2024/2025 Season trade rumours and speculation thread

[Paulie Walnuts]

Jack Eichel never made the playoffs before making it first year and winning it all.

Ovechkin and Hull are deadly goal scorers. Not sure Aho is comparable to them.

[GioforPM]

Is that Sebastian Aho, drafted 35OA in 2015?

[traptor]

Aho is definitely good enough to be a 1c on a cup winners.
But you need another elite producer with him, which maybe Necas has become.

Look at the three team leaders last season:
Aho 78gp 36g 53a 89p
Jarvis 81gp 33g 34a 67p
Teravainen 76gp 25g 28a 53p

It feels like you typically need atleast 2 or 3 elite players to win the cup.

Even the Blues had prime RoR, tarasenko and Pietrangelo, plus binnington went super Saiyan.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Carolina also plays that ultra aggressive man on man. When you make a mistake it’s in your net.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by traptor

Aho is definitely good enough to be a 1c on a cup winners.
But you need another elite producer with him, which maybe Necas has become.

Look at the three team leaders last season:
Aho 78gp 36g 53a 89p
Jarvis 81gp 33g 34a 67p
Teravainen 76gp 25g 28a 53p

It feels like you typically need atleast 2 or 3 elite players to win the cup.

Even the Blues had prime RoR, tarasenko and Pietrangelo, plus binnington went super Saiyan.

I think you need 4-5. Avs had Nate, Makar, Rantanen, Kadri. Knights had stone, Eichel, Peterangelo and that other guy that went to Nashville. Tampa has Kucherov, Point, Hedman, Stamkos. Florida had Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhart, Forsling, and Bob stepped up.

[dammage79]

Wonder if Carolina gets aggressive on acquiring a goalie now that the goalie market (affordable one) has dwindled to nothing.

Dan Vladar, you are a Carolina Hurricane.

[NegativeSpace]

So after reading this thread, the team needs to draft good players and focus on getting the best players they can. The team will draft where it will draft this year. It’s a sunk cost. Honestly, if they can’t score this team is probably going to be bottom 10. If they figure out the scoring then the team can probably compete for a playoff spot all year. I’m not sure all this hand wringing is worth while.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Wonder if Carolina gets aggressive on acquiring a goalie now that the goalie market (affordable one) has dwindled to nothing.

Dan Vladar, you are a Carolina Hurricane.

Vladar for Justin Poirier and a pick?

[Robbob]

Kucherov is the best player out of that draft class. He is a unicorn.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Florida is in the market for a RHD. Not sure they have enough for Andersson.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Vladar for Justin Poirier and a pick?

We need a goalie. Preferably one who lets in weak goals lol.

Was hoping to grab Georgiev but now he just helps our competition drop games.

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by spennywalks

Aho is a number 1. But he isnt a cup winning number 1. Almost like thatsone of the biggest reasons the Hurricanes havent been able to get over the playoff hump!

Sebastian Aho, who consistently flirts with 40 goals and sits around PPG pace...is the problem?

The issue with Carolina is Brind'Amour is enamoured by Ted Drury and won't move Necas to center (where he wants to play) to help bolster their middle depth. As good as Rod the Bod is, and he's an excellent coach, he relies way too heavy on a guy like Drury and still Jordan Staal. Maybe Aho isn't in that top tier star player category but he's a damn good player who doesn't exactly vanish in the playoffs either. You can build around this guy.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Wonder if Carolina gets aggressive on acquiring a goalie now that the goalie market (affordable one) has dwindled to nothing.

Dan Vladar, you are a Carolina Hurricane.

There’s always a first. But this Hurricanes regime has been extremely frugal on spending assets on goaltending.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Vladar for Justin Poirier and a pick?

How about Vladar and a 5th for Poirier, that way it’ll make them think they got Vlad for free.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

How about Vladar and a 5th for Poirier, that way it’ll make them think they got Vlad for free.

They have a few other prospects I would prefer more than Poirier, like D Scott Morrow, LW Nikita Artamonov (who could be a star in the making), D Noel Franson (underrated), C/LW Brad Nadeau (Suniev's former Junior linemate), and RW Felix Unger Sorum- but I doubt they would part with any of them for Vladar....

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

There’s always a first. But this Hurricanes regime has been extremely frugal on spending assets on goaltending.

Because the current Hurricanes regime had Aanti Ranta already signed (who Waddell signed two more times) and Frederik Andersen (who Waddell signed twice). They didn't need to spend an assest to get goaltending as they had it from the UFA market. The issue is that Andersen has had a few injury issues the last two years and Raanta before that was an oft-injuried player regardless. Raanta's game went to crap, he's gone now and Andersen is injured again and 35 year old UFA this summer.

Goaltending in a cap world, when you're buying UFA's is usually a ride or die situation. They haven't been in a position to spend picks on goalies, even if they wanted to.

Carolina ain't maintaining top 10 with Pyotr Kochetkov and Dustin Tokarski

[Andrew]

Vladar .900-.905 max when healthy. Being generous. Not consistent. I be happy with 3rd.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I still think the Flames finish bottom 5. They are now only 6 points away. it is hardly some reach to think that they will lose more games than most teams under them right now. I don't see a team that has been built to win. There are also ZERO teams tanking right now - well, I guess with the exception of San Jose since they traded out Blackwood, but that's a trade they probably needed to make anyway when looking at their organizational structure right now.

Pittsburgh is the only team that I thought were about to rebuild, but they have been good. I don't think a rebuild happens while Sid is there. Everyone else is more at the tail end of their rebuilds - this bodes incredibly well for Calgary.

I don't see the need to argue so much about mushy middles and how many top picks and so on... the Flames have had a LOT of cap space and futures, and they did NOT build a good team. Their veteran signings were cheap darts at obtaining more picks at the deadline, not building a playoff team.

This team isn't as good as the 2015 Flames that so many people claim were "unsustainable". That team was miles better. They had a young Gaudreau, Monahan, Bennett, Ferland and Hudler leading the way. A prime Giordano and Wideman (people forget how good he was then too leading the league in minutes played while Giordano was out), and a 47 point Brodie. Flames only have Weegar and Rasmus this year, and it is likely that Rasmus gets traded.

This is a botom 5 team that has beaten expectations. You can't outwork everyone without enough talent. Last night was a great example - Flames out-work Dallas and had the game tied after 40 minutes. In the third, Dallas simply decided to be better, and beat the Flames in 10 minutes.

Wolf is good - and I bet he will only get better (and so has Vladar - also very good!) - but neither of them are a goalie in their prime and regularly stealing games. Markstrom was better last season with how many games he stole IMO. Season before that he was a disappointment, but he sure was a great goalie last season. Wolf isn't turning this team's fortunes around (at least not yet).

As for "tanking" and so on - it does work. It isn't the only way to go about it, but it certainly does work. Oilers without McDavid would be laughingstocks. Pittsburgh doesn't win without Crosby and Malkin. Chicago was a fantastic team at the draft, but no guarantee they win without Toews and Kane. Does Tampa win without Hedman and Stamkos? Doubtful.

Nothing is guaranteed, but it certainly takes you a step closer to being a contender when you have enough top-end talent on a team. You win cups by having that top-end talent AND a very deep supporting cast as well.

Why wasn't Calgary ever a contender (and no, they never were - nice regular season finishes mean squat to competing - competing for the cup or at least competing for the conference title makes you a contender, not a nice regular season win and getting embarrassed in the 2nd round)? Why weren't they a contender?

They weren't because Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk were a good enough top line to win, but they were missing an entire 2nd line. Backlund's line should have been an elite-level 3rd line. They were missing a layer. They also never had a #1 defencemen. Rasmus is becoming one right now, you can make an argument that Weegar might be one, but it was always Hanifin (a solid minute muncher but not a #1), Tanev (a great defensive player but not a #1), Andersson who was better on the 2nd pairing... Flames had a very solid defence, but nobody 'elite'. Nobody that came onto the ice and tilted it.

2015 they had that tilting pair in Giordano and Brodie. People forget how dominant that pairing really was both from the eye test and from an analytics point of view. That team had more jam, more youth in important places, and decent vets pushing them along too. This team doesn't have that quality. They will get that after this upcoming draft. That team also had more muscle.

The Flames finished 9th from the bottom last season. Are they better or worse on paper? I argue they are much worse on paper on the opening night roster this season than last season, and it isn't even close. Are the other teams at the bottom better or worse from that time-span? I would argue that practically every team is better. Who is worse?

Beyond this season, the next two drafts after this have two generational players back-to-back. Calgary won't be getting better. I just fear that the Pens will choose that time-frame to tank, or that the Oilers do as well with McDavid (potentially) leaving. No guarantee that you get McKenna or Dupont, but to be this close down the standings and NOT try? Seems a bit silly to me, no? McKenna could be worth 1 billion dollars to this organization as McDavid was to Edmonton in 2015 (that was the valuation for the club among some outlets that I remember). If that's true, it won't pass the sniff test for Murray to demand this team get better next season, if it is really true anyway that all he cares about is making money (and I don't think that's true).

Say what you will, but I still see a bottom 5 team this year, and then I would reevaluate them compared to other teams the following year after that.

One final note - I am sure happy that the Flames hired Conroy who (knock on wood) hasn't been swayed into making moves to support this team as they exceeded all expectations out of the gate. Those moves that Nashville made in hindsight have been atrocious. What do they do now? Change their plans back to rebuild after signing those deals? Trotz was a very, very elite-level coach, but he made a huge misstep early on in his GM career. I think that the investment that the Flames made in Conroy is paying off.

Anyway, I will be surprised if this team finishes outside the bottom 5. I will be absolutely shocked if they finish outside the bottom 10. I expect Andersson to be traded, and I will be surprised if they hang onto Kadri unless a reasonable deal is never put on the table (which may not be - Kadri's production vs age vs contract may be too much to move).

[Paulie Walnuts]

Nashville should fire Trotz not the coach. Hire an offensive coach and give him some terrible tools to work with. 2nd oldest roster. Players who showed regression trading away the younger players. Terrible start to his career as GM and it might not last.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

At any point in your above examples did you feel like the Flames were a solid annual contender? I moved here in '97 and not once since moving here have I though the flames are that.

It's not a binary choice between ‘mushy middle’ and ‘solid annual contender’. Many years the Flames were downright bad, and from '97 to '03 they were utterly hopeless. That's not ‘mushy middle’, that's a whole different animal – and it is exactly what the rebuild crowd claim they want to see. So what's your beef with that?

It's false and stupid to claim that the team has produced the same results for the entire 35-year run since the 1989 Stanley Cup win.

This is what they should be building towards, Consistency will bring fans, not make the playoffs once and miss next 4 years, win the division and wash out in first round etc.

The team has, in fact, never made the playoffs for just one year and then missed four. Complaining about something that has never even happened is silly.