2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[DJones]

Originally Posted by Nelson

https://rg.org/news/hockey/nhl-sourc...smus-andersson

Summary of this article:

The Andersson market is heating up fast.#
Calgary is pushing to get a deal done before the Feb. 6–25 Olympic break, and both NHL sources and Elliotte Friedman confirm that talks have intensified with multiple contenders circling.
Boston has already put real assets on the table.#
The Bruins have made an offer that includes defenseman Mason Lohrei and a first-round pick, with Boston holding two firsts in the 2026 draft thanks to the Brandon Carlo trade.
Detroit and Ottawa are in, but with different constraints.#
The Red Wings will only proceed if Andersson agrees to an extension and have Simon Edvinsson and Axel Sandin Pellikka off limits, while the Senators are focused on adding a true right-shot top-four defenseman as they look to stabilize their blue line.
Source: https://rg.org/news/hockey/nhl-sourc...smus-andersson

Lohrei is intriguing. Kinda pissed that he cheap shotted Coleman but he would fit on the team nicely.

Possible partner for Parekh and could make Weegar expendable next year

[Bert]

Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin

We could also add Makar quite easily.

That’s been my hope. Get McKenna this year, and draft high again next year, and then back the truck up for Makar and just hope he wants to come home. If we could do that then it’s all systems go for the new arena.

Colorado will prolly not be a wagon in a few years if McKinnon starts to fall off, and Makar might see some promise in the flames organization if we can draft well the next couple years and add some studs.

All these failed rebuilds (Buffalo, Columbus, Ottawa) we have something they don’t. A legit franchise goaltender. As it is when wolf got hot we were trending towards wild card. Add some young game breakers in there and free agent like Cale, and we are off to the races.

Hopefully McDavid gtfoh when his extension is up as well.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I'm way behind as threads move so damn fast on CP, but just wanted to point out that Team Canada's GM believe that Parekh defends better than people give him credit for (this was during the recent WJC).

"... I think he has defended better than some people give him credit for here. He's got a real good stick all the time."

https://twitter.com/user/status/2007569055557865622

He wasn't any worse at defending than the rest of the team.

And they're all a bunch of first rounders that no one would dream of saying are write offs defensively

[jmac98]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I'm curious why you draw such a line between them. To me they are a coin flip. Stenberg was better in the bigger moments at the WJCs.

What Stenberg is doing with his club play is pretty damn impressive too.

To me both are front line wingers. I'm happy with either.
Curious why you would see Stenberg a tier below.

I’ll readily admit I do not follow the players closely nor get a chance to see them outside World Juniors. Most of what I formulate comes from reading draft reports or articles in kind. It’s my understanding both players are right up there so you can’t necessarily go wrong either way. But it does appear that McKenna still tends to hold the edge of popular opinion.

Why I lean on McKenna then is probably nothing more than he’s still considered the top prize if only marginally, coupled with the Canadian bias and a desire to want to play in Calgary/Canada.

[prizefighterinferno]

Originally Posted by DJones

Lohrei is intriguing. Kinda pissed that he cheap shotted Coleman but he would fit on the team nicely.

Possible partner for Parekh and could make Weegar expendable next year

Lohrei is maybe worse at defending than Parekh. Offensive guy (scored a nice one vs Calgary) despite having the frame of a defensive D. Not sure you want to pair those guys up.

[MacDaddy77]

Originally Posted by Mitch

This needs context - I'm pretty sure Wyttenbach plays in a much weaker division in the NCAA.

Big 10 is definitely the harder division but the ECAC and Quinnipiac is not that far behind to discredit Wyttenbach's play and points.

[Mitch]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

Big 10 is definitely the harder division but the ECAC and Quinnipiac is not that far behind to discredit Wyttenbach's play and points.

I agree, I just don't think Wyttenbach's production should be used to discredit the play of a 17 year old playing in a tougher division. It's a poor argument.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I'm curious why you draw such a line between them. To me they are a coin flip. Stenberg was better in the bigger moments at the WJCs.

What Stenberg is doing with his club play is pretty damn impressive too.

To me both are front line wingers. I'm happy with either.
Curious why you would see Stenberg a tier below.

I think in a vacuum that both players are relatively equal. I agree that what Stenberg is achieving in SHL this year is more impressive than Gavin's exploits in the NCAA. However, they aren't in a vacuum. I think to the Calgary Flames, Gavin McKenna is more valuable for a few reasons:
- Canadian kid and stated desire to play in calgary. This will help build the flames loving, city centric culture that we've talked about for eons.
- Familiarity with players in our system (Parekh, Basha, Reschny and more)
- Style that is more heavily focused on N/S transition game offensive generation, whereas Stenberg plays more of the cycle style. I think this is more attuned to our developing players.
- Stenberg is more developed physically, and I think that when Gavin catches up in strength development his numbers will return to eye popping.
- McKenna's elusiveness is very reminiscent of Gaudreau.

It's a mix of these things. I also think that McKenna's shot is being undervalued, he has an absolute whipper.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I think in a vacuum that both players are relatively equal. I agree that what Stenberg is achieving in SHL this year is more impressive than Gavin's exploits in the NCAA. However, they aren't in a vacuum. I think to the Calgary Flames, Gavin McKenna is more valuable for a few reasons:
- Canadian kid and stated desire to play in calgary. This will help build the flames loving, city centric culture that we've talked about for eons.
- Familiarity with players in our system (Parekh, Basha, Reschny and more)
- Style that is more heavily focused on N/S transition game offensive generation, whereas Stenberg plays more of the cycle style. I think this is more attuned to our developing players.
- Stenberg is more developed physically, and I think that when Gavin catches up in strength development his numbers will return to eye popping.
- McKenna's elusiveness is very reminiscent of Gaudreau.

It's a mix of these things. I also think that McKenna's shot is being undervalued, he has an absolute whipper.

When I think of Swedish players - I tend to think they are pretty loyal to their teams. I'm sure there are exceptions - but guys like Backlund, Sundin, Sedins, Alfredsson, Lidstrom all stuck around with their original team unless they were pushed out at the very end of the careers.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Mitch

I agree, I just don't think Wyttenbach's production should be used to discredit the play of a 17 year old playing in a tougher division. It's a poor argument.

I think its that plus the fact he didn't exactly light the world on fire in USHL either. McKenna isn't destroying the NCAA but you can at least fall back on his WHL performance in the past.

[FBI]

Originally Posted by Mitch

I agree, I just don't think Wyttenbach's production should be used to discredit the play of a 17 year old playing in a tougher division. It's a poor argument.

Wyttenbach is a rookie as well, less about McKenna and Lawrence, more about how awesome Wyttenbach is doing.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin

We could also add Makar quite easily.

I very much doubt that Makar makes it to UFA. The Avs also have $49M in cap space so they can offer him a huge contract to stay. MacKinnon might be getting "old" at 32 but I doubt his play drops off at all. Also, there is no way the Avs would let a star player walk and get nothing in return (see Rantanen).

Looking at the other 2027 UFAs, there are a few interesting names. Like Hischier, who also goes UFA that year, but I also expect that he has an extension in place very early in that season...

Simply put, the trend in the NHL is that most players do not make it to UFA and while the 2027 UFA group looks significantly better than 2026, I bet that board shrinks quickly as teams extend their players. At that point, overpaying Frost on a shorter term contract may be the only answer for the Flames.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Dec 20, 2007 vs August 3 2008? Weird that seems to be more than 6 months if I can count. Couple weeks less than 8 months? No?

I misread and was using Verhoeff, whose bday is June 19, 2008.
Yes, McKenna is exactly 7.5 months older than T. Lawrence.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

They are 1 day less than 6 months apart in age.

McKenna is "almost 40"...

Lawrence is 17 days shy of being 8 months younger than McKenna.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

IMO, SJ could only be convinced to move Misa for a young dynamic dman, and Verhoff would likely fit the bill.

Vehoeff isn't going to be Makar or Hughes, but Hedman as a ceiling is a decent comparison at this point. He's super steady, a great skater and can run a power play.

Misa is also not having a good D+1 year and wasn't great at the WJC. The lack of a development step from Misa, plus San Jose's depth at centre and lack of a true #1 defensive prospect suggests there might be some potential for something like this. It's not likely but possible.

[BrownDrake]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

With the new rules, the NCAA is a much tougher league to play in. McKenna himself is just over a PPG. McKenna is almost a full year older. Lawrence is barely 17 playing in a loaded NCAA.

Is this really the case or it’s always been a tough place for 17-18 year olds to play? If the rules put more young CHL players into the league those are just younger players and not necessarily tougher players to play against. Teh big difference is a lot of these players played in Tier 2 junior until they were 19!or 20’before jumping ship to NCAA.

I think there is a bunch of CHL players ruining their draft stock in their draft year. Probably good for their development in the long run however.

[mdubz]

Take it to the draft thread please.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by mdubz

Take it to the draft thread please.

Must save this thread for arguing about whether the Flames are rebuilding or not!

[Beninho]

We really need a trade for the sake of this thread, I like to imagine Conroy comes in here once a while comes in here for a quick giggle

[Royle9]

In laughable news, Dougie is being touted as a "perfect fit" to land in Toronto.
Brad doing Brad things and the media just pumping his tires.

Robertson and a 5th but it has to happen now.