2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I keep saying - the trade proposals discussed on here demonstrate how hard it is to find a match with a team, let alone make a decent deal.

And I fail to see how it's obvious that the Flames are following this path. The only evidence is that they haven't made a trade yet, and it's only Jan 2.

Yeah, very few of the proposals here make sense if you step back and look at it from the other team's perspective.

Conroy has leaked his price for Ras throughout the pre-season and season. It's consistent. No one has met it yet. I think it will be an impressive piece of work if he gets it.

Team's know Flames won't let Ras walk for nothing. So even though they may want him, they are balancing that with getting him at a lower price if the TDL comes and no one meets Conroy's price.

The perennial good teams that want Ras didn't get there by over-paying for rentals like him. You get contract year Ras for the rest of the season and playoffs, but do you really want to re-sign him at the $9M he seemingly wants? We know him better than most, and we passed on that. I think he is just a rental to bolster or deepen a team's D, and the price we get will reflect that.

The opportunity to rip off Toronto has passed. You don't get many chances to deal with a desperate GM like Brad, because when you don't take his offer he just goes ahead and spends the same assets on something else.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by cam_calderon

A top 3 pick is all I want out of this season. If that is a generational player in McKenna, Stenberg or Veorhoff, that player is worth a lot more than a playoff push that sees us finish ninth or tenth in the west or bounced in round 1.

Parekh has a high ceiling, but I really don't know if we can bet on Reschny ever becoming more than an above average 2C.

Well I want a cup on a $60mil salary cap. Neither will happen even if we trade every single player over 30. Unless you want to bench Wolf the rest of the season.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Inconsistent for sure ... but you don't win two division titles with mirrors. Had the best line in hockey for one of them.

They should have been a contender but were always missing that extra piece to put them over the top - they never had that elite center.

To me if you're a true contender you consistently make the playoffs, and finish within the division playoff spots, not the wild card spots.

I feel like cup winning teams have a 5-6 year stretch before and after their cup win where they are a consistent 100+ point team.

2016/2017 Penguins went back to back - in the 6 year stretch around those cups (2 years before and 2 years after the cup years) they were 3rd in the NHL and had a .632 point percentage.

2018 Capitals - the in stretch around the cup years they were 1st in the NHL with a .676 point percentage (2015-16 to 2019-20)

2019 Blues - a bit of an exception but even they were 8th in the NHL in that time period and a .602 point percentage in the 5 year stretch around the cup win.

2020/2021 Lightning - they were 2nd in the NHL from 2017-2018 to 2022-2023 and had a .678 point percentage over those 6 years.

2022 Avalanche - they were 2nd in the NHL from 2019-20 to 2023-24 and had a .684 point percentage over that 5 season stretch.

2023 Knights - they were 6th in the NHL from 2020-21 to 2024-25 and had a .645 point percentage over that 5 season stretch

2024/2025 Panthers - they were 6th in the NHL from 2021-22 to 2025-26 and had a .636 point percentage over that 5 season stretch.

True contenders are top 10 NHL teams season after season, maybe even top 5, and consistently put up 100+ points.

Flames have not done that in the salary cap era...not even with Iginla and Kipper...and not with Gaudreau and Monahan.

That's what the Flames need to try to build here if they want to build a winner. It's hard to win a cup, you can't expect to have one good season and get through the NHL playoffs. To win you need to consistently put yourself in the position to do so and you need to be in the top 10 of the NHL year after year to achieve that.

Flames goal needs to be building a team that consistently can put up over .625 point percentage and finish top 10 in the NHL. Do that for a 5+ year stretch and you'll give yourself a shot at winning the cup, if you don't do that it's almost impossible to have a fluke 1 year run and win now.

[Strange Brew]

Kadri’s trade value is hard to determine. Every team would love him for the playoffs today, but then he comes with the extra term. That’s going to scare teams off, and I doubt Flames are eating salary for 3 more years.

I definitely see far more downside risk to his play going forward. I’d be very happy with a decent return today and moving on as I’m skeptical his trade value ever increases much.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Flamescuprun2018

Sure sounds like almost everyone on CP wants to move our vets and then let the season play out. Curious to get a full perspective from CP faithful on the level of patience we all have allowing Conroy to negotiate proper deal(s) and risk tolerating another mushy middle finish but also whether culture/playoffs may be worth more than a top pick.

The 3 main vets in question are Andersson, Coleman and Kadri.

Can we have a poll that is something like:

Add: Keep Andersson for rest of season and add before the trade deadline to make a serious run for playoffs since we are so close. No vets moved.

Hold: Keep Andersson for rest of season but dont add before trade deadline. No vets moved.

Rebiggle: Move Andersson before trade deadline with best offer but keep rest of the main vets even if a great offer for one or more. Culture and current competitiveness remain the priority.

Retool: Move 2 main vets before trade deadline with best offers but keep Coleman or Kadri at least to maintain vet culture.

Rebuild: Move all 3 main vets before trade deadline with best offers. Risk a better finish but get the best futures from our trades.

Fire sale: Move all 3 vets before Olympics even if offers are not stellar so we can fall down the standings as soon as possible.

Interesting, but likely meaningless to ownership without one more metric: the number of Seasons Tickets you own or control.

With a few hundred folks here regularly, and a high of just under two thousand. At once (IIRC) unless CP represents a goodly % of Dome seats…ownership likely only cares in passing what we, as a group, think.

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Well I want a cup on a $60mil salary cap. Neither will happen even if we trade every single player over 30. Unless you want to bench Wolf the rest of the season.

I think a top 3 pick is still very realistic despite the recent hot streak. Subtract Andersson (and hopefully Coleman), and we are absolutely terrible on paper. We're still only a decent losing streak from being 32nd in the NHL.

[NewFan]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I don't think that's 100% fair.

they had a solid core and a contending team for five years with Gaudreau, Giordano, Monahan, Lindholm and Tkachuk.

Won two divisions. Had roughly 2 110 point seasons.

That's not plugging away.

Monahan got hurt. Covid hit and turned Americans against Canada and things fell apart as they do.

But this isn't a 90-95 point team every year.

I think even Gaudreau and Tkachuk knew that they are not contenders. Therefore they left. If if they thought Flames has a good chance to contend they may stayed at least a few more years.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Who here is offended at the idea of moving vets? I can't think of anyone who has even hinted at that?

Dino7c and Aarongavey seem to really question why you'd even consider moving Kadri and Coleman at all.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Kadri’s trade value is hard to determine. Every team would love him for the playoffs today, but then he comes with the extra term. That’s going to scare teams off, and I doubt Flames are eating salary for 3 more years.

I definitely see far more downside risk to his play going forward. I’d be very happy with a decent return today and moving on as I’m skeptical his trade value ever increases much.

Kadri also has a LNTC which seems to have some unusual aspects to it - we know Carolina is on the NT list, for example. Winnipeg would have been an option if they were playing better.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I don't think that's 100% fair.

they had a solid core and a contending team for five years with Gaudreau, Giordano, Monahan, Lindholm and Tkachuk.

Won two divisions. Had roughly 2 110 point seasons.

That's not plugging away.

Monahan got hurt. Covid hit and turned Americans against Canada and things fell apart as they do.

But this isn't a 90-95 point team every year.

Contending team for five years? They were make the playoffs, miss the playoffs alternating for nearly their entirety save for the COVID shortened season. Totally fair.

The Flames are the poster NHL team for participation while not really mattering much. They exist to help the NHL round out the total to 32 teams but nobody cares about them or expects them to do anything meaningful. They don't even matter in Alberta anymore as the Oilers are more popular everywhere including a large portion of Calgary these days as you will see more Oilers clothing than Flames in Calgary schools. It is what it is as it's what happens when an organization gets caught nearly perennially in the mushy middle. Fans don't have the highs or lows to get emotional about. They are just there.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Dino7c and Aarongavey seem to really question why you'd even consider moving Kadri and Coleman at all.

They don’t ever say that. At best I’ve seen people think that the effect Coleman (and Backlund) have on young players is tough to give up.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by NewFan

I think even Gaudreau and Tkachuk knew that they are not contenders. Therefore they left. If if they thought Flames has a good chance to contend they may stayed at least a few more years.

Both of those guys (especially Tkachuk) were always US bound.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Both of those guys (especially Tkachuk) were always US bound.

I don't think Gaudreau was.

If they would have offered Gaudreau 8 x $9 in the 2021 offseason he would have been a Flames player still.

Once his wife got pregnant, and the Flames walked him right up to UFA, it changed the equation.

Tkachuk probably always was.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Flamescuprun2018

Sure sounds like almost everyone on CP wants to move our vets and then let the season play out. Curious to get a full perspective from CP faithful on the level of patience we all have allowing Conroy to negotiate proper deal(s) and risk tolerating another mushy middle finish but also whether culture/playoffs may be worth more than a top pick.

The 3 main vets in question are Andersson, Coleman and Kadri.

Can we have a poll that is something like:

Add: Keep Andersson for rest of season and add before the trade deadline to make a serious run for playoffs since we are so close. No vets moved.

Hold: Keep Andersson for rest of season but dont add before trade deadline. No vets moved.

Rebiggle: Move Andersson before trade deadline with best offer but keep rest of the main vets even if a great offer for one or more. Culture and current competitiveness remain the priority.

Retool: Move 2 main vets before trade deadline with best offers but keep Coleman or Kadri at least to maintain vet culture.

Rebuild: Move all 3 main vets before trade deadline with best offers. Risk a better finish but get the best futures from our trades.

Fire sale: Move all 3 vets before Olympics even if offers are not stellar so we can fall down the standings as soon as possible.

I would love to trade all 3, but not in bad deals. The Flames aren't a charity, or DAL's, TOR's, or VGK's farm club. The inability to trade at least 2 in good deals would raise a few questions for me. Like why are the Flames the only team that doesn't get any good offers in trade? Should they change the process of making players available? And do they need a better trade negotiator at the helm?

As things stand I would like the Flames to free 2-3 spots: in the top 9 for Honzek, and Klapka, and top 6 for Gridin before the start of next season. I also think they should have a long trial run of 10+ games for Stromgren, Kerins, and Morton before the end of this year.

IMO things will get even more crowded when Pospíšil is back. I think Pospíšil is actually going to be a very good player for us if he can stay healthy, and will help the Flames have one of the best 4th lines in the league.

PS: Does anyone know if IIHF Hall of Famer František Pospíšil is related to Martin?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by cam_calderon

A top 3 pick is all I want out of this season. If that is a generational player in McKenna, Stenberg or Veorhoff, that player is worth a lot more than a playoff push that sees us finish ninth or tenth in the west or bounced in round 1.

Parekh has a high ceiling, but I really don't know if we can bet on Reschny ever becoming more than an above average 2C.

None of those three have “generational player” written all over them. And none of them are centres.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I think both players with less term could actually up their value.

That's not a ridiculous premise.

I'd worry more about Coleman personally, as he's playing lights out. I don't think he drops much next season in play, but his production may not be as fortunate.

Kadri isn't having the greatest of seasons so there certainly could be a decline concern, which is valid.

But another case could be made for a hot start next year and less term adding value.

With a player like Coleman, chances are that the Flames will need to eat half his salary. So for part of a season that's not as big of a deal as it is for a full season plus say a quarter of this one. So I can see why the Flames would set a high price for that.

The other challenge I can see is that I'm not sure how many teams see a middle 6 winger as being a key piece in pushing them forward. Some of the high end contenders will value his experience and ability to be part of a high end third line. But those teams also don't have as much for assets and are generally pretty shrewd in making deals. So combine that and a 10 team list and no pressure of an expiring contract to force anything and I can see why trading him now is more difficult.

I don't think decline for Coleman is a huge concern. He's finishing above average right now. But if it is the better teams who are interested in him, they're after his experience, his high end PK abilities, and his ability to play against top level competition. I doubt a Dallas or Colorado is adding him to be a guy who scores at a 25 goal pace. Injury is always there, but this is a guy who has missed 6 games in what's now his 5th season with the Flames...I think one of those was when he was suspended for his very first game. So he's been very durable and dependable.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I would love to trade all 3, but not in bad deals. The Flames aren't a charity, or DAL's, TOR's, or VGK's farm club. The inability to trade at least 2 in good deals would raise a few questions for me. Like why are the Flames the only team that doesn't get any good offers in trade? Should they change the process of making players available? And do they need a better trade negotiator at the helm?

As things stand I would like the Flames to free 2-3 spots: in the top 9 for Honzek, and Klapka, and top 6 for Gridin before the start of next season. I also think they should have a long trial run of 10+ games for Stromgren, Kerins, and Morton before the end of this year.

IMO things will get even more crowded when Pospíšil is back. I think Pospíšil is actually going to be a very good player for us if he can stay healthy, and will help the Flames have one of the best 4th lines in the league.

PS: Does anyone know if IIHF Hall of Famer František Pospíšil is related to Martin?

I agree with your post except I don’t see why you think the Flames are the only team that struggles to make a good trade. Conroy has obviously made good trades. And with these three, it’s a question of the limited amount of teams that need them, or can afford them, and the lack of quality assets those teams would be able to give up. They don’t have a lot of good prospects because they are good teams whose past good prospects have “made it” and now they pick a lot later in the draft. Dallas, Vegas, Colorado, Fla, Minnie - they don’t have a lot to offer.

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

None of those three have “generational player” written all over them. And none of them are centres.

Well who in the current system projects to be better than any of them? We are not going to contend if Reschny, Coronato or maybe Gridin at a stretch are our best forwards.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by cam_calderon

Well who in the current system projects to be better than any of them?

WTF does that have to do with them not being generational (as you claimed) or not being centres? Try to follow along a little better.

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

WTF does that have to do with them not being generational (as you claimed) or not being centres? Try to follow along a little better.

I said if they are generational. Go back to primary school as you clearly can't read properly. We're going to have more firsts with which to draft centres in future drafts. If we get McKenna, maybe he's good enough to carry Reschny (as Jonhny did with Monahan).