2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by Sec214

Gladiator! Goden Knights, or the return of Sec the Warrior from his self-imposed exile?

[MrMike]

Originally Posted by Macindoc

Gladiator! Goden Knights, or the return of Sec the Warrior from his self-imposed exile?

Nope, thats a go #### yourself GIF

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Even if we are in the hunt?

I would trade him if we are in the hunt, yes. I don't think this team being there means much, because we aren't built currently for a deep run.

We have some great solid building blocks. But I personally would prefer we do everything in our power to get as many picks and prospects as we can. Already we are seeing our prospect pool surge the last couple years. We are just missing that top end talent prospects outside of Parekh.

[Wolven]

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.

Should they ask them again if they already know the answer?

How about now? Now? Maybe, now? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooow?

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

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

Lol. You disagree with my post yet contribute nothing to disputing it. Just whining and crying like you always do.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by 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.

A winning culture is going to mean jack when you have roster of mid level talent. It's a convenient excuse though.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Hackey

A winning culture is going to mean jack when you have roster of mid level talent. It's a convenient excuse though.

"Lol. You disagree with FleeceGang's post yet contribute nothing to disputing it. Just whining and crying like you always do."

The Flames have some excellent talent in the pipeline already and not just "mid level talent". Some could be really good and some could be elite. We already know about Coronato and Wolf and Zary should be able to take the next step without freak injuries holding him back.

Other forward prospects showing top 6 potential: Gridin, Suniev, Battaglia, Basha, and perhaps Honzek. Basically the team is loaded on the wings.

D also looks good with Bahl, Brzustewicz, and Kuznetsov. They could potentially round out a top 4 around Parekh. Not to mention Morin, Grushnikov, and Solovyov.

The only real issue with the prospect pool is C. Hopefully Reschny, Potter, and Stockselius all pan out (and L.Misa as well!) and two of them can hold down the top 2 C jobs, but work in that position is definitely needed by GMCC.

However, the gap in this one critical position is not enough to be dismissive of the rest of the talent in the prospect pool or the value of having strong vets to set the example for the young players to learn from. That just makes you look like you have no idea what has been going on over the last few years or how to analyze the current state of the organization (or even just properly read other people's analysis).

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Hackey

A winning culture is going to mean jack when you have roster of mid level talent. It's a convenient excuse though.

It's so much better to draft top talent and have a culture that only knows how to lose, like Buffalo.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Lol. You disagree with my post yet contribute nothing to disputing it. Just whining and crying like you always do.

I don't need to dispute it, it's a stupid take. Everyone can see that.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

It's so much better to draft top talent and have a culture that only knows how to lose, like Buffalo.

It's not necessarily either/or, you can have both.

Start low and get some great draft picks and get better year by year.

Let's see how SJ and Chicago eventually fares, who have accumulated strong prospect pools who are now contributing, and still have lots of draft picks.

They'll start winning over the next few years, and their players will receive a better culture.

Buffalo is a bad example as their management is terrible.

But an absence of elite talent will kill you every time.

But Calagry really can't "tank". They have too much older talent who don't want to move, or can't be moved, along with an elite goaltender. They need to stay the course and hope some elite talent falls into their lap, ala Parekh and Gaudreau.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

If Kadri doesn't want to waive his NTC, that is fine.

We've been told this. Numerous times. And somehow "It's fine" means this topic of discussion returns from the glue factory every day since July 2. I get it's been a slow off season, but if we're randomly making up stuff to discuss, surely there's more than one avenue to explore?

• I hear McKenna will hold out on whichever team drafts him, because he only wants to play for the Calgary Flames
• Reports suggest Jarome Iginla, more cut and strong than ever, is planning to come out of retirement
• Leaked TikTok reveals Weegar hates the the city of Calgary and its fans, but only says nice things since he gets paid a lot of money
• Murray Edwards rumored to be part of Epstein files

There. Go nuts.

[Freeway]

All I know is that the Flames have a binding lease until 2052. Everything else is details.

[Royle9]

Still wondering why Kadri wasn’t traded I see.
Imagine how respected Craig would be around the league after one of the most polarizing and verbal players on your team wants to stay and help you build something special, but you hound him to be traded even though he has an NTC.

Yea… players would love to come here, let alone think by negotiating a NMC or NTC that they could find some peace in a long term deal knowing Craig could come knocking constantly no matter the direction of the team or your desire to want to play for this city…

I feel like some people don’t understand the humility behind the scenes and the impact it has around the hockey world.

[Bingo]

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.

But wouldn't a 13 team no trade list essentially be iron clad at the deadline?

Submit teams 1-13 in the standings and likely you're not going anywhere.

Teams below that wouldn't be adding at the deadline.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

It's so much better to draft top talent and have a culture that only knows how to lose, like Buffalo.

Florida Panthers - 18 years out of the playoffs, 24 years and only 1 playoff round win, then magically three straight trips to the finals and two Stanley Cups.

Tampa Bay Lightning - 9 years out of the playoffs, one playoff round win in 11 straight years, then win a Stanley Cup.

Chicago Blackhawks - 9 years out of the playoffs, 2 playoffs round wins in 11 years which happened in the same season right before....a Stanley Cup.

LA Kings - 6 straight years out of playoffs, 8 straight years with no playoff wins, then a Stanley Cup.

Carolina Hurricanes - 9 years out of the playoffs, 3 playoff wins in 12 years which were all in the same season, then Stanley Cup.

Pittsburgh Penguins - 4 years straight years being one of the worst teams in the league, no playoff wins in 5 years, then they go to the finals and win the Cup the next year.

[Bingo]

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.

I think you have to be very glass half empty to see it that way.

I see two key components added in Wolf and Parekh, three straight drafts where they killed it and transformed their prospect base, and some great development stories in Coronato and Bahl.

Lots is going right if you just let yourself see it.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Hackey

A winning culture is going to mean jack when you have roster of mid level talent. It's a convenient excuse though.

I'm good with disagreeing on the importance of veterans, and culture. It's a hard thing to pin down.

Suggesting that the opposing view is a "convenient excuse" is lame as hell though.

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Still wondering why Kadri wasn’t traded I see.
Imagine how respected Craig would be around the league after one of the most polarizing and verbal players on your team wants to stay and help you build something special, but you hound him to be traded even though he has an NTC.

Yea… players would love to come here, let alone think by negotiating a NMC or NTC that they could find some peace in a long term deal knowing Craig could come knocking constantly no matter the direction of the team or your desire to want to play for this city…

I feel like some people don’t understand the humility behind the scenes and the impact it has around the hockey world.

Wants to stay and help build something special? We are at the early stages of a rebuild. Kadri is 35 and aging.

The timeline just does not fit. He won't be around by the time we are able to build a contender. It's fine if he wants to be here, wait til his NMC changes and then trade him after.

The absolute best thing for this team long term is to tank the next couple years and draft a franchise center and winger near the top of the draft. That would be a game changer. Until then though, "building something special" while likely having zero first line centers or wingers in the organization is crazy talk.

[The Fonz]

He has a NTC and he wants to live in this community and be a part of this team. End of story. So STFU about it.

As a fan of a team that’s on a lot of players no-trade lists, one would think you’d show some appreciation and respect toward a 30 goal scorer that loves the team & city of Calgary. We need impact+ veterans on the roster, otherwise our young up and comers do not have mentors, and it will have a negative impact on their development and career trajectories.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by rhett44

wants to stay and help build something special? We are at the early stages of a rebuild. Kadri is 35 and aging.

The timeline just does not fit. He won't be around by the time we are able to build a contender. It's fine if he wants to be here, wait til his nmc changes and then trade him after.

The absolute best thing for this team long term is to tank the next couple years and draft a franchise center and winger near the top of the draft. That would be a game changer. Until then though, "building something special" while likely having zero first line centers or wingers in the organization is crazy talk.

Obsessed