The NHL saw its biggest trade of the season thus far when the Minnesota Wild acquired star defenceman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks for Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. With this massive deal going down, the rumour mill has once again started buzzing regarding another top NHL D-man, Calgary Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson, and within that buzz, the Toronto Maple Leafs have emerged as a potential suitor for the 29-year-old.
The Rasmus Andersson trade buzz
This is not the first time that we have seen Andersson in trade rumours, and not even the first time that Toronto has been linked to the Swedish defenceman. At the 2025 trade deadline, the Leafs reportedly attempted to trade for Andersson, but no deal ended up coming to fruition. However, perhaps things may turn out differently this time around.
TSN insider Pierre LeBrun touched on the Andersson trade rumours during Tuesday’s edition of Insider Trading, saying that he will likely be a top defence option for teams ahead of the 2026 trade deadline.
What I am hearing is that the Calgary Flames suddenly got more calls on Rasmus Andersson after the Quinn Hughes trade. That’s not surprising. There aren’t going to be that many top-four defencemen moving between now and the March 6 trade deadline.
Additionally, LeBrun mentioned the Leafs as a potential suitor for Andersson, even going as far as to say that he might consider an extension with Toronto if a trade went through.
We know the Leafs tried to trade for Andersson last year at the deadline, and why I mentioned Toronto is that my understanding is that the Leafs would be one of those teams that perhaps Andersson would consider extending with, if in fact a trade would work out between those two teams.
Andersson’s team fit with the Leafs
There are two main roster positions that the Leafs could look to address leading up to the trade deadline. One is a new top-four defenceman, like Andersson, and the other would be a new winger to give team captain Auston Matthews greater support on the top line as he looks to return to form. But mind you, William Nylander and Matthew Knies have done a decent enough job with 36 and 29 points, respectively, thus far into the season.
On the defensive end, the Leafs definitely need some help as the team has allowed 3.22 goals per game on average through 32 games, the 11th highest average in the league. Adding to the issues, Chris Tanev, arguably the team’s best defenceman, is currently out with an upper-body injury and has only played eight games this season, and depth defender Brandon Carlo is currently out indefinitely after undergoing foot surgery. Indeed, it wouldn’t hurt the Leafs to add another top blueliner to pair alongside Morgan Rielly or Jake McCabe.
And what would Andersson bring to one of the Leafs’ top D-lines? He would bring a true workhorse mentality with some decent stats to back it up, as the Flames’ D-man has 22 points through 34 games, putting him on pace to surpass his previous career high of 50 points that he achieved back in 2021–22. Also, Andersson is extremely tough, ranking 21st among defencemen in blocked shots this season with 66. Additionally, Andersson has managed to maintain solid health throughout his career, only having one season where he played in fewer than 70 games (excluding his first two NHL seasons, where he played mostly in the AHL).
Toronto’s likelihood of trading for Andersson
The main roadblocks for the Leafs trading for Andersson simply come down to a lack of assets available for trade, as well as a lack of other top defencemen on the trade market. With Andersson being one of, if not the only, top-four defenceman currently in trade rumours, his asking price will be relatively high, and if Calgary opts to do a sign-and-trade with Andersson, that cost could climb even higher for the Leafs. If the team is to get a deal done with Calgary, they will likely need to wait until closer to the deadline, when there is a greater influx of top defencemen entering the trade market.
For now, the Leafs’ main concern should be figuring out how to string together wins more frequently, so that if a significant trade does come to fruition, they will be in a better place to make a real push towards being contenders once again.
