2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Sharangovich was before the real tear down began.
I see Frost and Farabee as an asset management trade rather than a shortcut trade. I’ll beat Frost returns better than the 2nd they gave up.

Frost and Farabee at this point with how they are playing likely return you a first each if they are dealt. That trade wasn’t so much trying to jump the timeline as it was a well duh of course we will take your two good young players for pennies on the dollar.

If there were similar deals available for that price I would make them again.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by robertsfanatic

oh boy, only 56 more games of this discussion...and it will continue up to the lottery...and continue until draft day - can't wait.

also, can someone remind me what place the Islanders finished when they won the lottery?

Here are the lottery odds

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/pick_odds

Last place you get a 25% chance of 1st

Islanders somehow won with 3.5% chance.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Frost and Farabee at this point with how they are playing likely return you a first each if they are dealt. That trade wasn’t so much trying to jump the timeline as it was a well duh of course we will take your two good young players for pennies on the dollar.

If there were similar deals available for that price I would make them again.

The other aspect of that trade was it added players in that age range that when you eventually trade your vets you still have NHL bodies. I always saw them as the next stage or replacement vets. To your point in a couple years they will be the new crop of Vets people will be clamoring to trade to help the rebuild.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Here are the lottery odds

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/pick_odds

Last place you get a 25% chance of 1st

Islanders somehow won with 3.5% chance.

Yeah it's also about the odds of a top 3 or top 4 pick IMO than just the odds of 4th overall. The Isles winning the lottery actually made some of the other teams picks worse.

So you can sermonize about how the worst team in the league last year only got the 2nd overall pick. That doesn't seem so bad to me.

Meanwhile a team with 80 points drafted 11th overall. That's the situation to avoid.

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Here are the lottery odds

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/pick_odds

Last place you get a 25% chance of 1st

Islanders somehow won with 3.5% chance.

Exactly why i dont want them no goods anywhere near the lottery.

Mind you if Mckenna is what some say, an offence only winger who isnt good off the puck, it would continue the no good tradition established by the wonder twins. Wonder twin powers! Flatulate!

Alologies dont mean to derail the thread with no good talk.

As long as we are top five in this draft we walk away with an excellent prospect top ten i daresay, some of the defencemen are sooo good.

[traptor]

This team not getting a top 5 pick this year is really a disaster. Im not being hyperbolic, I really think that.


Looking at the athletic attendance article the Flames are already bottom 5 in respective attendance this season. I really believe apathy for this organization is really starting to set in.
Its has not been an exciting club for the last 4 seasons, for many casual or diehard fans.


There's a pretty significant drop off and this team desperately needs what those top players have the highest likehood of providing. And not just the skillset alone but the spark of hope and excitement that brings.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by traptor

This team not getting a top 5 pick this year is really a disaster. Im not being hyperbolic, I really think that.


Looking at the athletic attendance article the Flames are already bottom 5 in respective attendance this season. I really believe apathy for this organization is really starting to set in.
Its has not been an exciting club for the last 4 seasons, for many casual or diehard fans.


There's a pretty significant drop off and this team desperately needs what those top players have the highest likehood of providing. And not just the skillset alone but the spark of hope and excitement that brings.

No doubt the excitement around this team next year if they have McKenna or Stenberg will be significantly higher than if they claw their way to drafting 8-10 and roll a similar roster out there next year.

Then there is a real certainty there will be buzz and excitement the following season when Scotia Place opens. Hopefully with another high end piece joining the team.

Year 2 in Scotia Place let’s see if this team can push out of the top 10 draft picks and maybe push for a wildcard spot

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by traptor

This team not getting a top 5 pick this year is really a disaster. Im not being hyperbolic, I really think that.


Looking at the athletic attendance article the Flames are already bottom 5 in respective attendance this season. I really believe apathy for this organization is really starting to set in.
Its has not been an exciting club for the last 4 seasons, for many casual or diehard fans.


There's a pretty significant drop off and this team desperately needs what those top players have the highest likehood of providing. And not just the skillset alone but the spark of hope and excitement that brings.

I agree.

I think I'll put it even further - not only do they need to be a bottom-5 team, they need to do everything they can from a management perspective to guide this thing into maintaining their current bottom-3 finish.

They need to give themselves the best odds possible.

[Niemo]

Agreed. I’d say we need top 4 picks this year and next before we start trying to rise.

[Niemo]

Matheson resigning can only be good for Ras’ value.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Fan69

Exactly why i dont want them no goods anywhere near the lottery.

Mind you if Mckenna is what some say, an offence only winger who isnt good off the puck, it would continue the no good tradition established by the wonder twins. Wonder twin powers! Flatulate!

Alologies dont mean to derail the thread with no good talk.

As long as we are top five in this draft we walk away with an excellent prospect top ten i daresay, some of the defencemen are sooo good.

It’s not inconceivable that Toronto and Edmonton are competing with the Flames for better lottery odds at this point. Not to mention Vancouver.

[robertsfanatic]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Here are the lottery odds

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/pick_odds

Last place you get a 25% chance of 1st

Islanders somehow won with 3.5% chance.

i appreciate it and i guess my point is that regardless of standings, anyone can win the pick (ok - top 10)

although i really want a top 3 pick, it would be hard to watch them get their heads kicked in every game

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

You shouldn't have a hard rule for anything and I really don't think people are advocating that.

But it is important to look at the Flames and what they need. Trading a first round for a prospect is a trade off. You are de-risking your pick, giving up upside for a player who is a bit more of a sure thing. That's a generalization but it's essentially true. And the Flames aren't in a situation to think that way IMO. They should be taking on risk in exchange for upside.

Now if you can find some team in a jam and they have an abundance of prospects at a particular position, or have cap issues or there is a player that wants out, sure you should explore it. The Hamilton trade is a good example, as he still had exceptionally high upside. But I wouldn't love this team giving up three draft picks.

Wish that was the case!

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Wish that was the case!

Fair enough. I’m not seeing many extreme positions on this topic but maybe so.

No one seems to be arguing for the reverse trade, trading a prospect that another team values higher than you for a top pick.

[Bert]

The thing about finishing last people need to remember and why it’s important, is even if you lose the lottery the lowest you can draft is #4. If you finish third last you can draft as low as 6 which would really be a waste of a ####ty season.

So I get why people want us to tank tank. Problem is Nashville is way bigger hot garbage than we are, that’s why people (mysef included) want to lean into the tank this year.

If somehow JP Hurlbert falls to the Vegas pick that’s someone I would love to get. I live in kamloops and he’s leading the league in scoring this year as a draft eligible player, on a mediocre blazers team, while being 8 points up on his teammate Behm.

Plus we have good history with Blazers players

[Strange Brew]

Last overall can draft no worse than third. Basically only the first two picks are subject to the lottery.

[Bert]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Last overall can draft no worse than third. Basically only the first two picks are subject to the lottery.

Thought they do a draw for the top 3? When did that change?

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Bert

Thought they do a draw for the top 3? When did that change?

2021.

The 3-team lottery only happened from 2016-2020, and it's been a 2-team lottery since.

[Vinny01]

I am not prescribing to the fact they have to be bottom 3 for the next few years but I am with Francis/Steinberg/Gilbertson and the guys on 960 who think they really need to lean into this year.

There isn’t a worse way to get the 9th overall pick than to be the worst team in the league at US Thanksgiving and clawing your way back out of the basement. They put themselves in this spot and should lean into it by trading the older vets and adding more young and future assets to the mix. Ensure the bottom 5 finish and secure a very high pick.

I am going to be open-minded to what they do in the offseason but for the remainder of this year they need to bottom out and take advantage of what could be a buyers market with the standings being so close especially since 2 of their 3 prime veteran assets would not be considered rentals

[Bert]

Originally Posted by getbak

2021.

The 3-team lottery only happened from 2016-2020, and it's been a 2-team lottery since.

Damn, missed it. Thanks for the info, much appreciated!