The Toronto Maple Leafs were listed by Daily Faceoff as one of five potential trade destinations to watch for Calgary Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson.
Daily Faceoff’s Mike Gould wrote that the Leafs are a team to keep an eye on in the Andersson sweepstakes because of general manager Brad Treliving’s connection to the Swedish blueliner, dating back to when he was drafted, as well as a current need for a puck-mover. Gould, however, did note that the prospect of a move won’t be easy to pull off because he doubts the Leafs will have enough assets to put together a package that the Flames would be happy with:
First and foremost, his Leafs already parted with a ton of assets last season, giving up multiple first-round picks and prospects to acquire Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton. As it stands, the Leafs don’t have another first-rounder until 2028, and they only possess three 2026 draft picks in total. Aside from Easton Cowan and Ben Danford, there’s almost nothing of note in Toronto’s pipeline.
The Andersson to Toronto rumours have been prevalent for several seasons now, but have really picked up steam in the past few months. The Leafs Nation’s Jay Rosehill reported during an episode of Leafs Morning Take on November 13th that they were working hard to try to acquire Andersson’s services. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman corroborated the report, adding that the Leafs made a push during the 2025 Trade Deadline to acquire Andersson but a trade never came to fruition.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported on December 16th that interest in Andersson was picking up in the wake of the Quinn Hughes trade, while adding that Andersson would consider extending with the Leafs if a trade came to fruition. TSN’s Darren Dreger noted on January 6th that Treliving is ramping up efforts to find some reinforcements on the back end, and preferably one who is a puck mover like Andersson.
He has been one of the lone bright spots on a struggling Flames team as he has amassed 27 points (nine goals and 18 assists) in 44 games, good enough for second in the club in scoring behind only Nazem Kadri. Andersson will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and his future in Calgary remains murky, which is why he has been mired in trade rumours for months.
It is worth noting that the Leafs and Flames have yet to make a trade with each other since Treliving went to Toronto in 2023, despite plenty of rumours emerging connecting the two teams. But the Andersson rumours refuse to go away, so it is certainly a situation worth monitoring as the season progresses.
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