2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[memphusk]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think their work ethic is a lot easier to predict than hot/cold players. I would have missed Sharangovitch's production by a fair bit last year, but also underestimated Coronato's goalscoring.

Give Coronato a real set up man and he can score 50. That kid can fire the puck.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Rutuu

Post snapshot of the last 5yrs P&L of the bets please. I'd love to share with Oiler fans if true.

I'll take a look in the morning...106.5 for the Oilers this year fyi
Sabres at 86.5 seems like a safe under?

side note, seeing ZP run the PP tonight has me feeling pretty good about a better PP this season. Frost too.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by memphusk

Give Coronato a real set up man and he can score 50. That kid can fire the puck.

Oh I always thought he'd put up points eventually but it was a much bigger jump than I expected last year.

I think their work ethic stays the same this year, and their fortunes will depend on players having better or worse years. If Forst, Farabee and Sharangovich improve things look up. If Wolf has a sophomore slump, look out.

[Tbull8]

Huby Frost Coronato
Zary Kadri Sharangovich
Farabee Backlund Coleman
Lomberg Pospisil Klapka
Kerins

Frost Kadri Farabee can move around between those 3 lines

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

Huby Frost Coronato
Zary Kadri Sharangovich
Farabee Backlund Coleman
Lomberg Pospisil Klapka
Kerins

Frost Kadri Farabee can move around between those 3 lines

That to me is like 3 fairly weak 2nd lines in the top 9 but I like how you spread the lines out. There is upside for all 6 of those wingers to be 20+ goal scorers.

I like the 4th line if they establish an identity I also think they have the ability to put the puck in the net.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Oh I always thought he'd put up points eventually but it was a much bigger jump than I expected last year.

I think their work ethic stays the same this year, and their fortunes will depend on players having better or worse years. If Forst, Farabee and Sharangovich improve things look up. If Wolf has a sophomore slump, look out.

Not sure it's human nature to be able to dig as deep if you lose some belief.

Last year they had the everything went right start and with that stayed in the hunt all year.

Not sure the level of commitment to the dirty areas of the game will be there with a 2-5-1 start.

[Calgary Highlander]

Dallas really needs to push their chips in to break past their playoff ceiling.

I would do Andersson + Coleman (both retained) for DAL 2026 2nd + DAL 2027 1st + DAL 2027 2nd.

Load up Dallas to get past the Oilers + all futures for the Flames to keep swinging for the fences in the next two drafts. No one is trading a bluechip prospect to the Flames, Connie will have to keep finding them in the draft.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Forwards:

The three keys as to whether or not the Flames continue exceeding expectations is firmly on the shoulders of Frost, Farabee and Sharangovich. These players are in their prime, and need to really push this team. Pospisil has more in him too, but he may be relegated to the 4th line. I love Klapka, and i think he can literally be the Flames' version of Tom Wilson - this is huge if it works out that way (pun intended!). Zary staying healthy and taking a step forward will help. I expect Coronato to continue moving forward. Kadri, Backlund, Coleman, Huberdeau - I don't expect them to improve - there will be regression, more than likely, for each one. How big? No idea, but there will be some I would imagine.

So for me, the forward situation really comes down to Frost, Farabee and Sharangovich as players in their prime that are expected to help push this team.

Defence:
Can the Flames legitimately start 3 rookies this year? One on every line (assuming Andersson is dealt by the start of the season). You don't see that on any rebuilding team. I don't think it is particularly fair for Wolf either - places him in a difficult environment to develop. The key for me is - Can the Flames develop 3 prospects at once? Does Hanley continue to be a reliable top 4 defencemen? Will the Flames be a better transitioning team than they were last season with the potential of having Weegar on the top pairing, Parekh on the second pairing, and a possibility of having another strong puck mover in Brzustewicz or Poirier on the third? The defence is really fascinating to me.

It is very early, but Prosvetov looked great, and Cooley hasn't. Lots of games left to see this battle. Can either one be as good as Vladar was last season? That's also a huge question - and can they do it behind a worse defence (assuming Andersson is traded)?

There are way too many unknowns to really make definite judgements on this roster. Yes, if the Flames are able to score more goals, they will win more games, especially those OT and SO losses. The counter-argument is: "Can the Flames keep games tight enough to get into OT in the first place?"

I personally think the Flames finish bottom 5 this year. However, it isn't like I don't see a legitimate path forward into the playoffs either. Did we see an HONEST culture shift last season, or was it just another 2015 season? You see teams exceeding expectations one season, only to fall down to earth the next. Flames finished 9th worse to grab Parekh, and then got worse the following season on paper, but improved in actuality. To not see the pattern that the last decade of Flames' hockey has provided is like having the memory of a goldfish - Flames have been great for a season, bad the next, great the next, and bad the next, etc., etc., etc.,. This doesn't mean that this is going to be 100% a bad season - if there was an actual culture shift, this team is primed for the playoffs, as long as they stay healthy (knock on wood!).

The Flames were playing "in the margins" all year long. This means that it won't take much either way for them to dramatically fall, or dramatically improve. I think the start will dictate the season. Get off to a good start, that hard-working culture is more likely to stick and they will reach the archipelago of paradise - the Playoffs. If they get off to a bad start, it can take the wind right out of this ship's sails, and this team will eventually crash on the rocky shores of McKenna Island.

[dissentowner]

The.Flames have better depth than any other team in the Pacific, that's why I have them finishing 1st.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

The.Flames have better depth than any other team in the Pacific, that's why I have them finishing 1st.

[flambers]

Vegas & Oilers, will once again be at the top of the division,

Flames and bunch of others, will be working for a wild card,

Similar as last season is my guess

[TheIronMaiden]

I put money on Vancouver finishing last in the NHL.

[bdubbs]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

The.Flames have better depth than any other team in the Pacific, that's why I have them finishing 1st.

I don't agree with everything you say but I respect you for being bold enough to say it.

[GioforPM]

All I can say is that I guarantee there will be a good number of CPers mad about the opening day starting lineup.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Not sure it's human nature to be able to dig as deep if you lose some belief.

Last year they had the everything went right start and with that stayed in the hunt all year.

Not sure the level of commitment to the dirty areas of the game will be there with a 2-5-1 start.

They had a really easy start last year and a very difficult one this year. Season could be over by end of October potentially

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

All I can say is that I guarantee there will be a good number of CPers mad about the opening day starting lineup.

I am already mad and I will never stop being.

[NegativeSpace]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I put money on Vancouver finishing last in the NHL.

I love the optimism. I think Hughes is too good and they still have decent depth in their ranks. I see them fighting for third / WC like last year.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Not sure it's human nature to be able to dig as deep if you lose some belief.

Last year they had the everything went right start and with that stayed in the hunt all year.

Not sure the level of commitment to the dirty areas of the game will be there with a 2-5-1 start.

I dunno, they were effectively out of the playoffs with 10 games left and they still put it on the line every game and had a crazy good record in the last quarter of the season.

I know winning on hard work is very tiring and hard to replicate year over year. But I think it's a more talented roster than the start of the season last year, which will hopefully translate to a few more 2+ goal wins and they won't have to hard scrabble for 60 minutes to scrape out every win.

[bluejays]

I personally think that Athletic article was more than fair. That said, I see this team more or less the same as last year, with maybe a few points lower. Last year a lot went right for Wolf specifically to cover up the defensive depth issues. Scoring hasn't been addressed at the top (and that's fine with me as Conroy determines what he has). So I think it'll be more or less a wash.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

I dunno, they were effectively out of the playoffs with 10 games left and they still put it on the line every game and had a crazy good record in the last quarter of the season.

I know winning on hard work is very tiring and hard to replicate year over year. But I think it's a more talented roster than the start of the season last year, which will hopefully translate to a few more 2+ goal wins and they won't have to hard scrabble for 60 minutes to scrape out every win.

Happy to be wrong!

I was last year and ended up writing 78 game stories when I thought I'd be in weekly summaries by December.