fourth-line centre Kevin Rooney, and the biggest names in terms of the roles they played were Joel Hanley and Dan Vladar.
Hanley spent 24 of the first 30 games as a healthy scratch. But once he got into the lineup in mid-December, the ice time and responsibility grew as he entrenched himself in the top four alongside Weegar.
Vladar split starts with Dustin Wolf over the first half of the season, but the Flames rookie took over as the No. 1 goaltender in the second half and as Calgary pushed for a playoff spot down the stretch, Wolf played eight straight.
“I know who my partner is here, Wolfie, I think he’s gonna be a legend one day,” said Vladar. “But we have been talking, and hopefully things are gonna work out.
While his quantity of playing time diminished, the quality didn’t for Vladar, who went 6-1-1 in his final eight starts with a .930 save percentage.
Conroy also has a long list of restricted free agents to re-sign including Morgan Frost, Matt Coronato, Connor Zary, Adam Klapka and Kevin Bahl.
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