2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Wolven

It would have to be one of the teams that are loaded on Cs and need a top pair RD immediately. There are a few of them now: Sharks, Ducks, Sabres (lol), Stars, and to a lesser degree the Red Wings, Hurricanes, and Mammoth.

With the C depth that each of these teams have they are either going to be putting a guy who could be a #1/2C on the third line or pushing them to the wing. If you believe the rumours around McTavish, these guys actually are not a fan of being forced to play wing because the organization created a logjam at C.

Just as an example, Celebrini has locked down the #1C position on the Sharks and last season they were trying to establish Smith as the #2C. Throwing Misa into the mix means you now have three guys for two spots and someone is going to have to yield. (Smith would be the obvious choice as he was playing on the wing already)

Whichever one of these guys is not your #1C or your #2C is expendable and should be moved for whatever package addresses the gaps in your depth chart. In the case of the Sharks, they not only have Celebrini, Smith, and Misa but they also have Bystedt running the clock on his ELC and no room on the Sharks depth chart for him.

Side note: Cap considerations will also become a problem for these teams. Kaprizov just signed for $17M. McDavid is probably going to get $18-20M? The Sharks are going to have 6 or 7 star players? That is going to be very unlikely to keep everyone and with so many of them being forwards they will quickly start having problems around not having any money for their D group.

Most people here understand the theory: Draft BPA and then get ready to trade from positions of strength to address positions of weakness. In practice though, the GMs seem to get scared of trading away one of their young star players and would rather just hope that having 3-4 top 6 centres makes up for not having a well built D group.

I'm not sure many teams consider Andersson a #1 dman at this stage of his career, especially after last year. Let's see how he starts the year, maybe he can re-establish his value.

You example of SJ may make sense for need, but SJ is not trading Smith. At least not in a trade for Andersson. They would want a very young dman that can grow with the team.

Andersson would need to bring an older centre type.

Or a real project.

[Fan69]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Misa can play LW and Smith can play RW. They're not just going to trade one for the sake of trading one.

They will if the player says i don't want to play wing?

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Fan69

They will if the player says i don't want to play wing?

That's true, but if they decided to trade, say Misa, they would get one of the best young dmen around. Think Parekh, not Andersson.

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by Wolven

It would have to be one of the teams that are loaded on Cs and need a top pair RD immediately. There are a few of them now: Sharks, Ducks, Sabres (lol), Stars, and to a lesser degree the Red Wings, Hurricanes, and Mammoth.

With the C depth that each of these teams have they are either going to be putting a guy who could be a #1/2C on the third line or pushing them to the wing. If you believe the rumours around McTavish, these guys actually are not a fan of being forced to play wing because the organization created a logjam at C.

Just as an example, Celebrini has locked down the #1C position on the Sharks and last season they were trying to establish Smith as the #2C. Throwing Misa into the mix means you now have three guys for two spots and someone is going to have to yield. (Smith would be the obvious choice as he was playing on the wing already)

Whichever one of these guys is not your #1C or your #2C is expendable and should be moved for whatever package addresses the gaps in your depth chart. In the case of the Sharks, they not only have Celebrini, Smith, and Misa but they also have Bystedt running the clock on his ELC and no room on the Sharks depth chart for him.

Side note: Cap considerations will also become a problem for these teams. Kaprizov just signed for $17M. McDavid is probably going to get $18-20M? The Sharks are going to have 6 or 7 star players? That is going to be very unlikely to keep everyone and with so many of them being forwards they will quickly start having problems around not having any money for their D group.

Most people here understand the theory: Draft BPA and then get ready to trade from positions of strength to address positions of weakness. In practice though, the GMs seem to get scared of trading away one of their young star players and would rather just hope that having 3-4 top 6 centres makes up for not having a well built D group.

The kind of guys you mention are not available with Andersson as the main piece going the other way. I'm sure I will get pushback to this, but Andersson just isn't a top pair dman. The only way some of the names mentioned may be available would be if assets like a combination of Parekh, Coronato, Calgary's 1st are going the other way.

With Andersson we would be looking at a project center or a player CC is hoping to break out.

[Royle9]

Huberdeau is elite when playing an east/west high offensive game, which is what he flourished under when he was in Florida.

Calgary has historically adopted a dump/chase - defensive first - shot volume system in the offensive zone. Only that one single year under Sutter (where everyone had career years go figure) did he let John/Sean and Elias/Tkachuk play to their strengths and play that hard puck possession and creative zone entry freedom style of offence.

Edmonton has allowed this style for years (mind you they have the 2 best players in the NHL) and its worked out pretty good for them.

I firmly believe we need to adopt a bit of that offensive mantra for our skilled guys and let your top line or two utilize their strengths to some extent. It doesn't have to be a Burnette full throttle offensive outscore the opponent every shift system.

But I do think they could afford to let our play makers use that half wall/east - west offensive flair to up our goal totals significantly. Just so happens we'll now have an elite offensive D-man who is also phenomenal at walking the blue line and flourished under that creative east/west style his whole career.

I really hope Huska adjusts his system for these guys.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Huberdeau is elite when playing an east/west high offensive game, which is what he flourished under when he was in Florida.

Calgary has historically adopted a dump/chase - defensive first - shot volume system in the offensive zone. Only that one single year under Sutter (where everyone had career years go figure) did he let John/Sean and Elias/Tkachuk play to their strengths and play that hard puck possession and creative zone entry freedom style of offence.

Edmonton has allowed this style for years (mind you they have the 2 best players in the NHL) and its worked out pretty good for them.

I firmly believe we need to adopt a bit of that offensive mantra for our skilled guys and let your top line or two utilize their strengths to some extent. It doesn't have to be a Burnette full throttle offensive outscore the opponent every shift system.

But I do think they could afford to let our play makers use that half wall/east - west offensive flair to up our goal totals significantly. Just so happens we'll now have an elite offensive D-man who is also phenomenal at walking the blue line and flourished under that creative east/west style his whole career.

I really hope Huska adjusts his system for these guys.

At some point that switch has to flip.

But last year certainly the Flames just didn't have the horses. If you lean offensively without the personnel you end up losing every game 5-3.

Playing a prevent at all costs and sacrifice system kept them in 2-1 and 3-2 games all season and they won a lot of them.

Parekh helps.
Coronato evolving helps.
A healthy Zary helps.
The possibility of a Gridin addition helps.

But still don't know if they have the firepower to go toe to toe with the top 15 teams in the league.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by dino7c

The strategy is to have a ton of draft picks...including multiple firsts every year. There are tons of stars in the NHL outside of the top 5 picks not just one or two. (I mean the Flames have one...and counting)

Its also an ironic post if your preferred strategy is suck and win lotteries

For Trump boy it's like rainnn on his wedding day.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Bingo

At some point that switch has to flip.

But last year certainly the Flames just didn't have the horses. If you lean offensively without the personnel you end up losing every game 5-3.

Playing a prevent at all costs and sacrifice system kept them in 2-1 and 3-2 games all season and they won a lot of them.

Parekh helps.
Coronato evolving helps.
A healthy Zary helps.
The possibility of a Gridin addition helps.

But still don't know if they have the firepower to go toe to toe with the top 15 teams in the league.

Oh for sure, but this is why you can only afford to have your top line try this. The Flames are certainly not built for a high power offense, but I think they have at least 5 guys who could flourish under some interpretation of it.

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Huberdeau is elite when playing an east/west high offensive game, which is what he flourished under when he was in Florida.

Calgary has historically adopted a dump/chase - defensive first - shot volume system in the offensive zone. Only that one single year under Sutter (where everyone had career years go figure) did he let John/Sean and Elias/Tkachuk play to their strengths and play that hard puck possession and creative zone entry freedom style of offence.

Edmonton has allowed this style for years (mind you they have the 2 best players in the NHL) and its worked out pretty good for them.

I firmly believe we need to adopt a bit of that offensive mantra for our skilled guys and let your top line or two utilize their strengths to some extent. It doesn't have to be a Burnette full throttle offensive outscore the opponent every shift system.

But I do think they could afford to let our play makers use that half wall/east - west offensive flair to up our goal totals significantly. Just so happens we'll now have an elite offensive D-man who is also phenomenal at walking the blue line and flourished under that creative east/west style his whole career.

I really hope Huska adjusts his system for these guys.

In the Huska interview yesterday he talks about just this. Nothing major, but tweaks to the game to help the players convert on the chances they were getting. Which he said, analytically, were where they wanted to be. At least in the second half. He also talks about Zayne on the left. Mentions he plays like a 'rover' anyway so they wanted to have a look on his offside. Sounds like Huska wasn't going to totally contain Parehk's game. We'll see how it pans out.

[Jason14h]

Huberdeau is also 32 now and is 4 years removed from his elite year(s)

He isn’t going to turn back into a PPG at his age and certainly not with the offensive talent surrounding him on the Flames

There were only 35 PPG players in the NHL last season , and only a handful are north of 30

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Oh for sure, but this is why you can only afford to have your top line try this. The Flames are certainly not built for a high power offense, but I think they have at least 5 guys who could flourish under some interpretation of it.

There’s a reason why Calgary lost 14 games in overtime. They just don’t have the players to play the possession/high skill game.

Like Bingo said, with Parekh and a couple of other players coming in, and hopefully Frost blossoming, that might change.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Huberdeau is also 32 now and is 4 years removed from his elite year(s)

He isn’t going to turn back into a PPG at his age and certainly not with the offensive talent surrounding him on the Flames

There were only 35 PPG players in the NHL last season , and only a handful are north of 30

A lot of the top scorers are turning 30 this year or are over 30. The major issue with Huberdeau is that this ability to score is very situational dependent. He's not the consistent generator of offence, we'd hoped him to be.

That being said, if Parekh unlocks the PP, I could see Huberdeau hitting 80 again.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

There’s a reason why Calgary lost 14 games in overtime. They just don’t have the players to play the possession/high skill game.

Like Bingo said, with Parekh and a couple of other players coming in, and hopefully Frost blossoming, that might change.

To add, Huska has also been in charge of some very high output offensive teams in his career. I don’t think he uses the system he does due to personal preference or a lack of knowledge of other systems.

I think he’s generally quite good at adapting the system to the skillset of the players while ensuring the defensive fundamentals are there. He’s a great development coach, and if Huberdeau does get back to that 80-90 point range with the addition of more high octane offensive talent around him, he’s going to do so a far more well rounded player.

[gvitaly]

Carter Hart to VGK

https://twitter.com/user/status/1973225104025764058

Nothitg official yet, but it seems like a foregone conclusion at this point.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by blankall

A lot of the top scorers are turning 30 this year or are over 30. The major issue with Huberdeau is that this ability to score is very situational dependent. He's not the consistent generator of offence, we'd hoped him to be.

That being said, if Parekh unlocks the PP, I could see Huberdeau hitting 80 again.

There’s just not a lot of PPG guys over 32 though

Of the top 35 PPG - the guys who averaged 1 PPG last year, the four that were older then Huberdeau were:

Crosby
Ovechkin
Panarin
Duchene

That’s the list

2 sure fire hall of famers and top 10 players of all time , and Panarin who has been better then Huberdeau for almost the entirety of his career

So really the only comparable is Duchene who averaged exactly 1 PPG. So while nothing is impossible - it is extremely unlikely any 32 year old averages a PPG let alone a player who is 4 years removed from that level

[Macindoc]

Vegas about to go up a few spots on my most hated teams list.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Carter Hart to VGK

https://twitter.com/user/status/1973225104025764058

Nothitg official yet, but it seems like a foregone conclusion at this point.

Organizing group sex with the boys should be easier to do there! I’m assuming that was a factor.

[Toonage]

Team bondage bonding

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

There’s just not a lot of PPG guys over 32 though

Of the top 35 PPG - the guys who averaged 1 PPG last year, the four that were older then Huberdeau were:

Crosby
Ovechkin
Panarin
Duchene

That’s the list

2 sure fire hall of famers and top 10 players of all time , and Panarin who has been better then Huberdeau for almost the entirety of his career

So really the only comparable is Duchene who averaged exactly 1 PPG. So while nothing is impossible - it is extremely unlikely any 32 year old averages a PPG let alone a player who is 4 years removed from that level

And Duchene was playing with top level offensive players.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Huberdeau is elite when playing an east/west high offensive game, which is what he flourished under when he was in Florida.

He was elite, no idea if he still would be, but with his age and distance from that year, it's unlikely he would still be elite.