The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson in exchange for defenseman Zach Whitecloud, a 2027 conditional first-round pick and a 2028 conditional second-round pick.
The deal does not come with an extension for Andersson but does include the Flames paying out 50% of his remaining contract. The Knights, who announced the trade Sunday evening, also acquired prospect Abram Wiebe in the deal.
Andersson is in the final season of a six-year contract carrying a $4.55 million salary cap hit. He was an alternate captain for Calgary.
The 29-year-old defenseman, who will play for Sweden at the Olympics next month, is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. However, sources told ESPN that Vegas was Andersson's preferred destination. Similar to the situation with former Flames and now-Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin, there is an expectation around the league that Vegas will be able to sign Andersson beyond this season now that it has traded for him.
Several teams, including the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars, had held advanced talks with the Flames over this past week about acquiring the defenseman. According to sources, the Bruins were interested in a trade only if they could agree to an extension with Andersson. The Flames gave the sides permission to speak, but no deal was reached.
"To be able to get it done with Vegas, they were willing to do it and do it without a contract because that was one thing that was made clear to us just in the last, maybe 12 hours, was there wasn't going to be an extension signed with any of the teams," Flames general manager Craig Conroy said. "That definitely changed the way we had to negotiate and what we got back in return."
Calgary had known for months that an Andersson trade was inevitable. The Flames decided to expedite the process recently and told interested teams they wanted to get a deal done before the Olympic break. Andersson played his final game on Saturday in Calgary, where he appeared to know it was goodbye as he saluted the crowd following the 4-2 win over the Islanders.
The trade solidifies Vegas as a Stanley Cup contender and bolsters the Golden Knights' reputation as a franchise that is constantly looking to acquire top talent in order to win.
Whitecloud has been with the Golden Knights since signing in Vegas as a college free agent in 2018.