2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Roko

Huby has a good chance of being on LTIR for a while.
And his contract isn’t getting moved anytime soon.. but we will also have 2 slots opening up this summer. So it’s not that wild.

If they retain on Kadri they will only have 2 slots for the next 3 years after this one. That is limiting.

Flames fans: Man it sucks we only have 1 retention slot left.
Also Flames fans: Surely we won't run out of slots over the next 3 years again.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

I know some season tickets holders who want Kadri traded today.

It is time to rebuild.

For a 5th round pick?

[Roko]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

Just curious, but I have seen this a few times. Why do people think we are going to need to retain on Frost/Farabee/Coleman in future years?

Frost and Coleman each only have one more year after this, Farabee two, and not sure we need to move out any of them urgently as we still need to fill a roster...

Exactly. The biggest retention candidate is Huby and it’s very unlikely. All other contracts are short. Maybe Sharangovich?? We don’t need the slots that bad to grumble about moving Kadri, they just want the extra asset for retention

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

For a 5th round pick?

For anything, if they do not trade Kadri it is pretty clear they do not want to rebuild.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

Just curious, but I have seen this a few times. Why do people think we are going to need to retain on Frost/Farabee/Coleman in future years?

Frost and Coleman each only have one more year after this, Farabee two, and not sure we need to move out any of them urgently as we still need to fill a roster...

You want to maintain optionality as best as possible.
Tying up 3 years of a retention slot lowers that significantly.

Again, doesn't mean you don't do it. It just means you need value. And it means that retention isn't just as "cost of doing business" as others have said. If you had unlimited slots, that would be true. The finite nature of those slots mean they have value, and more value the longer you are tying one up.

As an aside, it would be interesting if the NHL changed it so it wasn't # of slots but instead a cap on total salary retained. That way teams could manage their slots with more flexibility and negotiate dollar amounts to manage to that cap.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Again, 3 years is a long time. Do you think the Flames aren't going to acquire other players that potentially they want/need to flip? Looking at the roster today and evaluating if they will need the slots, ignores the fact the roster will likely continue to turn over significantly. The Flames could be taking on more vets as camp dumps in deals and/or signing some smart buy low free agents. In both cases, they may want to flip them for other assets, including with retention.

I'm not saying they shouldn't do it. They should. If the value is there.

It’s not ideal to have a retention slot held up for multiple years, I just think it’s more than likely they can absorb it given the level of tear down that’s already happened. Two slots available to them for a few years should still allow them the flexibility to operate as needed. This is going to be a young roster closer to the cap floor.

[jmac98]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

If they retain on Kadri they will only have 2 slots for the next 3 years after this one. That is limiting.

Flames fans: Man it sucks we only have 1 retention slot left.
Also Flames fans: Surely we won't run out of slots over the next 3 years again.

They currently have 3 over the next 3 years then? I mean, at some point you do still need to consider using them. Saving them up for 'what ifs' is also not a great strategy. Your point is fair in that there's a balance, but this seems like a time to consider using 1 of those 3.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

I meant more speed it up and fully embrace it. No more slow steps, make the moves today.

No more “Trust Conroy, trust the process”?

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Roko

Exactly. The biggest retention candidate is Huby and it’s very unlikely. All other contracts are short. Maybe Sharangovich?? We don’t need the slots that bad to grumble about moving Kadri, they just want the extra asset for retention

Frost, Farabee, Backlund, Coleman and any free agents that the Flames might sign to short term deals to hit the floor (or just sign for the purpose of trading at the deadline) would also be candidates for retention over the next 3 years. Conservatively the Flames probably have 5-6 players that they could use retention on over the next 3 years and only 3 retention slots.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Boiling this down to "retention is a cost of doing business" once again ignores the value of the retention slots themselves. To which people respond "bah, the Flames aren't going to need to use that slot", which completely ignores that literally right now they don't have enough. Since they don't have enough now, how can we confidently believe they won't need that slot sometime 3 years down the road. That's a long time.

The slot has value.

As for Edwards involvement it could be something like "You can do it Craig, but make sure you get value". Which is literally the conversation my boss had with me this week regarding a negotiation where the other side wants us to give on something we typically don't. He gave me the authorization to do it, but said "it's valuable to us, so it has to be valuable to them".

That’s exactly the type of language I overheard him use over the phone with a GM a long time ago. He said “it’s your budget, sign whoever you want” with the unspoken but definitely implied requirement that there had better be good value there.

[Ryan Coke]

Retention question….say the Flames retain 50% on Kadri, then in the last 1-2 years the acquiring team buys him out. Are the flames then on the hook for 50% of the buyout value for the extra year/years? I assume so, but it puts the team in a spot where they may have a cap penalty in years beyond what they were expecting, and possibly that retention slot is tied up for extra years as well. Like could the retention spot then be tied up for 4-5 years in that case?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Yegor
Farabree
Coleman (if not dealt)
Frost
Zary
Whitecloud
Maata

That's 7, just looking at the roster today. Do we think any of the above are apart of the team when it's ready to compete?

And the answer also would be "players that aren't even on the roster today, acquired via deals and signings".

Outside of Zary (who I don't see the Flames trading soon), Coleman (who could be gone today), and Whitecloud, I don't see any of these pieces getting a big return. I'm not sure retaining on Kadri for 3 years blocks a ton of trade value from assets currently on the team.

Kadri is a big trade chip with retention, and that's the kind of analysis I would be doing.

[sa226]

I completely understand the retention issue with Kadri. With his AAV, age and years left. I get it.

Coleman I dont get at all, except from a purely mathematical point of view for this season. Who wouldn't want a player like Coleman at 5 mil? Most GM's would probably sign him as a UFA for 6 million plus.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by jmac98

They currently have 3 over the next 3 years then? I mean, at some point you do still need to consider using them. Saving them up for 'what ifs' is also not a great strategy. Your point is fair in that there's a balance, but this seems like a time to consider using 1 of those 3.

They haven't been saving them. They literally don't have enough right now. They'll get some back in the summer, but it shows how easily it is to reduce your trade flexibility if you don't place appropriate value on them.

[SilverKast]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

Just curious, but I have seen this a few times. Why do people think we are going to need to retain on Frost/Farabee/Coleman in future years?

Frost and Coleman each only have one more year after this, Farabee two, and not sure we need to move out any of them urgently as we still need to fill a roster...

Because those guys are next on the list of things to complain about after Kadri is gone. It'll go from a few times to a few pages once we have nothing else to focus on. You could get rid of the whole team and we'd complain about retention on the janitor and how many bags of pucks he's worth. And we'd hurl insults back and forth all the while.

[Savvy27]

Originally Posted by Icon

Fair. Though TSN just spent 10mins arguing about the Leafs.

Desperate need of a trade to give them something to talk about, lol.

That conversation was eerily familiar for those who have previously experienced Brad Treliving as manager. They should replace him yesterday.

I completely forgot that he traded this year AND next year's first round picks and only got Carlo and Laughton for them

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Roko

Which other big long contracts do you expect us needing retention for?

Aside from our own vets, the Flames are likely to sign some vets in UFA the next couple of years to fill holes as they rebuild, they will likely have to overpay a bit to attract talent. It would be beneficial to have retention slots to flip those players late in the year for additional assets. Those slots have value, they shouldn't be tied up unless the team is getting solid value back.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Outside of Zary (who I don't see the Flames trading soon), Coleman (who could be gone today), and Whitecloud, I don't see any of these pieces getting a big return. I'm not sure retaining on Kadri for 3 years blocks a ton of trade value from assets currently on the team.

Kadri is a big trade chip with retention, and the kind of analysis I would be doing.

Right. But isn't that the rub? To this point an offer hasn't been table that meets the necessary bar for Kadri + 3 years of retention after this one.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Retention question….say the Flames retain 50% on Kadri, then in the last 1-2 years the acquiring team buys him out. Are the flames then on the hook for 50% of the buyout value for the extra year/years? I assume so, but it puts the team in a spot where they may have a cap penalty in years beyond what they were expecting, and possibly that retention slot is tied up for extra years as well. Like could the retention spot then be tied up for 4-5 years in that case?

Yes, you retain until the contract is paid out. So if Kadri was bought out after next season the slot would be used for the 4 years after that

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Yes, you retain until the contract is paid out. So if Kadri was bought out after next season the slot would be used for the 4 years after that

Yuck. Didn't even think of that.