2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

The nice thing is no one is really tanking yet this season and only Vancouver started selling, so you could almost secure at least second last


And the other nice thing is that there seems to be 3 or 4 players that are roughly the same level, so if you are in this range, it doesn't matter if you win the lottery, you take whoever is left and hopefully get an elite player

Vancouver added 3 roster players for someone that wanted out and had beef with their #1 center. They are 4-1 since.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by cam_calderon

What makes you confident in making this statement? Weegar has been pretty awful this season, while Rasmus has taken his game to another level.

Ras is a UFA that wants 8x9
Weegar has a good contract

[FlamesAddiction]

So if you are getting paid superstar money and underperforming, they best way to ensure that your cap hit doesn't hurt the team is to suck bad enough that the team can't compete and therefore the cap space doesn't matter anymore?

There is no silver lining to having an expensive untradeable contract. The team is where it is because the Huberdeau experiment failed, and it failed so bad that the now rebuilding team can't flip what should be their best player for assets to help the rebuild.

[TheIronMaiden]

Huberdeau getting that Matt Stajan glazing.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

So if you are getting paid superstar money and underperforming, they best way to ensure that your cap hit doesn't hurt the team is to suck bad enough that the team can't compete and therefore the cap space doesn't matter anymore?

There is no silver lining to having an expensive untradeable contract. The team is where it is because the Huberdeau experiment failed, and it failed so bad that the now rebuilding team can't flip what should be their best player for assets to help the rebuild.

They still haven’t replaced Tkachuk and Gaudreau’s offence. Two 100 point guys for two 50-60 point guys (Huberdeau and Kadri).

Huberdeau isn’t the only untradeable contract. I’d add Sharongovich in there as well.

[RobotTalk]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

So if you are getting paid superstar money and underperforming, they best way to ensure that your cap hit doesn't hurt the team is to suck bad enough that the team can't compete and therefore the cap space doesn't matter anymore?

There is no silver lining to having an expensive untradeable contract. The team is where it is because the Huberdeau experiment failed, and it failed so bad that the now rebuilding team can't flip what should be their best player for assets to help the rebuild.

It's a bad situation and everyone agrees that the best move would have been to flip Huburdeau after coming off a 115 season instead of resigning him. Alas, that didn't happen and we are where we are.

Huburdeau is overpaid on an unmovable contract but he's also not nearly as bad as people around here make him out to be. He's an aging 2nd line LW, but he's also not actively hurting the Flames because they're close to the bottom of their current rebuild cycle so his being overpaid doesn' really matter nor is it likely to going forward because by the time the Flames are (hopefully) having to resign a new, contending core the salary cap will be much higher than he is now. He'll also be off the books by the time our highest end 26 and 27 draft picks are (again hopefully) being signed to big money, long term deals.

The broader point is that the Huburdeau situation could be far, far worse than it is. In my mind, its sort of like the difference between Neil and Lucic - both were overpaid but one was a far worse player to have in the organization for both on ice and off ice reasons than the other.

[SilverKast]

I like to think of Huberdeau and Sharangovich as our tank commanders. We need their contracts to help hit the cap floor, but even with them trying their best they don't make the team perform any better. Their contract duration will ensure we never have a good enough team while we pay them, so hopefully we draft well and accumulate young talent so that when Huby and Yegor are off the payroll we're ready to start to actually compete.

Wolf can only hold us in so much, there's just no way this team as it's currently constructed can be any sort of contender.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by RobotTalk

He could sulk and be a locker room cancer like James Neil was. He could just float around doing nothing and set a poor example to our young players, since he's guaranteed to get paid and will never sign another NHL deal. He could actively try and sabotage the coaching staff, spew nonsense in the media, and create divisions in the locker room because he's upset about playing on a bottom feeder team that focuses on Defense-first.

I'm no fan of the Huburdeau contract and fully agree that he's the most overpaid player in the league, but the situation could be far worse than it is. He's generally maintained a positive attitude throughout his time in Calgary and reinvented his game into a more physical, modern power forward style (versus the pure run and gun style he played before). It was a terrible signing and we're not getting rid of him, but he's not actively hurting the team - especially since we have tons of cap space and the cap is expected to go up considerably over the next 5 years.

A positive attitude is the bare minimum. You'd have to be a complete psychopath to be the most overpaid player in the league and actively trying to destroy the team beyond your horrible play.

Realistically if he was sabotaging the team he would actually be helping more though.

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by SilverKast

I like to think of Huberdeau and Sharangovich as our tank commanders. We need their contracts to help hit the cap floor, but even with them trying their best they don't make the team perform any better. Their contract duration will ensure we never have a good enough team while we pay them, so hopefully we draft well and accumulate young talent so that when Huby and Yegor are off the payroll we're ready to start to actually compete.

Wolf can only hold us in so much, there's just no way this team as it's currently constructed can be any sort of contender.

At least one of those contracts is Conroy’s fault. We’ll never know what his advice to GMBT was during the Tkachuk trade and subsequent Huby contract. I’d like to think it was ‘take the Carolina package’ and sign/trade Huby to Montreal for our pick back plus plus plus.

So I would add that hopefully Craig is a bit more cautious handing out big contracts. A couple more bad ones them and we’ll have big problems in a few years.

[kehatch]

Trading Huberdeau is probably not realistic. The dollar figure, term, age, and production risks make it a tough sell. But you also have a NMC to navigate.

But he has been a 50 point player on one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL, and he has really rounded out his 5v5 game. He is still a special player in terms of hands and creativity, and he has even learned to score goals. On the right team he could be a major contributor. At 6 million is he a good option to a team that needs to make a push in the next 3 seasons?

I think there are too many moving parts to make moving him likely. You definitely can't move him at 10.5 and I don't think the Flames would retain the 25 million given their current cap space. But I don't think its impossible of the Flames and Huberdeau were motivated to move him.

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by RobotTalk

It's a bad situation and everyone agrees that the best move would have been to flip Huburdeau after coming off a 115 season instead of resigning him. Alas, that didn't happen and we are where we are.

Huburdeau is overpaid on an unmovable contract but he's also not nearly as bad as people around here make him out to be. He's an aging 2nd line LW, but he's also not actively hurting the Flames because they're close to the bottom of their current rebuild cycle so his being overpaid doesn' really matter nor is it likely to going forward because by the time the Flames are (hopefully) having to resign a new, contending core the salary cap will be much higher than he is now. He'll also be off the books by the time our highest end 26 and 27 draft picks are (again hopefully) being signed to big money, long term deals.

The broader point is that the Huburdeau situation could be far, far worse than it is. In my mind, its sort of like the difference between Neil and Lucic - both were overpaid but one was a far worse player to have in the organization for both on ice and off ice reasons than the other.

As much as I am pro rebuild, it would have been difficult in 2022. We didn't have the prospects. It would have been a major gut punch to fans to lose Gaudreau and Tkachuck out of the blue, then navigate straight into a rebuild without wins, futures, or brand names to cheer for. As much as the Treliving moves didn't pan out, they did generate a lot of excitement and hope among the fans.

I agree that the immediate signing of Huberdeau looks terrible in retrospect. But at the time Treliving couldn't risk losing both Huberdeau and Weegar when jt cost him Tkachuk. And there was no reasonable way yo predict the Huberdeau drop off was going to be as dramatic as it was.

[ResAlien]

If we were remotely close to contending this Huberdeau talk would be worth the time but as it stands we stink, we're shipping out salary, we gotta hit the salary floor, he's not a malcontent, what's the big deal? Literally the best case scenario for an overpaid contract.

[Tbull8]

Originally Posted by kehatch

As much as I am pro rebuild, it would have been difficult in 2022. We didn't have the prospects. It would have been a major gut punch to fans to lose Gaudreau and Tkachuck out of the blue, then navigate straight into a rebuild without wins, futures, or brand names to cheer for. As much as the Treliving moves didn't pan out, they did generate a lot of excitement and hope among the fans.

I agree that the immediate signing of Huberdeau looks terrible in retrospect. But at the time Treliving couldn't risk losing both Huberdeau and Weegar when jt cost him Tkachuk. And there was no reasonable way yo predict the Huberdeau drop off was going to be as dramatic as it was.

We may have ended up drafting Bedard though

[NewFan]

So we are sitting and waiting what other teams will offer for our players? Are we still waiting to know how this team perform to make our decision? Are we trying to follow the flow the market to make next step. The management still hoping all our younger players will become the main cornerstones for the future championship team? Looks like the team doesn't really has the plan except just to make the team younger and hope get lucky while drafting mid 1sts.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

If we were remotely close to contending this Huberdeau talk would be worth the time but as it stands we stink, we're shipping out salary, we gotta hit the salary floor, he's not a malcontent, what's the big deal? Literally the best case scenario for an overpaid contract.

Reaching the cap floor is the easiest thing in the world. Most rebuilding teams weaponize it by getting assets for taking another team's problem, signing pump and dump free agents, or using salary retention to broker trades. Having a vastly overpaid unmovable player on the roster until 2032 is probably the least efficient or effective way to reach the floor.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

So if you are getting paid superstar money and underperforming, they best way to ensure that your cap hit doesn't hurt the team is to suck bad enough that the team can't compete and therefore the cap space doesn't matter anymore?

There is no silver lining to having an expensive untradeable contract. The team is where it is because the Huberdeau experiment failed, and it failed so bad that the now rebuilding team can't flip what should be their best player for assets to help the rebuild.

Exactly, the only positive I can think of is if the team failed so badly because of him that they end up with several future superstars

Other than that he is the trigger of the mess they are currently in. No way to spin it. And #### no, he is not turning himself into some type of power forward or defensive guru….some excuses people make

[Saqe]

Andersson for Jack Quinn and Isak Rosen


if he is willing to re-sign with Buffalo

[devo22]

there's no chance he goes to Buffalo IMO. I'd actually be surprised if they weren't on his NTC list.

My money is still on LA.

[KevinKlineReadingABook]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Reaching the cap floor is the easiest thing in the world. Most rebuilding teams weaponize it by getting assets for taking another team's problem, signing pump and dump free agents, or using salary retention to broker trades. Having a vastly overpaid unmovable player on the roster until 2032 is probably the least efficient or effective way to reach the floor.

I'm sorry, but that's not a good faith argument. Most rebuilding teams weaponize *cap space* by getting assets for taking another team's problem, signing pump and dump free agents, or using salary retention to broker trades. The Flames have no shortage of cap space that would prevent them from doing any of those things. Even more so if/when they move out Andersson, Kadri, and/or Coleman. The reason cap space weaponization type moves haven't happened much recently is because we are now out of the flat cap era, and teams have more maneuverability than they did in past years. In fact, by needing to take on cap to reach the cap floor, that would put the Flames in a position of weakness when negotiating taking on cap dumps, problem players, or salary retention. The other team can argue that they are doing the Flames a 'favour' since the Flames would need to do something to hit the cap floor either way.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Reaching the cap floor is the easiest thing in the world. Most rebuilding teams weaponize it by getting assets for taking another team's problem, signing pump and dump free agents, or using salary retention to broker trades. Having a vastly overpaid unmovable player on the roster until 2032 is probably the least efficient or effective way to reach the floor.

This is a vast overstatement. "Weaponizing cap space" is often talked about and rarely done.