2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

I said in the summer that Conroy should set a Sept 1 deadline to trade Ras for the best offer he can get. When I said that, I got fleeced too!

The good news is keeping him, and a few others looks to be the best way to get a top pick anyways.

It is hard to see a different result had he moved Andersson that the team would be better off without the distraction. I do wonder though if this has played into the start if it is a mistake Conroy is looking to avoid in the future. I think if we see Coleman move this year that could possibly be a sign that he does not want these vets to be a distraction in their final year with the current group of players. It could also be a coincidence that they get what they like for Coleman and move him this year.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

It is hard to see a different result had he moved Andersson that the team would be better off without the distraction. I do wonder though if this has played into the start if it is a mistake Conroy is looking to avoid in the future. I think if we see Coleman move this year that could possibly be a sign that he does not want these vets to be a distraction in their final year with the current group of players. It could also be a coincidence that they get what they like for Coleman and move him this year.

They might be in a similar spot in the standings, but I bet there would be less of a divide in the locker room.

Wolf and Weegar's comments vs Ras comments does make it seem like there is a huge issue in the locker room. I suspect some young guys are pouting due to lack of ice and have said several times in the last month that Zary has to be upset with his usage. All summer some of our comments were they needed to move Ras and at least 1 forward. For me Kadri 1st, Coleman 2nd and if they keep both Zary was 3rd for me.

Ras seems to have a chip on his shoulder and seems to want to give the media and a select % of fans bashing him a big eff you on his way out.

Trading him the summer was the right move, way too much stock gets put into the differential of the value of a trade offer. Biggest one for me is a late 1st vs a 2nd. Some people act like a late 1st is gold and the 2nd is garbage. Once teams get into the 25-64 pick range, often team preference on players start to dictate where players get picked and often a team would get a player at 50 that they might have picked at 35. Sure picks 25-32 are more valuable, but it's very close when you look at the results.

Having a guy like Zary sitting on the 4th line and doing nothing is worth more than that upgrade on the pick.

[gvitaly]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1988478067581591661

https://twitter.com/user/status/1988645337322692898

[Monahammer]

Buffalo is coming back around for me as a strong trade partner.

Quinn and Power being the two I would focus on.

Brzutewicz, Pospisil, Zary + available on our side...

[ResAlien]

The good news is we're a uncompetitive team who doesn't need the cap space so the useless guy we signed to a terrible contract won't hurt too much except when he inevitably gets benched or scratched forever. He's basically the new version of our perennial bad UFA contract. Just pretend he's Neal or Brouwer and forget about him as long as he's not a locker room problem

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

The good news is we're a uncompetitive team who doesn't need the cap space so the useless guy we signed to a terrible contract won't hurt too much except when he inevitably gets benched or scratched forever. He's basically the new version of our perennial bad UFA contract. Just pretend he's Neal or Brouwer and forget about him as long as he's not a locker room problem

Situations like this often change year over year. Yegor's contract isn't hurting this team and I'm sure there will be a point where he plays well enough to trade, near the end of the contract.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Situations like this often change year over year. Yegor's contract isn't hurting this team and I'm sure there will be a point where he plays well enough to trade, near the end of the contract.

Sharangovich is young enough to have a decent chance of rebounding at some point. This contract goes right through what should be his prime.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Situations like this often change year over year. Yegor's contract isn't hurting this team and I'm sure there will be a point where he plays well enough to trade, near the end of the contract.

Just a hunch but given his play the last two seasons, I'm not sure he will be playing in the NHL near the end of his contract.

[SuperMatt18]

I'm not buying out Sharangovich before I see him with a different coach.

Even in his good season he bounced around the lineup a ton and spent the first 10 games of that season as a 4th line center playing with AJ Greer and Walker Duehr.

Huska has never really figured out a way to use him consistently at 5v5 in any of his seasons here...which is interesting because I actually don't see him as a bad defensive player.

Down the stretch last season he had success with Frost but they moved away from that for some reason.

The lines that kind of worked down the stretch last year were:

Sharangovich - Frost - Pospisil
Huberdeau - Kadri - Klapka
Coleman - Backlund - Coronato

But we haven't seen an iteration of that really at all yet this year.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

The good news is we're a uncompetitive team who doesn't need the cap space so the useless guy we signed to a terrible contract won't hurt too much except when he inevitably gets benched or scratched forever. He's basically the new version of our perennial bad UFA contract. Just pretend he's Neal or Brouwer and forget about him as long as he's not a locker room problem

Yeah Flames are closer to the floor than the ceiling. Need Sharangovich's cap hit to sell players. Keep him until we need the cap space. Unless, he can turn it around and return an asset.

[Rhett44]

Sharo a great tank commander. Keep him he's terrible.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Sharangovich is young enough to have a decent chance of rebounding at some point. This contract goes right through what should be his prime.

His contract is very low on the priority list.

#1 by a mile is staying right where we are in the standings.

It would be nice to see some good trades come in soon, but any trade where we trade key contributors that are not in the long-term plan for draft picks is good as it helps #1 on the priority list.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I'm not buying out Sharangovich before I see him with a different coach.

Even in his good season he bounced around the lineup a ton and spent the first 10 games of that season as a 4th line center playing with AJ Greer and Walker Duehr.

Huska has never really figured out a way to use him consistently at 5v5 in any of his seasons here...which is interesting because I actually don't see him as a bad defensive player.

Down the stretch last season he had success with Frost but they moved away from that for some reason.

The lines that kind of worked down the stretch last year were:

Sharangovich - Frost - Pospisil
Huberdeau - Kadri - Klapka
Coleman - Backlund - Coronato

But we haven't seen an iteration of that really at all yet this year.

Yegor started very slow in his best year with us. Some players do this annually. See Jarome Iginla. Backlund does this as well. January seems to be when he gets rolling.

This team has major issues in the locker room, no reason to judge anyone right now until that is resolved. Just hoping that the issues doesn't linger with players who were in the plans long term.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

Sharo a great tank commander. Keep him he's terrible.

You are insufferable.

[stemit14]

Of all the line combinations that Huska has tried, why hasn’t he tried Zary at center with players with more scoring ability? Not even once? Zary has not played well but shouldn’t it be part of Huska’s job to try to help Zary succeed? Bouncing him around the line up and sitting him for long stretches of games doesn’t seem like a positive way to boost his confidence and get him playing the way he has shown he can.

Farabee-Kadri-Coleman
Sharangovich-Frost-Klapka
Huberdeau-Zary-Coronato
Honzek-Backlund-Kirkland

Ideally, if Posposil was back, he would be on Kadri’s line in that scenario and Backlund would have Coleman back. But it’s something to try. The team is dead last. They literally have nothing to lose by trying something different for a while. Give it a few games to see how it goes. I’m fine with the rebuild and getting a high draft pick - it’s what is best for the team long term. But would like to see more effort from the coaching staff to put players like Zary, Coronato, Klapka and Honzek in positions to succeed. Ultimately, it might take trading players like Kadri and Coleman to force the coaching staff into that position.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Royle9

I don't disagree with Craig not moving Rasmus for spare change.
You have to do what's right for the team long term.

The lack of movement thus far comes down to 2 very key/important timelines:

Scenario 1: Deadline Day

• Significant interest in Rasmus at the deadline
• Significant interest in Kadri at the deadline
• Teams kicking tires on Coleman and Backlund at the deadline
• Calgary had a number of offers, good and bad for both Rasmus and Kadri but nothing so good you would risk blowing up what you had at that point
• I'd argue the Nelson deal would have looked good, but at the time Kadri also had a NTC and blocked any move
• Calgary chooses to keep both guys
• Calgary chose not to go out and acquire anything else and simply ride it out with the team that got them to that point

Calgary was in the hunt for the playoffs at that point and Craig chose to reward the players by letting them choose their own destiny with their play, didnt trade anyone away nor did they trade away any sort of futures to try and push a little more.

Status quo.

Scenario 2: Summer

The season ends, Calgary misses by 1 point sadly but had a historical run from the deadline on with the guys that got them there. Hard to argue Craig did anything wrong, they probably should have made the playoffs, never know what happens when you get in but unlikely they make a deep run just based on skill.

Garbage bag day starts, players speak to media and a few key guys are highlighted as they were targets previously.

1. Kadri confirms he wants to win in Calgary, moved his family out here and wants to re-tool and do something special here next year
2. Rasmus thanks the city for drafting him, loved every minute of it they had some good runs but acknowledges he didnt sign an extension because he wants to talk to his family and do whats best for them
3. Rasmus looking to win now, not too much interest in any sort of rebuild depending on how the team chooses to go, acknowledges he's respectful of Craig and his decision and will do what's best for Calgary

UFA period comes and goes, Calgary doesn't sign any big UFA's though had interest in a few to see if they could retool faster.
Talks continue between teams and Calgary on what they plan to do with guys like Rasmus, Kadri and Backlund potentially.

News breaks that Calgary had a "lucritive" trade by Dredger for Rasmus that he blocked by not agreeing to extension
News continues to swirl around his desire to only play in Vegas
Rasmus because the most talked about player for Calgary the back half of the summer leading up to both Golf Tournament day and then training camp.

Morning of Golf Tournament

• Media swirling about the blocked trade
• What team was it?
• What was the return?
• Why wouldn't Rasmus agree to an extension?
• Does this mean he's not coming back to Calgary?
• What type of distraction will this cause the team going into next season?

Plethora of questions waiting for Rasmus the minute he hits the links at Country Hills... hang on!

• Flames announce Wolf Extension
• Wolf front and center for the start of golf day
• Team focused on talking about how great it is to get him locked up long term
• Talk about how well he did, what this means for the future of the team
• Conveniently timed (Hanlon is a very smart guy) and takes away from significant questions and pressure on Rasmus

And now we sit here almost mid-November:

4-12-2 - 10 pts
32nd place
-20 goal differential (worst in league)
38 goals for (worst in the league)

Rasmus situation still in the background
Kadri NTC shifts to modified no-move - agrees to do whatever is best for Calgary
Multiple closed door meetings
Uninspired play
Wolf calls out lack of scoring as big problem
Weegar calls out "half the team" not showing up
Media/Fans questioning player usage from game 1
Lineup decisions very questionable
Accountability is questioned (vets vs rookies)

The last thing I will add is that yes, rebuilds are never great and I speak for myself when I say that I know there's going to be significant pain before there's any success. But this team has turned on each other, which likely means they've turned on the coach as well (remains to be seen) but they've questioned choices he's made directly.

You're going to lose when your team is built like we are, your going to have a ton of painful nights and it is what it is because you're hoping for long term success after drafting higher.

But you don't turn on each other, place blame in the room and see the toxicity and lack of effort on a nightly basis that we're seeing. It's okay to be unhappy, but hold each other accountable and show up for each other every night and give the fans something to cheer for.

A few highlights thus far for me:

Honzek great progress
Giridin showing us early he's got it
Coronato easily our best shooter since Iginla
Parekh looked good offensively the few times he was in
Kuznetsov doesnt look out of place at all
Huberdeau seems good most nights
Kadri continues to care even with his name out there constantly

I have a hard time thinking a single pending UFA would disrupt the room so much given their experience with this the past few seasons. This was lauded as this unbelievably tight group just last season, and almost no turnover.

If I were to point at issues in the room I'd look squarely at guys who are supposed to be big parts of this team but continue to underperform. Zary and Sharangovich would scream to me as malcontents. Coronato has had a slow start (though better lately) too. All of them have been healthy scratched whereas Morgan Frost or Farabee have struggled at least as much and haven't come out (to my knowledge).

It's a tough job for the coaching staff. You have a plethora of 3rd line guys but no one is really jumping up and grabbing the opportunity, so the scratches and lineup decisions get scrutinized even more.

A combination of players underperforming and the coaching staff having too much of the same to work with has created this issue, IMO. Not a pending UFA Ras who has by all accounts been pretty professional his entire career as a Flame.

[bluejays]

It’s quite a fall from grace for Sharangovich. A year ago the story was we stole him from New Jersey with first line potential. Now he’s become the whipping boy. What happened here?

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

You are insufferable.

Find some light in this, complaining every day isn't going to help. We are in for a few years of this.

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

Sharo a great tank commander. Keep him he's terrible.

I LOL'd

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by bluejays

It’s quite a fall from grace for Sharangovich. A year ago the story was we stole him from New Jersey with first line potential. Now he’s become the whipping boy. What happened here?

He's a slow starter as one poster mentioned.

And I'd almost guarantee the coach is not a fan - because his leash is a lot shorter than other players who have struggled for this team.

And he's impacted by the overall system and utilization issues that have plagued the forward group too. It's impacted Coronato and Kadri too TBH.

Most of the forwards on this team are struggling with the constant line juggling.

Originally Posted by stemit14

Of all the line combinations that Huska has tried, why hasn’t he tried Zary at center with players with more scoring ability? Not even once? Zary has not played well but shouldn’t it be part of Huska’s job to try to help Zary succeed? Bouncing him around the line up and sitting him for long stretches of games doesn’t seem like a positive way to boost his confidence and get him playing the way he has shown he can.

Farabee-Kadri-Coleman
Sharangovich-Frost-Klapka
Huberdeau-Zary-Coronato
Honzek-Backlund-Kirkland

Ideally, if Posposil was back, he would be on Kadri’s line in that scenario and Backlund would have Coleman back. But it’s something to try. The team is dead last. They literally have nothing to lose by trying something different for a while. Give it a few games to see how it goes. I’m fine with the rebuild and getting a high draft pick - it’s what is best for the team long term. But would like to see more effort from the coaching staff to put players like Zary, Coronato, Klapka and Honzek in positions to succeed. Ultimately, it might take trading players like Kadri and Coleman to force the coaching staff into that position.

All of the forwards IMO.

Kadri has struggled more recently with the constant line juggling. Coronato earlier in the season. Zary and Sharangovich all season.

A big part of it is the refusal to play a more balanced 4 lines and take Lomberg out of the lineup. It limits them from doing the type of roster like you have proposed above.