2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by memphusk

Valji makes it sound worse than it is. This organization hasn't won anything in a long time and is now in a youth movement. I would also be looking my options if I was 28 and heading into a contract year. I would want to win, and I don't blame him for wanting to be on a contender.

Salim has really leaned into that viewpoint of the fanbase and tried to stir up controversy with it. I don’t like the message it sends nationally to people watching TSN but he is not toeing the line when it comes to how the team is run. Seems to prefer to look at things negatively though so I am sometimes irked by his pieces.

[bigrangy]

insane thought

Treliving was dumb enough to trade for Huberdeau once, and just lost an elite playmaker to free agency again. why not replace him with the "best playmaking left wing of all time"?

Macelli
Kampf

for

Huberdeau
some sort of non-premium futures as a plus (one of the D prospects I could see them have some interest in)

the cap works even with no retention, although Toronto would need to run a 22 man roster. I wouldn't even mind retaining a couple mil on Huberdeau just to make it happen. Either way with the cap going up I think Huberdeau gets very tradeable if not now then as soon as next season. And I bet he'd love to be anywhere but here.

Alternately, if Rielly would waive his NMC I'd love to just do something around Huberdeau for Rielly.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

insane thought

Treliving was dumb enough to trade for Huberdeau once, and just lost an elite playmaker to free agency again. why not replace him with the "best playmaking left wing of all time"?

Macelli
Kampf

for

Huberdeau
some sort of non-premium futures as a plus (one of the D prospects I could see them have some interest in)

the cap works even with no retention, although Toronto would need to run a 22 man roster. I wouldn't even mind retaining a couple mil on Huberdeau just to make it happen. Either way with the cap going up I think Huberdeau gets very tradeable if not now then as soon as next season. And I bet he'd love to be anywhere but here.

why in the world would we ever consider something like that?

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by devo22

why in the world would we ever consider something like that?

dump the biggest obstacle to whichever direction the team wants to go? If we want to compete, Huberdeau is the anchor that will drag the team down, if we want to tank, he's not so inept that he's not working against that. Plus he's just another middling left shot left winger of which the Flames have far more than they need.

Macelli and Kampf are just the expendable pieces from Toronto to make the cap work.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

dump the biggest obstacle to whichever direction the team wants to go? If we want to compete, Huberdeau is the anchor that will drag the team down, if we want to tank, he's not so inept that he's not working against that. Plus he's just another middling left shot left winger of which the Flames have far more than they need.

Macelli and Kampf are just the expendable pieces from Toronto to make the cap work.

we have 20m in cap space right now. Huberdeau's contract isn't even close to being an anchor dragging this team down. How exactly is he holding us back?

I get it, he's overpaid and hasn't lived up to expectations. But he's still one of our most productive players. Giving him away for two plugs is insane, especially when you already have an insane amount of cap space.

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by devo22

we have 20m in cap space right now. Huberdeau's contract isn't even close to being an anchor dragging this team down. How exactly is he holding us back?

I get it, he's overpaid and hasn't lived up to expectations. But he's still one of our most productive players. Giving him away for two plugs is insane, especially when you already have an insane amount of cap space.

I should have been more clear, compete as in do damage in the playoffs, not as in limp into the second wild card and be fodder. Dropping Huberdeau and his negative compete level would help with the first one.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by flamesgod

I get the frustration, trust me I do. But it’s pretty unfair to vocalize it until we actually see how this transpires first. I have the same concerns as many, but until I see the result, there’s not much point in going on about it. That’s just my opinion on it.

I'm not actually frustrated in any way.

I'm intrigued to see how Conroy gets himself out of this boondongle. My biggest point of criticism of the organization has always been the reactive nature of their management.

I really want to see some proactive execution. The fact that the Flames have a more clear understanding of Andersson's contract situation shows Conroy has done better than he did with Hanifin in my eyes. He now just needs to turn that into action.

As Royle notes, this happening again with Andersson does show the Flames need to be more serious with trade interest on veterans that don't necessarily fit the window we're targeting (like Coleman now, like Andersson this past season).

Get out ahead of stuff and be aggressive, that's what I'm hoping we see from Conroy during his 3rd year at the helm.

If I were to provide a weak analogy of Conroy's time as GM:

Year 1: Played on his heels. He intherited a miss, and everything was reactionary.
Year 2: Flat footed. He did pretty much nothing of consequence. Even the Farabee/Frost was a fairly stationary move (young player, cap dump, and future out - underperforming mid-20s players in and they underperform). We definitely heard he wanted it to be a more stable year, and it was that - and the results spoke to that. Mushy middle finish, mushy middle draft position - not the best outcome by his own account.
Year 3: I'm hoping he's on his toes and dictating the play a lot more.

It's cool to watch Conroy's performance as a GM, because there's so much goodwill built up with the man himself in this city that we're all rooting for him. We as a fanbase and city love this guy. I'm hoping we see a more aggressive, focused Conroy here in year 3.

[iloveicedhockey]

The way this place embraces negativity never ceases to amaze. A lot of "I told you so" as well, despite no one having any legitimate detail on how things have transpired, what's been offered, etc., just whatever was offered was an absolute haul and what we'll get now is peanuts. Woe is flames.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Salim has really leaned into that viewpoint of the fanbase and tried to stir up controversy with it. I don’t like the message it sends nationally to people watching TSN but he is not toeing the line when it comes to how the team is run. Seems to prefer to look at things negatively though so I am sometimes irked by his pieces.

He is simply the worst. A Edmonton fanboy. The other cities get local coverage and we are stuck with this hack.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by devo22

we have 20m in cap space right now. Huberdeau's contract isn't even close to being an anchor dragging this team down. How exactly is he holding us back?

I get it, he's overpaid and hasn't lived up to expectations. But he's still one of our most productive players. Giving him away for two plugs is insane, especially when you already have an insane amount of cap space.

If our prospects start producing, they'll start to cost more, and Huberdeau's contract will eventually be a problem.

IN any event, Toronto won't bite on such a bad trade for them.

[Derek Sutton]

Would really like to see Conroy make a move for Mason McTavish, RFA with the Ducks who have now added another Center today. Carlson, Grandlund as top two centers with McTavish to battle with Ryan Strome for 3rd/ 4th line minutes, and I believe McTavish has a higher ceiling than that. A young Center will not come cheap but Conroy cannot just sit on his hands and not address the team’s poor depth and aging vets at that position.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Would really like to see Conroy make a move for Mason McTavish, RFA with the Ducks who have now added another Center today. Carlson, Grandlund as top two centers with McTavish to battle with Ryan Strome for 3rd/ 4th line minutes, and I believe McTavish has a higher ceiling than that. A young Center will not come cheap but Conroy cannot just sit on his hands and not address the team’s poor depth and aging vets at that position.

Granlund is better on the wing. Guarantee he will play the majority of his time there as a top 6 RW.

[Paulie Walnuts]

McTavish isn’t moving. That’s why they traded Zegras. Verbeek already said that’s the 1-2 punch down the middle.

[Aarongavey]

With the work San Jose did in the last couple days I think it will be impossible for anyone other than San Jose to finish dead last next year. Have to give it to Grier, he is dedicated to being horrifically awful. Signing Klingberg as your number one dman shows a dedication to losing that is almost unmatched.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Ummm everyone signed before free agency. The biggest names are Ehlers.

Lots of teams left holding their you know what with Florida signing everyone and Vegas.

Carolina and LA are big losers as well. It’s likely to be a tight league next year especially with the loser point.

[traptor]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Would really like to see Conroy make a move for Mason McTavish, RFA with the Ducks who have now added another Center today. Carlson, Grandlund as top two centers with McTavish to battle with Ryan Strome for 3rd/ 4th line minutes, and I believe McTavish has a higher ceiling than that. A young Center will not come cheap but Conroy cannot just sit on his hands and not address the team’s poor depth and aging vets at that position.

I just dont think hes even an option. Teams dont move McTavish caliber players unless there's some type of culture fit issue from thr player or team. McTavush seems perfectly happy there so he's not going anywhere.




Rossi appears to be the available option right now.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by devo22

we have 20m in cap space right now. Huberdeau's contract isn't even close to being an anchor dragging this team down. How exactly is he holding us back?

I get it, he's overpaid and hasn't lived up to expectations. But he's still one of our most productive players. Giving him away for two plugs is insane, especially when you already have an insane amount of cap space.

And an insane amount of plugs.

We don’t have any superstars. But Kadri, Weegar and Huberdeau are about as close as we get. Wolf too.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Goriders

And an insane amount of plugs.

We don’t have any superstars. But Kadri, Weegar and Huberdeau are about as close as we get. Wolf too.

The Flames need Huberdeau’s contract over the next three years just to hit the cap floor (26/27 and 27/28 in particular).

[Sandman]

Is it true that Friedman made a comment today on the Fan590 about Kadri getting traded back to Toronto, or was that a hoax?

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Is it true that Friedman made a comment today on the Fan590 about Kadri getting traded back to Toronto, or was that a hoax?

Hoax by a Leafs fan