2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[DJones]

If you can get Rasmus to sign for a decent amount you re-sign him. A late first and a mid prospect isn't some ground breaking trade that will wreck our future.

You need 3 to 4 really good defense on your team and they are impossible to find on the market. Trade him and and in two years we'll be trying to find another player like him.

[united]

Brian Burke, during his Civilian Fridays hit on The Sheet, talking about Nazem Kadri and his 1,000th game celebration:

“He's very happy. He loves Calgary. I know there's a lot of trade rumors, but I don't think he's going anywhere. My own personal opinion would be he would have to approach them. They would have to ask him if he wants to go somewhere. He's got a list of 13 teams or 12 teams he cannot be traded to. But he told me and his wife Ashley told me they love Calgary. They think it's a wonderful place to play. They love living there. So I can't see all these trade rumors unless they have a conversation and someone asks them if he wants to move and we'll get some direction. I can't see it happening. He's very happy there.”

[ST20]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

So…if the Flames burn all the vets this year…Ras, Coleman and Kadri….how are they going to make it to the cap floor for 26-27? Will they not have to take on UFAs? And this year’s draft picks won’t be ready for several years, or do we just keep bringing in undeveloped 19 and 20 year olds and hope they don’t get hurt constantly?

I don’t see how that works in any effective manner. Or does one expect that they’ll just take on a slew of bad contracts?

You kind of answered your own question. You trade for bad but manageable contracts/ retain salary within your rebuilding timeframe to help the other team and increase trade value for yourself. They may still need to take on UFAs but there’s always character/ reclamation guys willing to take short term contracts every year and you don’t need to make big swings.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think his work in Toronto has been worse than Calgary. The Marner thing is just weird. Giving up high picks for mid players is a Toronto thing though, not just Treliving. Must be something in the water. It’s happened for years

I agree that his work in Calgary was/is better and ultimately I think the good part of the Brad Treliving legacy in Calgary all revolves around Dougie Hamilton. His best moves as the GM of the Flames were the deals that brought Dougie in and the one that sent him away. Coming off a surprise run to the second round and with top young players in Gaudreau and Monahan along with recently drafted center Sam Bennett the Flames needed a top Dman to pair with those guys (they had a great top pair in Gio/Brodie who were older than the new core). Using known draft capital to make that deal allowed the flames to add a win now/long term piece.

3 years later and 2 playoff misses Treliving used the Hamilton asset to reset the roster. Sending him along with a player entering the last year of his deal and a top prospect who wouldn’t sign here he landed 2 former 5th overall picks at the age of 23 and 21. Locking those guys to sub $5M 6 year deals put the Flames on a better path. It turned out to be a fantastic deal for Calgary.

His UFA work got better as time went on. Tanev, Markstrom, Coleman, Kadri were all much better signings than Raymond, Brouwer, or Neal.

Blowing picks on Elliott, Smith, Hamonic were some of his worst moves as trades. The Tkachuk trade aged terribly and the Monahan trade was among his worst moves. Lining up contracts to lose Gaudreau and Tkachuk in the same summer was also a disaster.


Glad he is gone. A little surprised he has been worse in Toronto where he would have more resources, and allegedly more control.

[Royle9]

Carlo on IR now too lol

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by ST20

You kind of answered your own question. You trade for bad but manageable contracts/ retain salary within your rebuilding timeframe to help the other team and increase trade value for yourself. They may still need to take on UFAs but there’s always character/ reclamation guys willing to take short term contracts every year and you don’t need to make big swings.

Who would the Flames trade and have retention on for the 27/28 season? That does not seem like a viable option to make the cap floor. They could trade for bad contracts but then they have to play them or at least have them on the NHL roster. Most bad contracts are not bad enough to take on for free so that route would include sending draft picks out to acquire the bad contracts one would presume.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I agree that his work in Calgary was/is better and ultimately I think the good part of the Brad Treliving legacy in Calgary all revolves around Dougie Hamilton. His best moves as the GM of the Flames were the deals that brought Dougie in and the one that sent him away. Coming off a surprise run to the second round and with top young players in Gaudreau and Monahan along with recently drafted center Sam Bennett the Flames needed a top Dman to pair with those guys (they had a great top pair in Gio/Brodie who were older than the new core). Using known draft capital to make that deal allowed the flames to add a win now/long term piece.

3 years later and 2 playoff misses Treliving used the Hamilton asset to reset the roster. Sending him along with a player entering the last year of his deal and a top prospect who wouldn’t sign here he landed 2 former 5th overall picks at the age of 23 and 21. Locking those guys to sub $5M 6 year deals put the Flames on a better path. It turned out to be a fantastic deal for Calgary.

His UFA work got better as time went on. Tanev, Markstrom, Coleman, Kadri were all much better signings than Raymond, Brouwer, or Neal.

Blowing picks on Elliott, Smith, Hamonic were some of his worst moves as trades. The Tkachuk trade aged terribly and the Monahan trade was among his worst moves. Lining up contracts to lose Gaudreau and Tkachuk in the same summer was also a disaster.


Glad he is gone. A little surprised he has been worse in Toronto where he would have more resources, and allegedly more control.

My thoughts won't be a super specific analysis as I think you laid out a lot of the good and the bad. But with hindsight glasses on, and this might not be a popular opinion, I think it's hard not to look back on Tre's body of work here and not give credit where is due. The team, as it was assembled in that last season before everyone jumped ship, was a team that was built well enough, and assembled well enough to be a true contender. And that includes even with the bad luck of Monahan's health and (maybe not bad luck, maybe self induced) Bennett not reaching his potential here.

Treliving rebuilt a very solid team here in Calgary, that could have been good enough to win. Many many GMs fail to do that when put in the same situations as Tre, so IMO he showed his abilities.

Now, it all blew up on him in Calgary (not going to go deep on the why there and how much of that was his fault, bad luck or other) before we really got to see him get tested on the next part. Which is, pushing a team that is good enough foundationally, over the edge to actually win or become a perennial contender. That part of the job, which I think is understated as one of the hardest parts of a GM life cycle, "tinker" with a good team to make it a great team, was certainly left as a TBD on evaluating Tre here in CGY.

Point being with that, when he took the GM in job in TO, that's the stage of lifecycle he inherited there. Tinker with a pretty solid team, take them from good to great. So far, it's been a struggle for him, but I'm not sure that should be surprising.

One, because it's super hard part of the job, and very few do it well. Two, because despite his successes and learnings in CGY, this part of the job was one he hadn't really proven, or had a full opportunity to prove out his abilities on yet.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

So…if the Flames burn all the vets this year…Ras, Coleman and Kadri….how are they going to make it to the cap floor for 26-27? Will they not have to take on UFAs? And this year’s draft picks won’t be ready for several years, or do we just keep bringing in undeveloped 19 and 20 year olds and hope they don’t get hurt constantly?

I don’t see how that works in any effective manner. Or does one expect that they’ll just take on a slew of bad contracts?

The floor is going to be $76.9M? Let's play with some hypothetical numbers!

The Flames are currently at $79.5M cap hit for next season.
- Gone UFA: Lomberg ($2M), Bean ($1.75M)
- Gone Traded: Andersson ($4.55M), Kadri ($7M), Coleman ($4.9M)
- New Contracts: Wolf ($7.5M+), Pospisil ($2.5M+), Backlund ($3.25M-)

Puts the Flames at $63.05M if there is no retention. Almost $14M under the floor.
- Retain $2.45M on Coleman
- Retain $3.5M on Kadri

The Flames would need to sign one player for at least $7.85M? Not a lot of options to go after:
Laine (probably wants big term)
Hayes (Could probably do a big one year deal)

Unlikely that the Flames land a big fish in UFA next year. Signing two smaller pieces could do it:
- Extend Lomberg ($3M) and add Ferraro ($4.85M) to 1 year deals

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by united

Brian Burke, during his Civilian Fridays hit on The Sheet, talking about Nazem Kadri and his 1,000th game celebration:

“He's very happy. He loves Calgary. I know there's a lot of trade rumors, but I don't think he's going anywhere. My own personal opinion would be he would have to approach them. They would have to ask him if he wants to go somewhere. He's got a list of 13 teams or 12 teams he cannot be traded to. But he told me and his wife Ashley told me they love Calgary. They think it's a wonderful place to play. They love living there. So I can't see all these trade rumors unless they have a conversation and someone asks them if he wants to move and we'll get some direction. I can't see it happening. He's very happy there.”

So is Burke saying Kadri would have to approach the Flames? Or that they would have to ask him?

Either way, his opinion seems to be that it is up to Kadri.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

So is Burke saying Kadri would have to approach the Flames? Or that they would have to ask him?

Either way, his opinion seems to be that it is up to Kadri.

Well, aside from being told they love it in Calgary, this is all Burky doing some supposing from afar.

[Royle9]

Its been said all along that Kadri and his family love Calgary, that hasnt changed.
He's willing to do what's best for the team, if that's keep him for the rebuild or move him to make the team better (he'll block his 12 team list) he's open to anything.

Fact remains he committed to this city as a UFA and wont speak ill about Craig or the team.

[Vinny01]

For me the offer needs to be big for the Flames to trade Kadri. Like if the Wings are offering Danileson+1st+cap dump then the Flames need to look at deals like that. A pick and a good young player or prospect near ready to make the jump is what is needed. If they don’t get that then the team can keep Kadri.

If we get McKenna I would prefer he is playing with Kadri rather than Frost but if they can get some true needle moving pieces that will really move this rebuild forward then they should certainly prioritizing moving him this year

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

For me the offer needs to be big for the Flames to trade Kadri. Like if the Wings are offering Danileson+1st+cap dump then the Flames need to look at deals like that. A pick and a good young player or prospect near ready to make the jump is what is needed. If they don’t get that then the team can keep Kadri.

If we get McKenna I would prefer he is playing with Kadri rather than Frost but if they can get some true needle moving pieces that will really move this rebuild forward then they should certainly prioritizing moving him this year

Frost as the #1 center on this team is scary in a bad way including for the young players around him.
So I wonder if at some point, if they decide not to trade Kadri, if Frost becomes more on the table.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Well, aside from being told they love it in Calgary, this is all Burky doing some supposing from afar.

Yep, no one is calling it news.

Has anyone actually reported that Flames are Kadri are OK with a trade?

[CliffFletcher]

It’s not hard to meet the cap floor. You can sign UFAs to short contracts (and flip them at the deadline), take on bad contracts, take on contracts of players on IR, etc.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Frost as the #1 center on this team is scary in a bad way including for the young players around him.
So I wonder if at some point, if they decide not to trade Kadri, if Frost becomes more on the table.

I agree a lot of our fanbase is focused on the big 3 trade chip veterans but perhaps Conroy shifts his focus to guys like Frost or Sharangovich (wishful thinking) as pieces he sells off this year. I feel like a guy like Zary seems to have fallen out of favor and could be moved as well.

If some of these other bodies move and Kadri/Coleman remain on the roster the team likely doesn’t have the same quality of futures at their disposal but they keep 2 of the vets who no doubt are the culture guys we hear about. I can see it being a slight possibility that is the route they take

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Wolven

The floor is going to be $76.9M? Let's play with some hypothetical numbers!

The Flames are currently at $79.5M cap hit for next season.
- Gone UFA: Lomberg ($2M), Bean ($1.75M)
- Gone Traded: Andersson ($4.55M), Kadri ($7M), Coleman ($4.9M)
- New Contracts: Wolf ($7.5M+), Pospisil ($2.5M+), Backlund ($3.25M-)

Puts the Flames at $63.05M if there is no retention. Almost $14M under the floor.
- Retain $2.45M on Coleman
- Retain $3.5M on Kadri

The Flames would need to sign one player for at least $7.85M? Not a lot of options to go after:
Laine (probably wants big term)
Hayes (Could probably do a big one year deal)

Unlikely that the Flames land a big fish in UFA next year. Signing two smaller pieces could do it:
- Extend Lomberg ($3M) and add Ferraro ($4.85M) to 1 year deals

Good points, and I agree that the Flames will either need to massively overpay, or take on bad contracts to reach the cap floor in this scenario. They could also potentially take on a contract like Pietrangelo for a year, like SJ did with Price.

I'd rather overpay and throw $10M+ at Malkin for a year rather than sign a Lomberg for $3M. I bet he has a thing or two he could teach the younger players, and possibly could be traded at the deadline. I really don't love setting the precedent of the Flames paying $3M for the 12th/13th forward.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Cap floor is easy - Treliving's first year they overpaid on the market for guys like Engelland (turned out to be a decent deal), Raymond (that one wasn't good), Hiller (was ok at first), Potter (meh), and Setoguchi.


Heck, there may be a bad deal on a shorter term (1-3 years) that the Flames can finally get paid to eat. Getting to the cap floor is easy. It is trying to stay under it while being competitive that is hard.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

So…if the Flames burn all the vets this year…Ras, Coleman and Kadri….how are they going to make it to the cap floor for 26-27? Will they not have to take on UFAs? And this year’s draft picks won’t be ready for several years, or do we just keep bringing in undeveloped 19 and 20 year olds and hope they don’t get hurt constantly?

I don’t see how that works in any effective manner. Or does one expect that they’ll just take on a slew of bad contracts?

Great points. I think the answer of taking on bad contracts is a great problem to have. You deal all those 3 for 1sts+more, then take on bad contracts for more high picks. That way there becomes a good stable of young guys to come in, expediting the rebuild while also dealing some of those picks for picks further out if we have enough. Personally I think it as a win win. The fans would presumably support the team if they see a bright future through the draft.

[The EBUG's EBUG]

Feels like this organization has PTSD from the Gaudreau/Tkachuk departures. So desperate to not move anybody who might remotely want to be here. I get it to an extent but management gets paid excellent money to do their jobs, you'd think part of that would be the expectation of treating these guys in a professional manner while also doing what's best for the team long term, which is moving these guys out.

Shouldn't matter if Coleman doesn't ask for a trade this year, he needs to be gone. Naz, thank you so much for your service to this organization, you're a consummate professional and we hope you come back to the city and grow old here but it's untenable to sit on a 35 year old premium asset simply because the team doesn't want to look like a bad guy.

These guys are big boys making millions of dollars, team is in last place, they'll understand.