2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Toonage]

Full disclosure I didn't read the article, but Pagnotta's quote is "I would be surprised if we saw a Kadri trade now"

Which (to me) is him saying its unlikely.

Which seems like the MSN author/bot/etc misunderstood

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Full disclosure I didn't read the article, but Pagnotta's quote is "I would be surprised if we saw a Kadri trade now"

Which (to me) is him saying its unlikely.

Which seems like the MSN author/bot/etc misunderstood

That kind of confused me as well. Granted, I really skimmed through it, but the quote in the article doesn't seem to match the title.

[Toonage]

If someone wants to post the relevant text that would be awesome but I'm not clicking through on a work PC to MSN

[FanSince'01]

Yes, Pagnotta's exact quote was "I would be a little bit surprised if we see a Kadri trade happen now or over the course of the offseason, especially one that wouldn't benefit the Flames in some fashion immediately"

So IMO that article writer doesn't understand the difference between "I wouldn't be surprised" and "I would be surprised"

[Madrox]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Can anyone explain to someone dumb like me how the Flames got 4 seasons out of Zary's ELC? He played 53 games in Stockton in 21-22, than 72 with the Wrangers in 22-23, than 69 between the Flames and Wrangers in 23-24 and 54 with the Flames last year. Yet if you look on Puckpedia the only contract he's ever had is the ELC, and they have it as having slid in 20-21 as he played 9 games with the Stockton that season which makes sense. But it also slid the following season. My guess is because Zary was still 19 on September 15th of that year and didn't play in the NHL that might have something to do with it.

I can't quite figure out how a player who should have 4 accrued pro seasons after Junior still has 4 more years to UFA (2029) instead of 3 and has only had his one ELC so far.

https://www.puckpedia.com/player/connor-zary

ELC slide is exclusively about age, and still applies in the AHL.

https://puckpedia.com/entry-level-slides

It’s just that it’s unusual for a CHL player to be eligible for AHL play as well as a slide, but because Zary turned 20 before December 31st he was eligible to play in the AHL that year, but since he was 19 on September 15th he was eligible for a contract slide.

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1947727956949815482

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by FanSince'01

Yes, Pagnotta's exact quote was "I would be a little bit surprised if we see a Kadri trade happen now or over the course of the offseason, especially one that wouldn't benefit the Flames in some fashion immediately"

So IMO that article writer doesn't understand the difference between "I wouldn't be surprised" and "I would be surprised"

Man that is sloppy reporting.
Takes a quote and misunderstands what someone else was saying.
And writes an entire article about it.
And it gets published.

Brutal.

[Toonage]

Stay far away from MSN

[ResAlien]

I assume it's idiot AI that slapped that together but lord knows no person would ever misinterpret what was said and reported about a team or player. That would be, as they say in the biz, a whopper.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by dino7c

All this "Zary was the Flames best forward early" talk is kinda nonsense IMO

He was noticable and flashy which is good but he never put up much as far as actual numbers go and then had two pretty major injuries. Coronato earned his contract, Zary hasn't earned anything similar yet.

Zary was 10-12-22 in 40 games (45 pt pace) before the injury, which was 3rd, behind Huberdeau and Kadri (and ahead of Coronato)

After the injury, he was 3-2-5 in 14 games (29 pt pace)

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Seems kind of reckless to me. A guy who is turning 24 before the season has started and has never scored 15 goals or 35pts in a season, who has had injuries throughout his career would get a 7 year $42M commitment from the Flames. Insane bet on value in my opinion and a huge overpay.

I’m not seeing the insanity of signing a good, young player with shown skill and a large amount of potential to a long term contract at $6m a year. Zary’s three year value at this point is probably around $4m a year based on his current production, so why not pay an extra $2m a year now on a 6-7 year deal to offset a contract that could be $8-$10m (with cap inflation) if it’s signed four years from now? If he still only produces at his current rate in three to four years, you’re only paying a million or two more than market value at that point so how big of a risk is that?

Spend the cap now to lock in long term value, and then continue to draft well and cycle in young talent, who the team continues to sign to longer term value contracts. There’s a competitive path here for a team like Calgary that could become a model for other NHL teams.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

How does anyone not remember he was playing on a broken foot for a large part of the season?

Because it only affected the last 12 games of the season, and he was struggling before that?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Madrox

ELC slide is exclusively about age, and still applies in the AHL.

https://puckpedia.com/entry-level-slides

It’s just that it’s unusual for a CHL player to be eligible for AHL play as well as a slide, but because Zary turned 20 before December 31st he was eligible to play in the AHL that year, but since he was 19 on September 15th he was eligible for a contract slide.

Okay, so since Zary was 19 on September 15th, but turned 20 before the 31st of December, he was still eligible to have that contract slide even thought he played his age 20 season in the AHL whereas in Junior he would have been considered an overage player. Sam Honzak also falls into that Category since he didn't play 9 games in the NHL last year his deal has slid to start for the coming 25-26 season.

I would have thought that might accrue as a pro season in terms of service time for these guys too, but it appears not as Zary still needs to play 4 more seasons to get to UFA status, and I'm guessing Honzak has 7 starting this season (as opposed to 6).

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Zary was 10-12-22 in 40 games (45 pt pace) before the injury, which was 3rd, behind Huberdeau and Kadri (and ahead of Coronato)

After the injury, he was 3-2-5 in 14 games (29 pt pace)

Just curious because I can't remember, but was he playing on the wing or center in those final 14 games?

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Man that is sloppy reporting.
Takes a quote and misunderstands what someone else was saying.
And writes an entire article about it.
And it gets published.

Brutal.

Forced “Sign in to MSN” to read a MSN article? lol nope I’m good thanks. Brutal.

[howard_the_duck]

Where are the sellers at?

With almost every insider coming out and saying everyone is looking to add and get better, you'd think some lucky team who's a seller would step up to the plate and essentially be fishing in a barrel.

Especially staring down the barrel of the McKenna draft.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Zary was 10-12-22 in 40 games (45 pt pace) before the injury, which was 3rd, behind Huberdeau and Kadri (and ahead of Coronato)

After the injury, he was 3-2-5 in 14 games (29 pt pace)

exaclty...when you start using pace you are just cherry picking. He hasn't done it yet, Coronato did.

24 goal career high 47 point career high
vs.
14 goal 34 point career high

Being injured twice is not something that should improve your contract situation. Potential is there but he needs to take a lesser deal than Coronato IF that is the hold up. I'm almost certain it gets done and this all becomes pointless mid July debate.

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by NegativeSpace

I suspect that Zary wants the dollar figure from Coronato but not the term. While everyone says that the Flames should lock him up, it seems to me that Zary is probably the one wanting less term.

If Zary wants to be paid like Coronato he should play that way. He is highly overrated here. Anything over 4.5-5MM is an overpay. He tops out as a middle six winger.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Where are the sellers at?

With almost every insider coming out and saying everyone is looking to add and get better, you'd think some lucky team who's a seller would step up to the plate and essentially be fishing in a barrel.

Especially staring down the barrel of the McKenna draft.

Ducks, Sharks, and Blackhawks are all trying to pull out of their rebuilds. Mammoth, Sabres, and Kraken are also all trying to get into contention. Bubble teams like NYR, CBJ, and Red Wings are all trying to build their rosters up. NYI and Predators dipped unexpectedly but I doubt they will start selling and going into a long rebuild.

The only teams "selling" are the Flames, maybe the Flyers, and perhaps the Penguins. We are still waiting to see if the Penguins blow it up.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Where are the sellers at?

With almost every insider coming out and saying everyone is looking to add and get better, you'd think some lucky team who's a seller would step up to the plate and essentially be fishing in a barrel.

Especially staring down the barrel of the McKenna draft.

Well maybe some of these buyers should buck up and pay?

It's July...nobody has been eliminated from the playoffs so that might tell you why "sellers" are not willing to make deals to placate fans. Unless it's a hell of an offer that's significantly better than what you might get in season where's the urgency for teams to move these players?