2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Redrum]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Yeah but Rhett says we should trade him

If he was willing and we could get a even more than Nelson got, then everyone should be saying that.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Kadri has been great but Kadri is 34 and you're not winning a cup here in the next 3 seasons.

This team needs younger players and top end propsects.

The only excuse to not taking that package from Colorado is "Kadri wouldn't waive" ... that's the only acceptable reason for not getting a top prospect like Ritchie and a 1st for a guy that's 34 years old.

The same package, more or less, will be available this February if the Flames a 10 points out of a wildcard.

Originally Posted by Redrum

If he was willing and we could get a even more than Nelson got, then everyone should be saying that.

But he wasn't willing. Your scenario is dead on arrival.

[FleeceGang]

I think people misconstrue the idea of a re-tool vs a rebuild. In a rebuild situation yes kadri, andersson, probably Coleman, weagar, and backlund are all gone.

In a re-tool, holding onto 5, for lack of a better word, “tools” that play the way you want, have the right attitude, and are actively helping the team grow the kids and win games is not outlandish. You need vets to be able to push the kids and get them thinking about the game the right way. Sure you may miss your “sell high” opportunity, but the cost benefit of keeping these leaders a bit past the optimal trade window to ensure the correct culture/mentality in the room, at least in my mind, is the right call. You are losing out on returns but hoping that you get dividends from the players already in your system as a result of the vets guidance.

Would it have been nice to land Ritchie? Or tank a bit harder and move up the draft board to get a better pick? That’s an easy yes, but picking at 18 seems to have also got up the player we wanted, so maybe conroy isn’t out to lunch.

Point is, you have to breed a winning attitude, you can’t do that if you gut the room. Terrible comparison but I breezed through high school, no studying, limited homework. I took that mentality to university and got absolutely waffle stomped my first year. It took a few years a lot of work to get my grades to where they should have been. If you don’t have someone in your ear leading by example and showing you that what worked when you were younger won’t work now it’s a long hard painful road to learn those lessons yourself at the cost of a ton of confidence.

Is it not better to foster the confidence and ability of all these “lights out draft picks” we have in the system than to whine about missing out on magic beans? From all I’ve read the last few years Conroy and staff have had maybe three, definitely two, unreal drafts. Why not lay into that and build a place where all these kids want to be and an environment that is top class? Instead of stripping the place and leaving all these budding stars/players in the deep end of the pool with the lights out.

Let’s not be Buffalo/utah/columbus/edmonton. Andersson, kadri, and Coleman will be traded when the time is right. Again, the return might not be as bright, shiny, and fleecy as people would like, but don’t forget to account for the internal developmental benefit of having these guys on the team now.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

35 actually in a couple of months. I'm not saying he isn't a good player. If we were a contender it absolutely makes sense to keep him.

We are not contenders though. And holding on to an aging asset is actively hurting us by making our draft pick worse. If he says he won't wave then ok, but it absolutely makes no sense to keep him otherwise.

goalposts

You said he was injured half the Avs playoff run and they would have won without him...neither is true. You and a few others also suggested he wasn't worth a first+. The whole point of this "debate" is that the Monahan trade while not ideal brought in Kadri who is a better asset then a mid first in a so-so draft.

Obviously trading him for a haul would be a resonable decision, especially if the team is falling off.

[Poe969]

I'm all for trading kadri, but I get why they won't. They could get some decent assets for him and as much as it sucks, trading him makes the team worse whi h gets the team a better draft pick. They want to keep him because he wants to be here and they need players who want to be here.

This team isn't a contender, likely not even a playoff team, so keeping him is just pillow talk for the fans who want to stay competitive. All the years somee fans wanted the team to "tank" and trade away vets, they didn't. Some fans said they were playing for pride so they wouldn't become a team that got used to losing...well, they've been a middling team for a long time now so maybe the team should try a new direction.

Its just frustrating to watch the team not be good enough or bad enough to see any changes on the horizon.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I'm all for trading kadri, but I get why they won't. They could get some decent assets for him and as much as it sucks, trading him makes the team worse whi h gets the team a better draft pick. They want to keep him because he wants to be here and they need players who want to be here.

This team isn't a contender, likely not even a playoff team, so keeping him is just pillow talk for the fans who want to stay competitive. All the years somee fans wanted the team to "tank" and trade away vets, they didn't. Some fans said they were playing for pride so they wouldn't become a team that got used to losing...well, they've been a middling team for a long time now so maybe the team should try a new direction.

Its just frustrating to watch the team not be good enough or bad enough to see any changes on the horizon.

For the two years since they decided to try a new direction.

I don’t know but maybe it wouldn’t kill people to show just a little patience.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I think Coleman gets traded at the deadline. He wants to win, and unless Calgary is in a good position by the deadline, I think he moves.


What will be the most interesting player this season in terms of rumours will be Kadri. This will be his last season with a full NMC, and it switches to a 13 team NTC. Dependng on when he has to hand his list in by, he can probably maximize his leverage down to 5-7 teams starting next off-season, vs picking his preferred 1-3 spots. If the Flames are at the bottom of the standings, and Kadri is having a good season, I would actual rumors will start popping up, rather than pure speculation. I do think the Flames will eventually trade him at some point, so it will be interesting to see what happens starting with this upcoming deadline. Putting myself in his shoes, I am not sure what I would prefer - another year in the destination of my choice (Calgary) with risk of being traded to a team further down my list? Or using my NMC leverage to engineer a trade to my #1 or #2 choice? Those teams being able to then trade him the following off-season is a possibility, but unlikely after they just trade for him.


Something to keep our eyes on. I won't believe any trade rumours until the Flames are looking out of it, and the deadline is a month or less out. Up until then, it will just be baseless rumours or pure speculation.

Just because so many posters have a hard-on for trading Kadri, it would be good to keep in mind that a 13 team no-trade-list is a lot of control still for the player.

Kadri and his agent will be able to sit down and look at the league to figure out how best to use those 13 spots on the list to effectively make it full control for the player. They can skip teams who have strong center depth and are almost certainly not interested in trading for him (for example: Sharks, Ducks, Stars, Oilers, Devils, Panthers, Lightning, VGK, Senators, Blues, Mammoth, etc) and they can also skip adding teams that are not going to be buying this season (Penguins, Flyers).

At that point he can put 13 teams on the list that eliminates any teams that are in need of a C and effectively have control over whether he gets traded or not.

[dino7c]

Some people act like Kadri was a pending UFA or is this year

the team will decide a lot of this stuff on the ice

[Knut]

I like Kadri. I think he is a good influence now on the younger players. He was came into the league with a bunch of issues that he has fixed along the way.

I think it is valuable to have a presence like that on the team to help mentor and shape the younger players. Not having that is a quick ticket to Buffalo.

Not to mention that Center in the NHL has as steep learning curve. If we are going to start bringing in some young centers you want someone that can take the hard matchups so they can be eased into the position. Lets say in 2 years Reschny is ready to play. Throwing him out against McDavid, Mckinnon etc right away would be a disaster.

[topfiverecords]

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Hackey

If he were UFA he wouldn't cost anything beyond dollars. I think he is worth his contract if he continues to produce as he has but at his age and with the term left there is some risk. He is 100% tradable but I think it might be overly optimistic to think he's bringing back what some of these other centres have in the past. If we can get a 1st that's good in my eyes. Anything above that is gravy. If you get greedy you also run the risk of his value dropping. Is Kadris value ever going to be higher than it is now? Probably not.

LMFAO. Your takes on everything are something. That avatar says volumes.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Knut

I like Kadri. I think he is a good influence now on the younger players. He was came into the league with a bunch of issues that he has fixed along the way.

I think it is valuable to have a presence like that on the team to help mentor and shape the younger players. Not having that is a quick ticket to Buffalo.

Not to mention that Center in the NHL has as steep learning curve. If we are going to start bringing in some young centers you want someone that can take the hard matchups so they can be eased into the position. Lets say in 2 years Reschny is ready to play. Throwing him out against McDavid, Mckinnon etc right away would be a disaster.

But this isn't really accurate. I went through the game reports of some of the best players in the league and Kadri is consistently in the bottom half in EV ice for Flames skaters against Draisaitl, McDavid, Kucherov, Crosby, Eichel, Connor.

He played bigger minutes against Matthews when playing the Leafs. But Matthews played more of a checking role last year so that could be more of the match up the Leafs wanted.

1 big game against MacKinnon, but Backlund didn't play.

Kadri is getting all the easy matchups and prime ice to score. The young guys might feel it when facing the other team's best checkers and D, but if you want to keep them away from the McDavid types, you keep Backlund.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

LMFAO. Your takes on everything are something. That avatar says volumes.

No kidding, guy scored 35 goals and had 72 pims
Any team would love to get that for 7M let aline from a UFA

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

LMFAO. Your takes on everything are something. That avatar says volumes.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

That take by Hackey isn't anywhere near as outlandish as some of the *cough* Huska comments *cough*. And while we're on the Avatar subject I still need the whole frog mafia explained to me

PS: I hope you know I'm just yanking your chain.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Kadri has been great but Kadri is 34 and you're not winning a cup here in the next 3 seasons.

This team needs younger players and top end propsects.

The only excuse to not taking that package from Colorado is "Kadri wouldn't waive" ... that's the only acceptable reason for not getting a top prospect like Ritchie and a 1st for a guy that's 34 years old.

It’s not an excuse if Kadri won’t waive. I think the sentiment may change if the team bottoms out but he already stayed through a bottom ten finish.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by dino7c

No kidding, guy scored 35 goals and had 72 pims
Any team would love to get that for 7M let aline from a UFA

I’d rather have Kadri’s contract than Nelson’s

[Sec214]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

[Rhett44]

If Kadri doesn't want to waive his NTC, that is fine. But I would certainly hope they asked him at the deadline if he would be willing, if you could have gotten anywhere close to the Nelson trade deal.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Sec214

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

If Kadri doesn't want to waive his NTC, that is fine. But I would certainly hope they asked him at the deadline if he would be willing, if you could have gotten anywhere close to the Nelson trade deal.

Even if we are in the hunt?