2024/2025 Season trade rumours and speculation thread

[Iniggywetrust]

Put me in the camp that thinks Kuzmenko should be resigned and Mantha traded, regardless of how he does this season.
Kuzmenko is still new to the NHL and has high-end skill that is hard to find. Mantha has proven what he is in the league, and signing him long term will only add to his generally lazy style of play

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

I don't necessarily think that's the course that Conroy thinks they're on though.

Every move last year was forced on him because the veteran didn't want to resign with Calgary.

His message has been pretty clear that they aren't technically rebuilding and they want to remain competitive on the fly. While I thought it was just PR for the signed vets and for more finnicky fans, I'm not sure anymore... and this start, if it continues, will just reinforce a win now mentality.

The only player he made a serious run at seems to be Hanifin.

He said he knew in September they would be trading Lindholm, and by the sounds of it didn't make much of an attempt to sign him after that.

They made zero attempt to sign Toffoli and Zadorov with both getting upset and asking for trades right away.

He tried to keep Tanev, but it seems like it was a 2-year deal.

Every trade he made was a futures based deal, zero hockey trades. Traded the starting goalie for a draft pick and 3rd pairing dman. Traded Mangiapane for a 2nd round pick.

Doesn't seem like someone in a win now mode to me. Was flush with cap space, could have gone nuts in free agency like previous GM's have.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

I don't necessarily think that's the course that Conroy thinks they're on though.

Every move last year was forced on him because the veteran didn't want to resign with Calgary.

His message has been pretty clear that they aren't technically rebuilding and they want to remain competitive on the fly. While I thought it was just PR for the signed vets and for more finnicky fans, I'm not sure anymore... and this start, if it continues, will just reinforce a win now mentality.

The fact that they made offers to Hanafin and Lindholm before shipping them out suggest you are correct.

[FlamesAreOne]

It'll be a sad day when the Flames trade Kuzmenko. He's quickly become one of my favourite players and is damn good at what he does.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

The only player he made a serious run at seems to be Hanifin.

He said he knew in September they would be trading Lindholm, and by the sounds of it didn't make much of an attempt to sign him after that.

They made zero attempt to sign Toffoli and Zadorov with both getting upset and asking for trades right away.

He tried to keep Tanev, but it seems like it was a 2-year deal.

Every trade he made was a futures based deal, zero hockey trades. Traded the starting goalie for a draft pick and 3rd pairing dman. Traded Mangiapane for a 2nd round pick.

Doesn't seem like someone in a win now mode to me. Was flush with cap space, could have gone nuts in free agency like previous GM's have.

Do we really miss any of them though?

- Lindholm and Big Z did not want to be here. Lindholm was doing nothing and Zadorov isn’t even in Vancouver anymore. He was a rollercoaster.
- Markstrom’s stats were no better than Vladar’s. Or Wolf’s.
- Debateable that Sharangovich is better than Toffoli
- Tanev was getting long in the tooth and injury prone.
- I think Hanifin was a loss. But he wasn’t interested so what do you do?

So I don’t think the team’s performance dropped much if at all. The culture of the team improved and we opened up $18 million cap space with a bunch of new prospects. Win win in my mind.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by FlamesAreOne

It'll be a sad day when the Flames trade Kuzmenko. He's quickly become one of my favourite players and is damn good at what he does.

I doubt he gets traded. He adds something none of the prospects have. High end skill.

I think Barrie and Hanley are the main tradeable assets. Mantha might be in there as well depending upon how the season plays out.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

The fact that they made offers to Hanafin and Lindholm before shipping them out suggest you are correct.

Nah ....

You don't trade your starting goaltender and keep $20M in idle cap space if you're truly trying to compete.

[Major Major]

Teuvo a good comp for Kuzmenko?

5.4x3 from CHI.

Only comp I can see out there for age and production and of course TT has been around a lot longer with a few mid 60s point seasons whereas kuz had more production in 1 year...

6mil / 4 year is that absolute max I could see as a UFA unless he's above 80 points.

Wonder if he'd do 7mil / 2 years. That money's not doing anything.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

The only player he made a serious run at seems to be Hanifin.

He said he knew in September they would be trading Lindholm, and by the sounds of it didn't make much of an attempt to sign him after that.

They made zero attempt to sign Toffoli and Zadorov with both getting upset and asking for trades right away.

He tried to keep Tanev, but it seems like it was a 2-year deal.

Every trade he made was a futures based deal, zero hockey trades. Traded the starting goalie for a draft pick and 3rd pairing dman. Traded Mangiapane for a 2nd round pick.

Doesn't seem like someone in a win now mode to me. Was flush with cap space, could have gone nuts in free agency like previous GM's have.

He made serious runs at Lindholm, Hanifin and Tanev -- which were his three best UFAs. You don't try to resign those guys if you believe the team is rebuilding.

Zadorov wanted more money and was disgruntled so was shipped off for peanuts. Toffoli move was, in fact, a hockey trade, and his agent likely had previously expressed to the Flames what an extension would need to look like -- and Flames probably felt it wasn't even worth discussing, particularly with how they felt about Sharangovich.

Markstrom's agent met with Conroy in November to say he wanted out too and was eventually traded for the best package possible, which included an NHL caliber defenceman who has decent potential to move up in the lineup.

Mangiapane was clearly blocking younger players and the Flames likely felt they had an internal replacement for him in Coronato, or another young winger.

He's now flush with cap space and picks... and his team is winning. Seems simply that the guy got the best outcome of a retool that was forced upon him.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Nah ....

You don't trade your starting goaltender and keep $20M in idle cap space if you're truly trying to compete.

The cap space is a bit of a red herring. What player would have signed in Calgary this past off season?

They only traded their starting goalie because his agent asked for a trade.

When the Flames were in Toronto for a matchup with the Maple Leafs on Nov. 10, agent Patrick Morris — who represents Markström and is based in the Toronto area — met with Conroy. [...] Morris told Conroy on that day in November they could work together. As the agent, he could get a sense of teams Markström would accept a trade to.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/577...aul-markstrom/

[YyjFlames]

Personally, I think what's happened is that Conroy believed when he took over that the team could compete with a change of coaching, and he wanted -- and likely sold ownership -- that they could compete with the team he inherited, but he wasn't willing to be forced to pay well above market to lock in aging players.

That kicked off the "retool" that snowballed a bit as most vets bailed, and the focus turned to injecting undervalued talent into the lineup and on stocking up assets to remain competitive.

It's what he's been saying this whole time. I'm just starting to really believe him.

[Major Major]

He asked for a trade the same night as Z's agent tweet? Must have been a fun night for Conroy. No wonder that team was so bad early on.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Major Major

He asked for a trade the same night as Z's agent tweet? Must have been a fun night for Conroy. No wonder that team was so bad early on.

well that's an eventful day in the Centre of the Universe.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

The cap space is a bit of a red herring. What player would have signed in Calgary this past off season?

They only traded their starting goalie because his agent asked for a trade.



https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/577...aul-markstrom/

I don't see it.

You don't have that level of space if you're going for it.

I'm sure the Flames could have outbid teams and paid more in dollars and term if they wanted to bolster their roster.

They didn't.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Nah ....

You don't trade your starting goaltender and keep $20M in idle cap space if you're truly trying to compete.

And trade a very functional Mangiapane for picks.

The team is 3rd lowest in the NHL in salary cap spending. Is any NHL team trying less hard to win from a management perspective?

Any offers to players like Kuzmenko and Mantha will be for short term and max team value.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I don't see it.

You don't have that level of space if you're going for it.

I'm sure the Flames could have outbid teams and paid more in dollars and term if they wanted to bolster their roster.

They didn't.

A team with 2 actual centers in the lineup with a free agent Chanlder Stephenson sitting there. Could have easily outbid Seattle.

Could have thrown money at a lot of guys, but Conroy did what he said he would.

[NegativeSpace]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

He made serious runs at Lindholm, Hanifin and Tanev -- which were his three best UFAs. You don't try to resign those guys if you believe the team is rebuilding.

Zadorov wanted more money and was disgruntled so was shipped off for peanuts. Toffoli move was, in fact, a hockey trade, and his agent likely had previously expressed to the Flames what an extension would need to look like -- and Flames probably felt it wasn't even worth discussing, particularly with how they felt about Sharangovich.

Markstrom's agent met with Conroy in November to say he wanted out too and was eventually traded for the best package possible, which included an NHL caliber defenceman who has decent potential to move up in the lineup.

Mangiapane was clearly blocking younger players and the Flames likely felt they had an internal replacement for him in Coronato, or another young winger.

He's now flush with cap space and picks... and his team is winning. Seems simply that the guy got the best outcome of a retool that was forced upon him.

I think you are taking way too much agency on Conroy's part out of the equation. Yes, all GMs have to react to offers tendered to them and the market conditions with certain players. In my view, Conroy has followed everything he said in his opening press conference.

He explored extensions with the three UFAs you mentioned because they are good players. If he can sign good players to reasonable contracts, then he has retained the value of that asset for the team. He could always trade them later. If no reasonable contract is available, then he said he would trade them. That is exactly what he promised and it is what happened. There is no inconsistency.

He also said that the team needed to get younger and give opportunities to younger players. That is exactly what he promised and it is what happened, despite having the vets last year young players were injected into the lineup.

Lastly, he said that he wanted players who wanted to be Calgary Flames. Markstrom didn't want to be a Flame so he was traded. However, he was traded when Calgary got what they deemed a fair price. We can debate whether it was high enough.

I think Bingo's point still stands that if competitiveness was the highest goal then you don't trade Markstrom. You tell him to suck it up and show up ready to compete.

Conroy has said all along that he does not believe in tearing down the team to the studs and simply being bad. He wants a culture of competitiveness. That is what he has provided.

I disagree that he was forced into anything.

This team may be playing above its head at the moment or perhaps it is more competitive than people, including myself, believed. We will see.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

The cap space is a bit of a red herring. What player would have signed in Calgary this past off season?

They only traded their starting goalie because his agent asked for a trade.



https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/577...aul-markstrom/

I don't have a subscription so I can't read the whole thing, but the quoted part doesn't sound like Markstrom asking for a trade. It just says that Morris offered to work together to see if a trade can get done. Without more context, it sounds like Conroy may have been the one to inquire first.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Goriders

Do we really miss any of them though?

- Lindholm and Big Z did not want to be here. Lindholm was doing nothing and Zadorov isn’t even in Vancouver anymore. He was a rollercoaster.
- Markstrom’s stats were no better than Vladar’s. Or Wolf’s.
- Debateable that Sharangovich is better than Toffoli
- Tanev was getting long in the tooth and injury prone.
- I think Hanifin was a loss. But he wasn’t interested so what do you do?

So I don’t think the team’s performance dropped much if at all. The culture of the team improved and we opened up $18 million cap space with a bunch of new prospects. Win win in my mind.

2 wins in the first 10 games last year was the end of any thought of keeping that team together with them all wanting top dollar

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I don't see it.

You don't have that level of space if you're going for it.

I'm sure the Flames could have outbid teams and paid more in dollars and term if they wanted to bolster their roster.

They didn't.

Yeah, that is true. But by this summer, Conroy had already clearly been forced into this "retool/rebuild." My point is that he didn't want to be where he was this past summer and would have preferred keeping most of the team he had inherited. He was forced into most of his decisions (and has made out like a bandit because of it).

But the course he's taking isn't to rebuild the team for the new building; it's to not rebuild and be as competitive as possible every year.