'How could you possibly know?': Flames' Rasmus Andersson thriving despite all the talk about his future

Rasmus Andersson isn’t sure where anyone is getting their information.

Speculation about what the Calgary Flames defenceman wants, where he wants to go and what his future holds seems to be a feature of every bit of trade speculation. There’s no insider info coming from him, though.

“I saw some reports the other day (saying) ‘Oh, he doesn’t know what to do with his future; and I’m like ‘How would you know that?” Andersson said Friday. “I talked to my agent before the season started and then we haven’t talked. How could you possibly know if I’m undecided about my future or not? I’ve come to the point in my life where I just laugh at the things people say online and honestly, it feels great to come to that point.

“I wish I was at that point when I was 25 or 26, it would have been way easier,” the 29-year-old added.

While the winter weather in Calgary might make it feel like summer was a million years ago, it’s only been a few months since the main topic of conversation heading into Flames training camp was whether Andersson’s contract situation would be a distraction.

It definitely has not.

There can be no complaints about the Swede’s attitude, approach or the way he’s handled business on the ice. He’s been the Flames’ best player through 29 games and is second on the team in scoring behind Nazem Kadri, with six goals and 14 assists.

“He knows he’s at the end of his contract and there’s going to be a lot of noise about him,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “Probably the most impressive thing is his ability to not let it come into the dressing room and not let it impact him in a positive way or a negative way or whatever. He’s come to the rink every day and he’s done his job, you do appreciate that about him.”

Right now, Andersson is doing his job at an extremely high level.

He’s emerged as a sure thing to be part of Sweden’s Olympic team in February, and he’s recorded the 14th-highest offensive totals among NHL defencemen so far this season heading into Friday’s action — for a Flames team that struggles to score. Since the start of November, the 16 points Andersson has put up are the eighth-most among NHL blueliners.

On Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild, he had his best game of the season, recording a goal and an assist, six shots on net, three blocked shots and playing 3:37 shorthanded.

His plus/minus is sitting at zero this season after he posted a brutal minus-38 last year.

‘I control what I can control’

Inevitably, that sort of play leads to more and more speculation about his future. With every great performance, he adds to his trade value. For fans eager to see the Flames embrace a full rebuild, the return the organization gets if and when they trade him only gets more enticing.

If that’s frustrating for a competitor like Andersson — who is fiercely proud of the career he’s built with the Flames — he’s not letting on. He’s got a more “chill” mindset than in years past and is doing his best to ignore the off-ice chatter.

“I control what I can control,” Andersson said. “I can’t control what people write about me and (whether) I’m going to suck or play good or where I’m going to get traded or if I’m not going to get traded or if I re-sign or whatever. I can’t control any of that.

“I just try to control what I can control. I try to put the best version of myself on the ice every day and I think the more chill mindset is I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. With my contract situation, I just try to enjoy being around the guys as much as I can and have fun with it and not worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow and try to stay in the moment right now and then we’ll see what the future holds.”

That attitude and approach is paying dividends for Andersson and the Flames. By his estimation, he’s had three or four “bad games” out of the 29 this season. His offensive productivity picked up in November, but he was happy with his game in October.

And it’s gotten better.

Not every game’s been perfect, but they never are. He hasn’t let a rough night get him down.

“The thing I’m kind of proud of, too, is the way I’ve bounced back from a bad game,” Andersson explained. “The (5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 26), we were all pretty s—, all of us, and I think I was minus-4 and then the next game in Florida was one of my better games of the year. 

“Nashville (on Tuesday), s— game from the team, I was minus-3, and then (Thursday) I played probably my best game of the season … so I’m proud of the way I’ve been bouncing back after bad performances, too.”