Flames Season Review: Rasmus Andersson

The NHL holiday break is over but we're still looking at each and every member of the Calgary Flames, and what their season has been like so far. Today, we're profiling Rasmus Andersson.

There are no grades — this isn't high school — but these quick-and-dirty glimpses into their season illustrate where they're at ahead of the calendar flip from 2024 to 2025.

Name: Rasmus Andersson

Position: Defenseman

Stats: 6 goals, 10 assists, 16 pts., 2 PPG, 4 PPP, 70 SOG, 8.6 SH%

Summary: Rasmus Andersson's goal-scoring celebration this season was an early NHL storyline. The Staredown was seen often enough as the Calgary Flames defenseman started the year with four goals in his first eight games.

After scoring, he'd find a fan wearing his opponents' colors and fixate his gaze upon them until his teammates yanked him away.

It spawned a locker-room t-shirt — sported by Mikael Backlund — as well as a Calgary Flames yule log video the team put out there for the holidays. That one featured a festively dressed Andersson staring at the camera while a fire burned intensely behind him.

Intense is a fitting way to describe the 28-year-old blueliner, who sits eighth in team scoring as the team gets set to ring in the new year.

That's not always a good thing. Andersson does get caught taking inopportune penalties at times. And his minus-7 rating is the worst among Flames defensemen so far.

However, he's averaging more than 24 and a half minutes a night, playing in every situation and anchoring the top defensive pairing against the best the NHL has to offer offensively.

On pace for 14 goals and 36 points, he finds himself second in offense among Flames blueliners, just behind the recently profiled MacKenzie Weegar.

Andersson is the only current member of the Flames franchise named to a 4-Nations Face-off team (Sweden) and has earned that opportunity with his efforts across the board this season. Aside from the statistics, Andersson is an assistant captain whose vocal leadership and accountability are often very public through his frequent media conversations.

He's arguably the Calgary Flames' biggest trade chip, although the team would also have a tough time filling the hole left behind if GM Craig Conroy went that direction.