2023/2024 Trade Rumors and Speculation Thread

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Mercer is 22, playing behind Hughes and Hischier.

He’s in his third season, he scored 27 last year, and unless he doesn’t play the rest of the season, he’ll have never scored less than 17.

The kid can play.

Oh I agree he’s an NHLer, but this year Markstrom is playing at a top 5 goalie level. He will get Vezina votes this year (I don’t expect a win but he’s playing incredibly well).

I really don’t understand the Devils love for their 3rd line centerman. Most teams would trade a fortune to have one of the top goalies in the league at their disposal.

Seems to me a high end goalie is harder to come by than a young and promising 3rd line centerman

[Matty81]

Actually really surprised nothing has happened yet not just with the flames. Just 10 days to the deadline and lately most of the action is in the week before, be shocked even as someone with no insider knowledge if a few deals don't start happening by end of the weekend

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Actually really surprised nothing has happened yet not just with the flames. Just 10 days to the deadline and lately most of the action is in the week before, be shocked even as someone with no insider knowledge if a few deals don't start happening by end of the weekend

Thing is, the Flames hold all the prizes this deadline. After Tanev, Hanifin and maybe Markstrom, the markets fairly thin. And the sellers aren't clearly defined, and a lot of what was available, is injured long term.

They're the dam holding back this trade deadline.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Thing is, the Flames hold all the prizes this deadline.

That's an angle I was thinking about. The Flames have probably the two most coveted defensemen available at the moment. If there are two teams in the same conference both wanting to bolster their defense, trading one of them now to one of those teams while letting the other team stew on it for the next 10 days might cause them to make a stupid crazy offer.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Thing is, the Flames hold all the prizes this deadline. After Tanev, Hanifin and maybe Markstrom, the markets fairly thin. And the sellers aren't clearly defined, and a lot of what was available, is injured long term.

They're the dam holding back this trade deadline.

Always loads of tinkering adding depth for lower end prospects and late picks beyond the bigger deals. last year it started on the 23rd 8 days before the deadline with 4 trades and it was pretty steady the next week with >40 deals in those 7 days, even if a lot of them were minor. There were another 20 or so on deadline day. Looking forward to it getting started this year, be surprised if there aren't at least a handful of small deals this weekend

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Actually really surprised nothing has happened yet not just with the flames. Just 10 days to the deadline and lately most of the action is in the week before, be shocked even as someone with no insider knowledge if a few deals don't start happening by end of the weekend

It's been lukewarm few months for trades, it's not just the Flames. The only deals made in 2024 that don't merely involve AHL talent were the Lindholm, Monahan, and Drysdale/Gauthier trades.

You would have to think the next week will be extremely busy, I bet we see a few major trades over the weekend. There are many teams that think they have a shot at the Cup that will want to add before the deadline.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Man I’m pretty surprised people are so high on Mercer here. What does he bring that we’re in need of? Do we really need a 3rd year NHL player who is currently <0.5 ppg with an average size?

The dudes play this year and his stat sheet screams sweetener, not centre piece in a Markstrom trade. Our top tier goalie is worth more than some skim milk 3rd line centerman on a team not currently in the playoffs. Mercer and a 1st or get outta here, we don’t need your spare parts NJ.

You seem to think Mercer will be playing bottom 6 minutes in a Calgary.

He would immediately play 1st line minutes with premium PP time.

Players production is a direct correlation to their ice time and PP time.

Calgary needs a Mercer in the worst way. There is a reason why NJ won’t trade him. Or at least not yet.

[Flames1217]

Lots of people under rating Mercer here.

Go watch some of his highlights, you will see a young player who drives the centre of the ice and goes to the hard areas to score goals. He has soft hands in close, a hard shot and can be depended on in all situations.

This is a player primed to break out when given a bigger role and will likely be a #1RW/High end 2C who consistently puts up a solid 70 points a season.

Would be absolutely awesome if he was included in the deal.

[Roof-Daddy]

Please let Conroy land Mercer, Lundell and the highest amount of picks he can muster.

Two 22 year old C's both with pedigree and already playing NHL minutes could be quite the masterful retool by Conroy IMO

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Oh I agree he’s an NHLer, but this year Markstrom is playing at a top 5 goalie level. He will get Vezina votes this year (I don’t expect a win but he’s playing incredibly well).

I really don’t understand the Devils love for their 3rd line centerman. Most teams would trade a fortune to have one of the top goalies in the league at their disposal.

Seems to me a high end goalie is harder to come by than a young and promising 3rd line centerman

He is not a third line centre. Get that thought out of your head.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

You seem to think Mercer will be playing bottom 6 minutes in a Calgary.

He would immediately play 1st line minutes with premium PP time.

Players production is a direct correlation to their ice time and PP time.

Calgary needs a Mercer in the worst way. There is a reason why NJ won’t trade him. Or at least not yet.

Amen, Cobra! And Flames1217!

[Nelson]

I’m still holding onto hope that a deal with the Devils for Markstrom can happen before the TDL or in the off-season because of all the reporting about how close the deal was. I’d love Mercer plus a 1st. Holtz would be a great consolation prize to Mercer.

I think they can walk Tanev right up to the deadline now because the injury concern is less now, since the team is going to sit players soon, and because the deal should be pretty simple. I think we all just want a 1st at this point.

I’m hoping Hanifin isn’t walked right up to the deadline because the deal seems like it’s going to be complex, and I recall many deadlines where Treliving would run out of time because there would be a problem he couldn’t solve at the last minute. I’d love Lundell plus a conditional 26 1st, which would become a 27 1st if we already have Florida’s 26 1st.

The dream scenario for me is Tanev + Hanifin + Markstrom out for a 24 1st + 25 1st + conditional 26 1st + Mercer + Lundell + maybe some other pieces for cap reasons or to give the Flames bodies for their blue line next season.

Looking forward to Sec 214’s update…

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by stemit14

I know it’s commonly brought up that the flames don’t have the high end skill to compete with the top teams in the league (Colorado, Florida, Vegas, etc.) over the next few years… on the flip side, how can the flames stink as well as these bottom level teams to get into those top five picks in the next 2-3 years? Arizona, Chicago, San Jose, Columbus and Anaheim, for example. These teams are powerhouses in the field of terrible. Arizona just lost their 13th consecutive game. How can the flames compete with that? Not to mention in two years, the oilers will likely be back to fielding an AHL team for a decade once again and they are the Jack Nicklaus of lottery picks.

If Arizona is sold and moved to Utah, I wonder if we see them take some big swings. I think some stability in ownership and the perpetual cloud of ‘where are we going to be playing next year’ will be gone. I’d also bet their new owner, Ryan Smith, will want to ice a competitive team right away. With the amount of picks/prospects that team has built over the years, they have some draft currency and cap space, maybe more than any other team, to play with.

The others? Yeah, it would be tough to sink that low. I’m hoping that the Flames, this year and next, are picking in the top ten and maybe higher with some lottery luck.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Oh I agree he’s an NHLer, but this year Markstrom is playing at a top 5 goalie level. He will get Vezina votes this year (I don’t expect a win but he’s playing incredibly well).

I really don’t understand the Devils love for their 3rd line centerman. Most teams would trade a fortune to have one of the top goalies in the league at their disposal.

Seems to me a high end goalie is harder to come by than a young and promising 3rd line centerman

Fitzgerald just signed a multiyear extension this year and clearly has no fear that his job is on the line. It appears that making the playoffs this season it not priority one for him or they would have had Markstrom on the roster weeks ago if making the playoffs was that important to the organization. I imagine the plan is to revisit in the offseason and kick the tires again on Markstrom, Saros, etc.

[GullFoss]

NHL GMs calling Conroy being like:

[Scroopy Noopers]

My new pipe dream: Flames make the wildcard for some post season fun, despite trading Tanev and possibly Hanifin… Devils miss the playoffs, GM on the hot seat pushes for a Markstrom trade at the draft which lands us Mercer and a better NJ 1st pick than if we had acquired it pre-deadline.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

My new pipe dream: Flames make the wildcard for some post season fun win the stanely cup, despite trading Tanev and possibly Hanifin… Devils miss the playoffs, GM on the hot seat pushes for a Markstrom trade at the draft which lands us Mercer and a better NJ 1st pick than if we had acquired it pre-deadline.

fyp

[1qqaaz]

I still think Markstrom's value at the draft will be considerably lower than it is now. It will be one less playoff run for the acquiring team. And since goalies are so unpredictable, there would be a lot more risk with the quality of Markstrom's play moving into next season.

NJ now only has an 18% chance of making the playoffs. We're getting near the end of the line. If a trade doesn't happen, it's a major disappointment both for Fitzgerald and for Conroy.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by joejoe3

… Kahhkonen lets in 7 tonight. Jinx’d

Doesn’t change the team he’s on haha.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Regarding Mercer, think about it: we’re playing Dryden freaking Hunt with Sharan and Huberdeau. Mercer coming in would make that a decent 1st line with Huberdeau and Sharan / Mercer alternating on FOs (maybe depending on where the face off is, or whoever is playing better that night). Mercer is versatile, he would fit in this lineup like a glove. Don’t might Holtz at all, but I do feel like Mercer is the better target. We wanted him at the draft and fell just short of him, I doubt we wouldn’t want him anymore. We know what he’s capable of.