2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

It is tough because we have seen players exert leverage when they don’t have a full say like Hanifin did which really diminished the return.

Kadri blocked a trade to Calgary in 2019 that would have changed the outlook of the Gaudreau/Tkachuk flames in my opinion. The Flames did what they could to convince him to come but he said no and the Leafs moved him to a team he couldn’t say no to.

Ultimately it is a business and if the Flames get an offer they can’t refuse that is not among the 13 teams he can say no to they should really consider it.

Ideally they get what they want from a team that Kadri would like to play for but the Flams should take care of themselves first and foremost.

Agree 100%

Consider it. But also consider the possible ramifications of an undesirable market acting desirable.

[shutout]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

To get the best return on players and make the best moves, you have to take the emotion and feelings out of it.

I am not sure that not caring about people's feelings or employees is ever the best practice in how to do business. Does not matter the business, or what level of employee in that business, but caring about people and their lives should always be important.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by shutout

I am not sure that not caring about people's feelings or employees is ever the best practice in how to do business. Does not matter the business, or what level of employee in that business, but caring about people and their lives should always be important.

If it didn't matter, I don't think the Flames would have been so interested in bringing in Burke to clean up Feaster's mess.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

They were saying on Barn Burner you almost have to be a sociopath to be a great GM (I believe that is the word they used).

To get the best return on players and make the best moves, you have to take the emotion and feelings out of it. It's a business decision, and doing right by the player means not trying to trade him to one of the teams on his no trade list.

It's all nice to let a player pick his destination, but is it really in the best interest of your team if you are taking a lesser return to be a nice person?

Life is complicated. If your best description to 'how should someone manage an NHL team' is 'you have to be a psychopath' then I submit you've not really grappled with the question.

People make the choices they do for all types of reasons. And I would bet that the situation of taking a 'lesser return' to do right by the player is substantively close to zero. It's just a simplified scenario by fans to pretend the choices are black and white.

Case in point:

You're at the draft. Rival GM #1 offers you a 1st round pick for your player whereas rival GM #2 offers you a 2nd round pick. Which do you take?

The 1st! Any GM who does otherwise is killing the franchise!

More detail:

Team X GM was offering you the 28th overall whereas Team Y has the 34th overall pick. Do you then go and ask the player? Especially if the offers were from 2 different countries? What if Team Y is where the player grew up and has expressed an interest? Is there really a meaningful different between 28th and 34th overall?


I think people need to relax about this stuff. No GM is going to purposefully hamstring themselves. More than likely the two choices are in grey areas, and it's just overconfident fans who claim to know which one was definitely better.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

But let's not pretend Calgary is in the same position as NY or Vegas with respect to attracting players.

Exactly, and trading Kadri wouldn't change that or make it any worse.

Originally Posted by Bingo

All depends.

Does the way the Flames handle Kadri effect other players under the same agent? other players from other agents?

Does their chance of signing the next piece they want to sign diminish because they took a guy that signed a 7 year deal and followed his contract to the letter of the law and took the personal part out of it?

I can't say yes to all those ... I don't know.

But I'd sure want to be sure about those variables before I went "cut throat" from what is likely one of the bottom 7-8 most attractive franchises in the sport.

I remember a very different Kadri under D. Sutter. One that quit on the team half a year into his 7-year contract. I also remember him playing like he doesn't care for the first month + under Huska until Zary and Pospisil got called up. He has been a leader on this team since, and hasn't complained or anything, but my first impression still stuck around.

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Exactly, and trading Kadri wouldn't change that or make it any worse.



I remember a very different Kadri under D. Sutter. One that quit on the team half a year into his 7-year contract. I also remember him playing like he doesn't care for the first month + under Huska until Zary and Pospisil got called up. He has been a leader on this team since, and hasn't complained or anything, but my first impression still stuck around.

Ya, but what you remember and what is reality are probably far apart.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Exactly, and trading Kadri wouldn't change that or make it any worse.



I remember a very different Kadri under D. Sutter. One that quit on the team half a year into his 7-year contract. I also remember him playing like he doesn't care for the first month + under Huska until Zary and Pospisil got called up. He has been a leader on this team since, and hasn't complained or anything, but my first impression still stuck around.

Maybe that says more about Sutter than Kadri

[aiy_yah]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Ultimately it is a business and if the Flames get an offer they can’t refuse that is not among the 13 teams he can say no to they should really consider it.

Ideally they get what they want from a team that Kadri would like to play for but the Flams should take care of themselves first and foremost.

But teams likely won't know exactly who is on the NT list. If Conny gets an offer he can't refuse, he can also go back to the teams Kadri is willing to go to and talk about how another team has anted up to try and get more.

Besides, at this point he still has 3 more years left after this season. I think they can afford to wait until next year also if they can't extract the value they want.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Exactly, and trading Kadri wouldn't change that or make it any worse.

How can you be so sure?

If the market isn't attractive and you have a history of snipping loyalty you could slide from 25th to 32nd pretty quickly.

Again ... may not be true. But we don't know.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Bingo

How can you be so sure?

If the market isn't attractive and you have a history of snipping loyalty you could slide from 25th to 32nd pretty quickly.

Again ... may not be true. But we don't know.

Also, I am not sure why people are treating it as completely opposite directions. There is a lot of middle ground between what the player wants and what the team wants. It isn't a binary decision.

[Jason14h]

There's also the team trading for Kadri's involvement in all this

If it is a team he doesn't want to play for - Why would they give up top assets to get a disgruntled player. Seems like a big risk with not a huge reward to pay top $$ in a trade

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Bingo

How can you be so sure?

If the market isn't attractive and you have a history of snipping loyalty you could slide from 25th to 32nd pretty quickly.

Again ... may not be true. But we don't know.

I can be reasonably sure because that's a problem that's easily remedied. If said hypothetical UFA is happy with Calgary, but doesn't want to be traded from Calgary, or wants to have full control , then he can negotiate a full NMC for the duration of his contract with the Flames.

Since Kadri's agent has negotiated a 13 team no trade clause, he gets a say on 13 teams and that's it. If the Flames are set on the trade route then they should take the best offer, and not worry themselves about hypothetical hurt feelings.

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Maybe that says more about Sutter than Kadri

It certainly does, but if he was following his contract to the letter of the law it shouldn't have mattered.

[traptor]

I have a hard time feeling bad for these guys having to move from one metropolitan area to another in North America when they make 10s of millions by the time their 40.
It kind of comes with the territory.

Obviously if there are two returns that are in the ball park of each other you ask his opinion. But I don't see the harm moving him somewhere if it's not on his NTL.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Agree 100%

Consider it. But also consider the possible ramifications of an undesirable market acting desirable.

I think holding yourself to this level of accountability is unnecessary, personally.

Yes, the Flames are an undesirable market. The new building will help with that.

No, they shouldn't act like jerks and treat their employees terribly when they part ways.

But at the end of the day, if I'm considering the Flames as a free agent and a former player is badmouthing the team for operating within their rights (i.e. trading to a team not on a NTC), I'd be skeptical of the source. As long as it's not done in a hostile fashion, go and do what makes best business sense.

The Flames already operate at enough of a disadvantage in other areas. Best to not handcuff what you can do on the trade market to protect a perceived fragile reputation.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

There's also the team trading for Kadri's involvement in all this

If it is a team he doesn't want to play for - Why would they give up top assets to get a disgruntled player. Seems like a big risk with not a huge reward to pay top $$ in a trade

See Jeff Carter/Columbus Blue Jackets.

[Bleeding Red]

This conversation reminds me of the NYR and Trouba & Krieder trades. IIRC NYR threatened to put Trouba on waivers if he didn't accept a trade to ANA and then when they spoke to Krieder about a trade simply whispered "remember Trouba." and he moved. Like mentioned, NYR and LGK can play serious hardball.
(I wonder if TML had done the same with Kadri back in the day Kadri would have accepted the trade to CGY?)

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Bleeding Red

This conversation reminds me of the NYR and Trouba & Krieder trades. IIRC NYR threatened to put Trouba on waivers if he didn't accept a trade to ANA and then when they spoke to Krieder about a trade simply whispered "remember Trouba." and he moved. Like mentioned, NYR and LGK can play serious hardball.
(I wonder if TML had done the same with Kadri back in the day Kadri would have accepted the trade to CGY?)

I remember there was a rumor last season that Conroy told Kuzmenko that he had 15 minutes to waive his or they would put him on waivers.

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Exactly, and trading Kadri wouldn't change that or make it any worse.



I remember a very different Kadri under D. Sutter. One that quit on the team half a year into his 7-year contract. I also remember him playing like he doesn't care for the first month + under Huska until Zary and Pospisil got called up. He has been a leader on this team since, and hasn't complained or anything, but my first impression still stuck around.

Quit on the team? He looked like a guy struggling to fit in on a new team after just winning the cup after a very grueling and physical playoff run, especially for him. I doubt he was in tip top shape after that summer. Once he got situated and comfortable he looked fine

[Ashasx]

I feel like we'd be lying to ourselves to say Kadri didn't quit on the team during the second half of that season, but it was justified.

[Rhett44]

I do remember the pitchforks being out for Kadri during that year. He definitely was not giving a big effort for a lot of the games during that period.

However, he has been nothing but a great Flame since with his attitude and effort.