Rasmus Andersson's future appears to be beyond Calgary, and now captain Mikael Backlund has all but confirmed the team will trade the star defenseman. For the past few months, <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/calgary-flames/flames-and-andersson-contract-talks-collapse-western-rivals-ready-to-strike-big' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>speculation has followed the Calgary Flames and star blue liner</a> Rasmus Andersson, with most fans and analysts expecting the team to trade him at some point. Despite speculation, that hasn't happened yet as the team are looking to get the highest possible value for him, with some even predicting that the team go into the 2025/26 regular season with Andersson on their roster. <h3>Mikael Backlund confirms Andersson's future in the NHL</h3> In a <a href='https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6576283/2025/08/27/rasmus-andersson-flames-nhl-player-tour/?source=emp_shared_article' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>surprisingly candid interview with The Athletic</a>, Flames captain Mikael Backlund has weighed in on the situation, revealing that it's a matter of when, not if the talented Swedish defenseman will be traded. Yeah, he's getting traded. It's obvious. But the team wants value. He wants a big contract. So he wants to play well. The team needs him to play well, so just go out and play. I talked to him too, and he doesn't want to be a distraction. So it's all good. It's too bad it's come to this. I don't think they're close to getting an agreement or anything, but you never know. Things could change. We'll see. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/jkamckenzie/status/1960692547279352210'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> This off-season, Andersson has already been linked to Dallas, Los Angeles and Vegas among other teams, and despite a down year in production, given how balanced and dynamic his game is, it's no surprise that there's plenty of interest league wide. Now, all eyes will be on Flames training camp as the season approaches, and with the team likely not wanting Andersson to be a distraction, a deal may get done, sooner, rather than later.