2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I would do it but the Leafs wouldn't. That's a bit much.

I think it goes back to the same situation as asking for Knies. If I’m Conroy, this is the price if Toronto wants him. It’s either Knies 1-for-1 or it’s Cowen + 2 firsts + top prospect. It’s obviously an overpay but Toronto has to overpay if they want Andersson. Especially now that Friedman has leaked that he would be willing to sign an extension with them. Treat that as an extension in place if it’s Toronto that is acquiring him. Add in the fact that the flames ownership is still bitter about Treliving leaving the way he did and I hope it will take something like this to get it done for Toronto.

Also, the fact that the picks are so far away hurts the value for the flames and for Conroy (GM’s tenures are rarely 8+ years these days. Even if those picks end up being high picks (say in the top 10)… those players are likely not impact players in the NHL until 2-3 years after they are drafted. So the flames would not be feeling the full benefits (if any) from this trade by around 2031. Andersson will only have 2-3 years left on his contract by then. And that’s assuming they are high picks. If they are in the 25-32 range, the likelihood of those players becoming impact NHLers drops off dramatically.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Hopkins is a good hockey player. It is strange that he and Battaglia cannot put up points though, they play on the same line. Last year Pinelli lit it up on the 67’s and he and Foster were their only good forwards. Now Pinelli is almost a PPG player in the AHL.

A little disconcerting that Battalgia and Hopkins cannot find a way to individually still put up good numbers.

Can't argue with that.

[Aarongavey]

The one thing that it seems most of the insiders say is that Conroy has a price for his players and that he won’t trade them until that price is met (or close to it). Saw Friedman say it, saw Dreger say it, and it actually rings true to me when I think about his trades. I also think that he is committed to not letting assets walk out the door for nothing. But looking at all his trades (with the possible exception of Zadorov) I believe those two things are his criteria.

Zadorov - I do think Conroy just wanted to get him out of the room. I think the agent comment moved up his timeline. This would be the one exception.

Lindholm - pretty sure the Canucks just met his price

Tanev - I think that was pretty close to his price. Also think he may have been a little worried about injuries with Tanev, by his last 10 games with the Flames it seemed he was leaving almost every game with what looked like could be a serious injury.

Hanifin - I think Conroy had an extension price and probably a rental price and due to some of the shenanigans by the Hanifin camp he took the rental price

Markstrom - I think Conroy had a price. I also don’t think that Bahl was probably in the offers at the deadline but Holtz probably was. Conroy waited and eventually got his price.

Mangiapane - suspect the price was always a 2nd round pick and when someone was willing to pay that price he was moved.

Suspect Conroy has a price for his 3 assets this year and also is committed to not letting Rasmus walk for nothing. Will be interesting to see if or when someone meets the price for any or all of the assets.

[traptor]

Yeah i dont think we're getting 4 1st round equivalents for Rasmus.


Holinka also seems like an interesting piece. big rhs c that's putting up good numbers in the whl.

[RedHawk12]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

The one thing that it seems most of the insiders say is that Conroy has a price for his players and that he won’t trade them until that price is met (or close to it). Saw Friedman say it, saw Dreger say it, and it actually rings true to me when I think about his trades. I also think that he is committed to not letting assets walk out the door for nothing. But looking at all his trades (with the possible exception of Zadorov) I believe those two things are his criteria.

Zadorov - I do think Conroy just wanted to get him out of the room. I think the agent comment moved up his timeline. This would be the one exception.

Lindholm - pretty sure the Canucks just met his price

Tanev - I think that was pretty close to his price. Also think he may have been a little worried about injuries with Tanev, by his last 10 games with the Flames it seemed he was leaving almost every game with what looked like could be a serious injury.

Hanifin - I think Conroy had an extension price and probably a rental price and due to some of the shenanigans by the Hanifin camp he took the rental price

Markstrom - I think Conroy had a price. I also don’t think that Bahl was probably in the offers at the deadline but Holtz probably was. Conroy waited and eventually got his price.

Mangiapane - suspect the price was always a 2nd round pick and when someone was willing to pay that price he was moved.

Suspect Conroy has a price for his 3 assets this year and also is committed to not letting Rasmus walk for nothing. Will be interesting to see if or when someone meets the price for any or all of the assets.

I think there is some of your personal bias here. You obviously strongly approve of Conroy and the moves he's made as GM. You've made assumptions about Conroy's asking price in each of these situations and shifted blame to external factors in situations where the return wasn't as ideal as some might perceive.

I do agree with your assumption that Vancouver most likely met Conroy's ask. That's why the deal was made in January instead of the deadline. And I do agree that he probably wanted Zadorov out ASAP for culture reasons, and accepted whatever he could as soon as possible.

However, I don't think a reasonable ask was ever met for Hanifin, even as a rental. In that case, once the agent was involved and everyone knew it was going to be Vegas or Tampa, Conroy just had to settle for what he could get from those two teams and they knew it. There was even a report recently (from Friedman?) where he basically said that Conroy probably handle that situation differently now and not get the agent involved. That was a learning moment for Conny, and a loss as far as the trade is concerned (and no, don't say "we don't even know what that pick will turn out to be!" People who say that now are the people who in the offseason said the trade is a slam dunk win because the pick is unprotected and could be top 5 because Vegas is old and regressing. No and no. That pick is low 20s, it was always reasonably going to be low 20s, and you're just relying on hitting a homerun with the pick which is rare).

Tanev trade, maybe. Similar rentals have received 1sts in the past but maybe the market was what it was that year.

Markstrom trade - I'm thrilled with how the trade turned out, but we got very lucky with NJ spiraling to end the season and getting us 16th OA. Just like the Hanifin situation, I wonder if Conroy's ask was met or if Conroy just got backed into dealing only with NJ and just squeezed everything he could out of a tough situation. It felt at the end it was NJ or nothing. I wonder if Conroy would do anything differently now, in a similar situation, to open up the competition a bit.

Mangiapane, yeah ok. I could see Conroy asking for a 2nd and Washington ponying up the ask.

The Andersson, Kadri and Coleman trades, we'll see. If Kadri and Coleman get traded this year, I can see it being because someone met Conroy's ask because they still have term. Andersson, I'm not sure. It may just end up being settling for the best return at the deadline instead of losing him for nothing. We'll see.

[dino7c]

An unprotected 1st for UFA Hanifin is pretty fair...miro was a lottery ticket. Guy is great in the AHL but can't seem to transfer that to the NHL level

[RedHawk12]

Originally Posted by dino7c

An unprotected 1st for UFA Hanifin is pretty fair...miro was a lottery ticket. Guy is great in the AHL but can't seem to transfer that to the NHL level

We can agree to disagree on that one.

I think Conroy learned from the Hanifin trade and I actually anticipate the Andersson return to be significantly better even if it ends up as a pure rental. Andersson and Hanifin are fairly comparable.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by RedHawk12

We can agree to disagree on that one.

I think Conroy learned from the Hanifin trade and I actually anticipate the Andersson return to be significantly better even if it ends up as a pure rental. Andersson and Hanifin are fairly comparable.

well we don't even know where the pick falls so we will see

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by dino7c

well we don't even know where the pick falls so we will see

All the more reason to trade Andersson to the Ducks or Sharks and try to help Vegas exit as early as possible.

[BigThief]

An unprotected 1st from a team at the top of the league with no foreseeable flop isn't that breath taking.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

The one thing that it seems most of the insiders say is that Conroy has a price for his players and that he won’t trade them until that price is met (or close to it). Saw Friedman say it, saw Dreger say it, and it actually rings true to me when I think about his trades. I also think that he is committed to not letting assets walk out the door for nothing. But looking at all his trades (with the possible exception of Zadorov) I believe those two things are his criteria.

Zadorov - I do think Conroy just wanted to get him out of the room. I think the agent comment moved up his timeline. This would be the one exception.

Lindholm - pretty sure the Canucks just met his price

Tanev - I think that was pretty close to his price. Also think he may have been a little worried about injuries with Tanev, by his last 10 games with the Flames it seemed he was leaving almost every game with what looked like could be a serious injury.

Hanifin - I think Conroy had an extension price and probably a rental price and due to some of the shenanigans by the Hanifin camp he took the rental price

Markstrom - I think Conroy had a price. I also don’t think that Bahl was probably in the offers at the deadline but Holtz probably was. Conroy waited and eventually got his price.

Mangiapane - suspect the price was always a 2nd round pick and when someone was willing to pay that price he was moved.

Suspect Conroy has a price for his 3 assets this year and also is committed to not letting Rasmus walk for nothing. Will be interesting to see if or when someone meets the price for any or all of the assets.

I agree with RedHawk, and some of what you say here.

I think Conroy has done well in selling off assets, but I don’t think he is knocking it out of the park either. It’s been mixed results for me.

There’s not much debate with Lindholm. That has been his best trade to date. I think it was Dreger on BB earlier this week saying that Conroy got more than his initial ask. The Rangers were the other interested team and there was a bidding war.

Widely acknowledged that Zadorov had to go. Not much to say there. Tanev was a bit disappointing but tough circumstances. Every team in the league knows the risk with him. It’s only a matter of time before he’s hurt. If a second and a AHLer is the best they could do, so be it. Hard to call that a success though. More like ‘acceptable’.

Markstrom’s and Mangiapane were good trades and Hanifin was salvageable but the Flames put themselves in a somewhat difficult position by continuing to play red light green light with their contract negotiations. The underlying issue here being the Flsmes abject fear of rebuilding, which has me concerned that when it’s all said and done they’ll be picking 8-12 this year.

They’ll trade Andersson, because they have to. I think it’s 50/50 Coleman goes and probably 30/70 Kadri goes (70 he stays). The Flames hesitancy to take the wheel here, whether that is CC or Maloney of Ownership, does not give me much confidence they’ll seize the opportunity here and give themselves a legitimate shot at a top 3 or 4 pick.

I guess we will see how the chips fall. There’s a very good chance the Flames could have their next franchise changing player in the next 6 months or so if they dictate the circumstances, opposed to letting others do that for them.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by TOfan

I agree with RedHawk, and some of what you say here.

I think Conroy has done well in selling off assets, but I don’t think he is knocking it out of the park either. It’s been mixed results for me.

There’s not much debate with Lindholm. That has been his best trade to date. I think it was Dreger on BB earlier this week saying that Conroy got more than his initial ask. The Rangers were the other interested team and there was a bidding war.

Widely acknowledged that Zadorov had to go. Not much to say there. Tanev was a bit disappointing but tough circumstances. Every team in the league knows the risk with him. It’s only a matter of time before he’s hurt. If a second and a AHLer is the best they could do, so be it. Hard to call that a success though. More like ‘acceptable’.

Markstrom’s and Mangiapane were good trades and Hanifin was salvageable but the Flames put themselves in a somewhat difficult position by continuing to play red light green light with their contract negotiations. The underlying issue here being the Flsmes abject fear of rebuilding, which has me concerned that when it’s all said and done they’ll be picking 8-12 this year.

They’ll trade Andersson, because they have to. I think it’s 50/50 Coleman goes and probably 30/70 Kadri goes (70 he stays). The Flames hesitancy to take the wheel here, whether that is CC or Maloney of Ownership, does not give me much confidence they’ll seize the opportunity here and give themselves a legitimate shot at a top 3 or 4 pick.

I guess we will see how the chips fall. There’s a very good chance the Flames could have their next franchise changing player in the next 6 months or so if they dictate the circumstances, opposed to letting others do that for them.

Good news for the Flames fans who want the team to go for a top 4 pick. The schedule has been very easy of late, and we have climbed up the standings, but not too far. We have the hardest schedule left for the rest of the season. We have played the most games of the bottom teams and right now there are no teams playing SJ/Chi bad from the previous few seasons.

Make a trade before the Olympic break and the door is still wide open. Vegas, Oil, Oil is the next 3 games.

[Flamesfan05]

The jury is still out on Conroy, it can go really good or go quite badly

All depend on their picks in the next few years

As it stands the team has no future moving forward

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

As it stands the team has no future moving forward

Lmao, a little overdramatic there bud.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Good news for the Flames fans who want the team to go for a top 4 pick. The schedule has been very easy of late, and we have climbed up the standings, but not too far. We have the hardest schedule left for the rest of the season. We have played the most games of the bottom teams and right now there are no teams playing SJ/Chi bad from the previous few seasons.

Make a trade before the Olympic break and the door is still wide open. Vegas, Oil, Oil is the next 3 games.

Thanks, I did know the Flames strength of schedule did get a bit easier recently but good to know where they sit relative to others. Definitely a tough few games coming up though Eichel is out, I think, hopefully Vegas still shows up. That should be a game they should win.

I think the Oil could run the Flames out of the rink both sides of Christmas. A big punching down moment for them and I bet they haven’t forgotten about the first game of the season, I bet they would like to send a message.

I hope Pije is right. Listening to After Burner earlier this week his prediction was Team Sweden will announce their team around Jan 1, I believe, and Andersson will be in another teams jersey wth three weeks.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by BigThief

An unprotected 1st from a team at the top of the league with no foreseeable flop isn't that breath taking.

It was the best offer we could get. Better than losing Hanifin for either nothing, or a last minute deal that would've been so cheap because the team acquiring Hanifin would know he would be lost for nothing and wouldn't have to pay a dime.

[Roko]

You have to think Andersson is gone before Olympics. Can’t risk him getting hurt there and when selected to the team he becomes a more exciting add. (San Jose would love this or Anaheim).

[iloveicedhockey]

As it stands the team has no future moving forward

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Good news for the Flames fans who want the team to go for a top 4 pick. The schedule has been very easy of late, and we have climbed up the standings, but not too far. We have the hardest schedule left for the rest of the season. We have played the most games of the bottom teams and right now there are no teams playing SJ/Chi bad from the previous few seasons.

Make a trade before the Olympic break and the door is still wide open. Vegas, Oil, Oil is the next 3 games.

For some fans the Flames really need to lose those two games to the Oilers. The GDT should have a poll for the Oilers games to see which team Flames fans are cheering for.

[Bingo]

I think you set a price, but have points in time where you need to lower the price or not get the deal done ... especially with expiring contracts.

I think he was able to wait out Lindholm (Canucks stepped up), and Markstrom (wasn't expiring and waited to the summer).

I think he had to lower his price for Hanifin and for Tanev to make sure he didn't get painted into a corner.

With the lowered price tag it's more than likely that he turned down better deals previously and with that made a mistake, but that's a reality for every GM.