When the Vegas Golden Knights acquired Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames, the expectation was that it wouldn’t be a rental. It took them until July 1st to sign him because of salary cap technicalities, but Andersson is indeed staying in Sin City.
On Wednesday, the Golden Knights signed Andersson to a seven-year contract carrying an $8.5 million AAV.
Advertisement
In years one and two, Andersson will count for $10.5 million against the cap. In year three, that becomes $10.2 million; in year four, he’ll make $9.1 million. In year five, Andersson’s cap hit drops to $6.6 million, and in years six and seven, he’ll make $6.3 million.
Andersson’s contract extension also comes with trade protection. In years 1-5, he has a full No Trade Clause; in years six and seven, that becomes a Modified No Trade Clause with a 15-team no-trade list.
At first glance, this is a steep price tag. With his $8.5 million AAV, Andersson is now the highest-paid active Vegas defenseman by more than $1 million. And this isn’t a cheap group— the Golden Knights will split $27.275 million between Andersson, Shea Theodore, Noah Hanifin, and Jeremy Lauzon until 2032.
Advertisement
Andersson struggled mightily when he arrived in Vegas, and it took him a while to settle in. He eventually found his game, but his early struggles returned with a vengeance in the postseason. He was caught out of position far too often, he lost puck battles, and he tried to force plays, resulting in costly turnovers.
However, extending Andersson was also something that needed to happen. He’s a smooth-skating defenseman who can eat up top-four minutes. When he’s on his game, he’s an elite puck mover who doesn’t hesitate to jump up into the rush. Right-shot defensemen don’t grow on trees, and Andersson is the only Vegas blueliner to have that certain skill set.
Even in a rising cap world, the Golden Knights aren’t exactly flush with cash. Necessary or not, adding another $8.5 million contract to the books is a tall ask. There’s a world where this contract ages poorly; if that’s the case, Andersson’s trade protection will make it very difficult to move him.
Advertisement
That being said, this is a high-risk, high-reward situation. Without Alex Pietrangelo, the Golden Knights were hurting for a defenseman to eat those top-four minutes. They did their best to replace Pietrangelo with a cheaper option, and gave Zach Whitecloud and Kaedan Korczak opportunities to earn that ice time. Both tried, neither were successful.
Andersson has shown that he can handle the responsibilities required to fill the Alex Pietrangelo-shaped hole in the Golden Knights’ blue line. He can play with that physical edge, he can drive offense with his vision and playmaking, and he’s capable of logging 22 minutes a night. He won’t— and now doesn’t— come cheap, but he’s a certified top-four defenseman. That’s what the Golden Knights were missing, and now we know what they are willing to pay in order to keep it.
Read the full article here