2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Calgary4LIfe]

I really don't think that the Flames are targeting the opening of the new building as the season to be competitive. If they did, I am sure that's probably been pushed back. I think the plan was to draft high last draft, and draft high this draft. I think it pushes this out another year because of it.


If the Flames open up the new building full of young talents, most of the fans will be happy. The excitement of a new building coupled with the excitement of a young team with budding superstars - that's awesome. I think they will be a ways back of the playoffs still, but they will be an exciting team to watch and really entertaining.


I often think that too many people are still stuck with the 'Young Guns' era as some kind of a cautionary note. Most people saw through the young guns branding at the time as 'nothing has changed'. It was never about parading young players as superstars, and having them disappoint. Heck, there were some players that became superstars. The issue then was that we all knew as soon as these young players became good, they would be moved to teams that could afford them, and that Calgary was a feeder team. That's not the case now.


Open the new building up with a team struggling to put up wins, but full of young exciting - and entertaining! - talent, and most people will enjoy it. The Flames will be selling more than just hope - they will be selling entertainment too!


I watched a bunch of San Jose games last season and said that they were a fun team to watch, even though they were giving up way too much the other way. They were way more fun to watch than the Islanders, that's for sure. Way more fun than the Kings. They still stunk in the standings, but they were becoming a fun watch. I doubt that the Flames will be stinking it up when the new building opens, but they are not making the playoffs that year unless a lot goes right. They should be a team that is fun to watch, and a team that is selling hope. I am betting that the building will be full.

Parekh, Wolf, Gridin, Coronato + McKenna/Stenberg/Malhotra/Bjorck + Joseph/Dupont/Whomever/Whoomever = a lot of excitement. Plus maybe Wyttenbach is ready by then, who looks like a dyanmic player that is exciting to watch. I think the Flames are going to be a great watch that season regardless of the success they have in the standings. I am really looking forward to it.

[MacFlame]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Yeah I tend to agree. I am a little confused on the internal timeline for this team. I would think the teardown would have been a little more aggressive if they wanted to compete in 27/28 but they went from June 2024 - January 2026 where they made zero trades that subtracted players for futures.

There is patience being preached which I am good with I just hope they don’t put the foot on the gas before it is ready. Conroy didn’t go crazy based off last years performance to try and add a bunch of win now pieces but it is bizarre they are trading for such far down futures with hopes of being better sooner. I suppose they left themselves with little options based on how the trade negotiation went.

I can absolutely see them being competitive in two years. They are missing a couple of high end, elite pieces in the top 6. There's no doubt about that. But, I think they will get those pieces in this year and next years drafts.


Most teams acquire their top talent through the draft first and then build around those top talent pieces with secondary pieces and a top goalie in later years. The flames have done it reverse. They have lots of secondary pieces and a top goalie already. They need to add the elite forward(s) in the next couple years. I think they can do it.

[Poe969]

Trade then all! Kadri, Coleman, Whitecloud, Lomberg, even listen to offers for Weegar.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Yeah I tend to agree. I am a little confused on the internal timeline for this team. I would think the teardown would have been a little more aggressive if they wanted to compete in 27/28 but they went from June 2024 - January 2026 where they made zero trades that subtracted players for futures.

I think they know they aren't going to compete by then, and have softened their stance on this.
Again, in the much maligned Maloney interview, this is what he said:

"In an ideal world. We're hoping to have a little pop in momentum going into the new building"

So a couple things there.
"Ideal world". The may know that even if this is what they want, it may not be possible.
"Little pop in momentum". Hard to know what this means but that sounds very different from competing.

My view is that when you get to the new building you want the following:
- You have started to establish more of a new core, around Zayne, Dustin, Coronato, Gridin, and the guy you pick this year. That's the team you are building and they are now the ones starting ot carry the load
- You are starting to move from tear down mode to build up mode. Doesn't mean you are competing, but you are starting to see the point where you can.

In terms of a comparable, I'd say you want to be kinda where Utah is today. Not ready to compete, but starting to move back up the standings, and with a core of players that you can start to imagine being part of a contending team.

I think that's realistic.

[Geeoff]

TBH even if we get a 2028 6th round pick for Lomberg, I'd do it

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

TBH even if we get a 2028 6th round pick for Lomberg, I'd do it

No worries

Treliving has that on the table for Lomberg or/Henley

[traptor]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I really don't think that the Flames are targeting the opening of the new building as the season to be competitive. If they did, I am sure that's probably been pushed back. I think the plan was to draft high last draft, and draft high this draft. I think it pushes this out another year because of it.


If the Flames open up the new building full of young talents, most of the fans will be happy. The excitement of a new building coupled with the excitement of a young team with budding superstars - that's awesome. I think they will be a ways back of the playoffs still, but they will be an exciting team to watch and really entertaining.


I often think that too many people are still stuck with the 'Young Guns' era as some kind of a cautionary note. Most people saw through the young guns branding at the time as 'nothing has changed'. It was never about parading young players as superstars, and having them disappoint. Heck, there were some players that became superstars. The issue then was that we all knew as soon as these young players became good, they would be moved to teams that could afford them, and that Calgary was a feeder team. That's not the case now.


Open the new building up with a team struggling to put up wins, but full of young exciting - and entertaining! - talent, and most people will enjoy it. The Flames will be selling more than just hope - they will be selling entertainment too!


I watched a bunch of San Jose games last season and said that they were a fun team to watch, even though they were giving up way too much the other way. They were way more fun to watch than the Islanders, that's for sure. Way more fun than the Kings. They still stunk in the standings, but they were becoming a fun watch. I doubt that the Flames will be stinking it up when the new building opens, but they are not making the playoffs that year unless a lot goes right. They should be a team that is fun to watch, and a team that is selling hope. I am betting that the building will be full.

Parekh, Wolf, Gridin, Coronato + McKenna/Stenberg/Malhotra/Bjorck + Joseph/Dupont/Whomever/Whoomever = a lot of excitement. Plus maybe Wyttenbach is ready by then, who looks like a dyanmic player that is exciting to watch. I think the Flames are going to be a great watch that season regardless of the success they have in the standings. I am really looking forward to it.

Yeah if they're young and exciting they don't necessarily need to be seriously competitive. I think they need to be out of their tear down phase though, and most importantly they NEED some serious top end talent this year and next.


I'm not sure Bjorck / Malhotra level players cut it. Anything can happen ofcourse, but these guys aren't projecting as future superstars. They project more as top 6 players after 3+ years.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think they know they aren't going to compete by then, and have softened their stance on this.
Again, in the much maligned Maloney interview, this is what he said:

"In an ideal world. We're hoping to have a little pop in momentum going into the new building"

So a couple things there.
"Ideal world". The may know that even if this is what they want, it may not be possible.
"Little pop in momentum". Hard to know what this means but that sounds very different from competing.

My view is that when you get to the new building you want the following:
- You have started to establish more of a new core, around Zayne, Dustin, Coronato, Gridin, and the guy you pick this year. That's the team you are building and they are now the ones starting ot carry the load
- You are starting to move from tear down mode to build up mode. Doesn't mean you are competing, but you are starting to see the point where you can.

In terms of a comparable, I'd say you want to be kinda where Utah is today. Not ready to compete, but starting to move back up the standings, and with a core of players that you can start to imagine being part of a contending team.

I think that's realistic.

They really just need a superstar or two to market. Parekh might be that, and in a couple years, he could be looking really good, but hopefully the new stars provide the "pop of momentum."

They've got the core you mentioned and lot of solid top nine prospects that can fill in the rest of the gaps.

As long as the next two drafts work out (and they finish low), Calgary will be where the Sharks are right now for the new arena, which would be a pretty good place to be.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

They really just need a superstar or two to market. Parekh might be that, and in a couple years, he could be looking really good, but hopefully the new stars provide the "pop of momentum."

They've got the core you mentioned and lot of solid top nine prospects that can fill in the rest of the gaps.

As long as the next two drafts work out (and they finish low), Calgary will be where the Sharks are right now for the new arena, which would be a pretty good place to be.

I think the difference is the Sharks got the best prospect to come along since McDavid.

[traptor]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think they know they aren't going to compete by then, and have softened their stance on this.
Again, in the much maligned Maloney interview, this is what he said:

"In an ideal world. We're hoping to have a little pop in momentum going into the new building"

So a couple things there.
"Ideal world". The may know that even if this is what they want, it may not be possible.
"Little pop in momentum". Hard to know what this means but that sounds very different from competing.

My view is that when you get to the new building you want the following:
- You have started to establish more of a new core, around Zayne, Dustin, Coronato, Gridin, and the guy you pick this year. That's the team you are building and they are now the ones starting ot carry the load
- You are starting to move from tear down mode to build up mode. Doesn't mean you are competing, but you are starting to see the point where you can.

In terms of a comparable, I'd say you want to be kinda where Utah is today. Not ready to compete, but starting to move back up the standings, and with a core of players that you can start to imagine being part of a contending team.

I think that's realistic.

Building on your Utah example.

In my opinion I don't think we're two years behind them. I think we're more like 4 years behind them, and that's if things go well and we hit big on guys.


I bet there's a couple very rough years in the new building, unless they decide to try and expediate the process via trades and UFA.

[traptor]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

They really just need a superstar or two to market. Parekh might be that, and in a couple years, he could be looking really good, but hopefully the new stars provide the "pop of momentum."

They've got the core you mentioned and lot of solid top nine prospects that can fill in the rest of the gaps.

As long as the next two drafts work out (and they finish low), Calgary will be where the Sharks are right now for the new arena, which would be a pretty good place to be.

Yeah this is just it, we need those young stars to emerge.


We have alot of good pieces throughout the system, we're just missing the hardest thing to get.

Hopefully they emerge soon. Have to think there's atleast "star" amongst Gridin, Potter, Parekh and Reschny.

Hopefully we draft another this year.

[keenan87]

I do wonder if some of these extra first round picks will eventually be used for a top young player. They don't come too often but the Flames will certainly have the assets if another Eichel becomes available.

[Bonded]

My guess is they want some hype going into the new building. A string of top 5 picks will do that.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

- You have started to establish more of a new core, around Zayne, Dustin, Coronato, Gridin, and the guy you pick this year. That's the team you are building and they are now the ones starting ot carry the load

That's not a bad start, but this team is still in sorely in need of multiple elite players up front, and that will take more kicks at the can than just this draft. Hopefully they get one this year, but they will need to have a run of atleast 2-3 years of picking really high to really stack the cupboards. If that above lineup is what we are building around, I wouldn't bank on much success.

[getbak]

I think it really depends on your definition of "competitive".

I would say that last year's team was competitive. They weren't a contender and just making the playoffs would have been a huge achievement, but they showed up every game and had a chance to win most nights.

If that's the standard for competitive, I don't think being competitive in 2027-28 is unrealistic.

If you're expecting the team to be competitive enough to win multiple playoff rounds or compete for the Cup, that's not going to happen quickly.

[stemit14]

If the flames end up looking to trade Coleman, Kadri and Whitecloud… which one do they use their retention spot on to maximize trade value?

My guess is Coleman. He only has one year left after this one so it won’t be affect on the flames past next season. Whitecloud has a lower cap hit so is probably easier to move cap-wise than Coleman and the flames could always take salary back from an acquiring team in the form of a cap-dump.

While I think retaining on Kadri would result in the greatest return in terms of the value of retention, I doubt the flames would do it. As others have mentioned… if the flames retained 50% of Kadri’s salary, they would be paying him ~$10 million over the next 3 years to not play for the flames past I doubt the owner would go for that u less the return was crazy good.

I don’t think Kadri will be traded this year unless a team really steps up an offers a great return (doubtful without retention IMO). But I am optimistic that at least one (hopefully both) Coleman and Whitecloud are traded for good returns before the TDL.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by keenan87

I do wonder if some of these extra first round picks will eventually be used for a top young player. They don't come too often but the Flames will certainly have the assets if another Eichel becomes available.

That is something worth considering.

A bundle of 25-32 OV 1st rounders isn't that exciting on the surface, but every so often a young player with high potential does become available, and the Flames would have more ammunition than most to facilitate a trade for such a target.

[MacFlame]

I remember hearing alot of the same concerns when Iginla and Boumester, etc. were all traded....that it was going to take a decade to rebuild the franchise. It didnt.

Why? Because the flames had a number of players to help ease the transition (Backlund, Giordano, Cammaleri, etc.) and they had a number of players that were already on their way or were about to be drafted (Brodie, Monahan, Gaudreau). IN subsequent years they drafted Tkachuck, Bennett, Mangiapane, Andersson, etc.)

This team, in its current situation, isnt really that far off from the 2013-2014 flames roster.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

On 32 Thoughts EF speculated that maybe the Flames would/could flip Whitecloud to BOS as a consolation prize.

God, I hope so.

Whitecloud for Poitras. If the Flames need to add something, so be it (and I don't think they do)

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Come to think of it, too bad Buffalo isn't still really bad, because with the new management who knows if that would have opened up trade avenues to pluck up one of their talents.

Need another underperforming team with good players looking to force their way out.