2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Yanda

Fair enough but if hes publically saying he will only sign with 1 specific team driving down his own value then he deserves to get the Adam Fox Booing treatment down the line.

People need to remember it’s not in Ras best interest to declare publicly OR privately he’s only interested in signing with one team. He’d also be a fool to only actually be willing to sign with one team. I can’t think of anything that would reduce his value more if he hits UFA than everyone knowing he’s only interested in one destination. Welcome to an undervalued contract Ras.

Point being he’s likely not only willing to sign in one spot.

Where this complicated, is the sign and trade. It’s creates another element of multiple factors lining up. For example, Ras might be willing to sign with 10 teams. 5 teams might be willing to trade for him now on a sign trade. How many of the 5 overlap with his list of 10? Might be 0, might be 1. If it’s one, but it’s a package Conny doesn’t like? What if it’s one, but it’s one of the lowest destinations on his list - maybe he’s not that motivated to accept the contract now and would want to see if his preferred destination opens up later.

Point being, sign and trades really need to line up to work. And none of the above is a reason to hate on Ras or critique Conroy.

If we can’t thread the needle on a sign and trade so be it. We gave to accept the traditional trade rental market. The fans have wound themselves up on hypothetical returns on Ras (and others) which may never have been realistic.

[Enoch Root]

just did a quick search for rankings done post-draft. The first two I found had the Flames 6th and 5th. Probably fair to say that most will have them between 5 and 10.

[Wastedyouth]

Surprised the Flames haven't signed Roslovic yet. Fits their exact needs.

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by Hackey

I have slightly more faith that Conroy won't spend picks as recklessly as Treliving but I also think he's in a position where it makes far less sense.

Do we have a Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Bennett, Lindholm, etc. in the system yet?

I think we take for granted how extremely lucky we were to obtain some of those players and how difficult it is going to be to replicate something similar unless they bottom out for a few years. Tkachuk at 6 and Gaudreau in the 4th round are very rare.

I wouldn't say we were fortunate. Every contending team have impact players from the later rounds. The Flames were a bit unlucky with Monahan getting hurt and Bennett not having an earlier impact (though much of that is on them). Plus, they exited the rebuild a bit early.

As for Conroy, I am not concerned with him squandering picks for rentals and bit pieces, at least at this stage of the rebuild. But I wont be shocked if he takes a swing on an offer sheet or a big trade for a young player.

People give Conroy a lot of credit. A lot of it earned. But his first choice wasn't to trade Lindholm, Hanafin, and Andersson. He tried and failed to sign these guys. He also tried to take a big swing or two this summer. That concerns me. In part because he couldn't get it done. In part because failing to sign those guys is dodging a bullet. And in part because it speaks to the desired direction.

On the positive side, Conroy is a great drafting GM. He manages assets well. He is great at finding value. He values youth and has implemented a strong development pipeline.

On the caution side, his trades have mixed returns. His contract signings have been mixed as well. He also seems slow to pull the trigger.

For criticism, he won't pick a direction between rebuilding or winning. He hasn't been able to sign players, make a splash, or find a way to action his intent a lot of the time.

I like him as a GM. Being a transition GM is hard, and he had a mess to clean up. Plus he is a likeable guy with a positive history with the Flames. But I would love him to committ to a rebuild. Fewer hockey trades and focus on futures. Trade players earlier for value. Stop trying to retain UFAs unless they clearly want to be here for a rebuild. Weaponize the cap space.

I think having a drafting GM like Conroy with some high picks and focused on a proper rebuild has a real chance of creating a contender. The Flames just need to committ and recognize we aren't going to be super competitive for a few seasons. Last year almost everything went right and we still missed the playoffs. Stop working so hard to keep is in the middle.

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Surprised the Flames haven't signed Roslovic yet. Fits their exact needs.

Merican. Probs wants to play south of border. And probably better options out there. Might be waiting for a team to clear space.

[Sandman]

Roslovic was a player I was pulling for when free agency opened. He would be an excellent pick up, if he actually wanted to play here.

I actually like Kunin as a Rooney replacement, as unpopular an opinion that will be.

[Roof-Daddy]

I doubt Roslovic has any interest in signing with a rebuilding team in a small Western Canadian market.

[dammage79]

Dude wants a job and the only team coming knocking is a "small market" Canadian team (like there is such a thing lol), he'll play.

That being said, I think the Razz thing will be the first Flames domino to go before they do anything else.

[Red Potato Standing By]

Originally Posted by kehatch

I wouldn't say we were fortunate. Every contending team have impact players from the later rounds. The Flames were a bit unlucky with Monahan getting hurt and Bennett not having an earlier impact (though much of that is on them). Plus, they exited the rebuild a bit early.

As for Conroy, I am not concerned with him squandering picks for rentals and bit pieces, at least at this stage of the rebuild. But I wont be shocked if he takes a swing on an offer sheet or a big trade for a young player.

People give Conroy a lot of credit. A lot of it earned. But his first choice wasn't to trade Lindholm, Hanafin, and Andersson. He tried and failed to sign these guys. He also tried to take a big swing or two this summer. That concerns me. In part because he couldn't get it done. In part because failing to sign those guys is dodging a bullet. And in part because it speaks to the desired direction.

On the positive side, Conroy is a great drafting GM. He manages assets well. He is great at finding value. He values youth and has implemented a strong development pipeline.

On the caution side, his trades have mixed returns. His contract signings have been mixed as well. He also seems slow to pull the trigger.

For criticism, he won't pick a direction between rebuilding or winning. He hasn't been able to sign players, make a splash, or find a way to action his intent a lot of the time.

I like him as a GM. Being a transition GM is hard, and he had a mess to clean up. Plus he is a likeable guy with a positive history with the Flames. But I would love him to committ to a rebuild. Fewer hockey trades and focus on futures. Trade players earlier for value. Stop trying to retain UFAs unless they clearly want to be here for a rebuild. Weaponize the cap space.

I think having a drafting GM like Conroy with some high picks and focused on a proper rebuild has a real chance of creating a contender. The Flames just need to committ and recognize we aren't going to be super competitive for a few seasons. Last year almost everything went right and we still missed the playoffs. Stop working so hard to keep is in the middle.

In regards to the lindholm and others thing yes he wanted to re-sign them but only at what the flames wanted them at(in other words weren’t willing to match what the players wanted) so credit that he set a price and was able to walk away ( now whether what he was willing to pay was still an overlay is a matter of opinion of course).

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I doubt Roslovic has any interest in signing with a rebuilding team in a small Western Canadian market.

He will go to whoever pays him the most.

[Paulie Walnuts]

It was 1 game but I liked what I saw from Morton. I hope we keep some spots open.

[shutout]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Surprised the Flames haven't signed Roslovic yet. Fits their exact needs.

If he stays unsigned through July and he would be interested in signing a one year deal maybe that provides enough of a backfill at the center position for Kadri and Toronto talks to amount to something.

[Royle9]

Calgary wants to keep spots open for youth, I don’t think they’re looking to fill a spot with Jack Roslovic sadly.

Kadri, Backlund, Frost, Zary as our centers not including some call ups from Wranglers who could compete for 4th line duty.

Roslovic is better suited in the top 9 and right now we’ve got a plethora of options.
I see them “maybe” looking at a spot for a hard nosed 4th line grit guy but I’d put that at less than 20% probability.

I think the only way someone comes in is via trade.

Roslovic is a 40pt guy at best, outside of being a RHS which we def don’t have much of.. he doesn’t bring a lot imo. Not sure I want to be paying him much…

[Paulie Walnuts]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1941553352195833967

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

https://twitter.com/user/status/1941553352195833967

What happens if owners don’t spend enough for players to get 50% of HRR?

Is there a “reverse escrow” situation where every player gets X% more on their salary ?

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

What happens if owners don’t spend enough for players to get 50% of HRR?

Is there a “reverse escrow” situation where every player gets X% more on their salary ?

From what I remember teams pay into a pool and the money is evenly paid out.

[Sylvanfan]

It's still a situation where more teams are above the mid point of 83.5 million than below it. 9 teams under under that threshold with only one currently below the floor. So we're still a long ways from teams not spending enough to cover 50% of HRR.

We didn't see the two year contracts from top players that was talked up. When we hit 2027 with a 113 million dollar upper limit, I suspect we'll start to see a split where more teams hang around the mid point and fewer at the upper limit.

[devo22]

GMs are going to do some really stupid things on July 1, 2026.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Calgary wants to keep spots open for youth, I don’t think they’re looking to fill a spot with Jack Roslovic sadly.

Kadri, Backlund, Frost, Zary as our centers not including some call ups from Wranglers who could compete for 4th line duty.

Roslovic is better suited in the top 9 and right now we’ve got a plethora of options.
I see them “maybe” looking at a spot for a hard nosed 4th line grit guy but I’d put that at less than 20% probability.

I think the only way someone comes in is via trade.

Roslovic is a 40pt guy at best, outside of being a RHS which we def don’t have much of.. he doesn’t bring a lot imo. Not sure I want to be paying him much…

I remember the last time Roslovic was available it was rumoured that he didn't want to play in Canada.

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by devo22

GMs are going to do some really stupid things on July 1, 2026.

Yeah. The list of free agents for July 1, 2026 is pretty crazy too. The top of the list looks like this:

McDavid
Kaprizov
Eichel
Panarin
Connor
Kempe
Bobrovsky
Andersson

Obviously quite a few of those players will likely re-sign but teams will be aggressive going after any of those players if they make it free agency.