2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by 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.

This may indeed be a good plan for a big market team that has actually won something or had some level of sustained success, it's too bad that's nowhere close to what we are. When you’re in an undesirable market it's not traditionally a great business decision to ship out people who for whatever reason desire to be in your market. The Flames don’t have the level of organizational success necessary to be ruthless in their treatment of players.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by bluejays

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.

You would need somebody who has a bad contract, does not have cap space and wants to move a high pick to get the cap space. If they don’t have a cap space problem then it is the Flames who need the contract. Suspect negotiations where it is the Flames who need the contract are more around the Flames moving out a draft pick to acquire the contract than it is a team attaching a high pick to get the contract.

Take Josh Anderson. The Habs have no salary space problems for next year so they do not need to move him. However they may move him if they are getting a 3rd round pick back because they could possibly use that space to get a big name UFA. But they already have almost 28 million to sign 7 players with most of those players being cheap RFAs so they probably only give us that bad contract if they are getting an asset back because the Flames need the contract more than the Habs need to get rid of it.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by 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.

If we sign a bunch of 3rd liners and bottom pairing D then we'll have the same problem as this year. Guys like Kuznetsov and Kerins will end up on waivers again because they didn't clearly beat a veteran for a top 9/ top 4 role out of camp. So keeping spots open should be something they keep in mind.

It the hypothetical scenario where Kadri, Coleman, Andersson, Lomberg and Bean are gone:

Huberdeau - Frost - Coronato
Honzek - Backlund - Farabee
Sharangovich - Zary/Reschney - Gridin
Pospisil - Morton - Klapka

Players that will need an immediate look upfront: Stromgren, Kerins, Suniev

Kuznetsov - Weegar
Bahl - Parekh
Hanley - Pachal

Players that will need an immediate look on D: Brzustewicz, Grushnikov

[This post is terrible]

What’s it going to take to get Toronto 2026 First out of Boston? They like former Flames and with McAvoy being out, another spot for Rasmus.

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by This post is terrible

What’s it going to take to get Toronto 2026 First out of Boston? They like former Flames and with McAvoy being out, another spot for Rasmus.

BOS using assets obtained from TOR in a trade where Leafs were fleeced, to get Ras a player that Leafs covet, would be sublime.

Especially given the Leaf’s pathetic attempt to turn Carlo, the player were they fleeced in acquiring, into Ras.

#### you gmbt times infinity!

[Tbull8]

Its more likely that Boston would trade the leafs pick than their own too. Takes away the stress of giving up a top pick if your team is bad, maintains offer sheet opportunities

[The EBUG's EBUG]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

This may indeed be a good plan for a big market team that has actually won something or had some level of sustained success, it's too bad that's nowhere close to what we are. When you’re in an undesirable market it's not traditionally a great business decision to ship out people who for whatever reason desire to be in your market. The Flames don’t have the level of organizational success necessary to be ruthless in their treatment of players.

I get you but also might be a bit of a chicken/egg situation there. Success breeds success, we didn't have huge issues getting guys when the team was good. Calgary probably becomes an attractive location to free agents again if we have a whack of young, high pick, promising players making their debut in a new rink rather than trying to get guys to sign by selling them on playing with a 37 year old Kadri or 39 year old Backlund in 2027 who are still here because they really like it here.

This can't just be a nice retirement home and I don't think its ruthless to make use of assets in accordance with what was previously negotiated, there's a way of shipping these guys out without alienating people.

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by Ped

Its quite well known that Shanahan believed in the core and wanted to keep giving them more chances. Its been reported that Treliving was told he couldn't trade Marner before his NMC kicked in on orders from above. They only allowed him after once it probably became clear that Marner wasn't going to re-sign. By then it was too late.


The time to trade Marner was a year before. None of this makes Treliving a good GM; just means in this particular situation his options were limited If he was able to trade Marner, he probably would have lost that trade imo, but that's another criticism.

All I remember the talk about Marner being before the NMC kicked in that Treliving had only been on the job for a short time (I think a year) and had to "evaluate" the situation.


I still don't understand how it makes sense that a guy who isn't willing to re-sign (Marner was offered 13M x 8 and declined) is allowed to gain a full NMC status and only then the #### hits the fan and they try to trade him. It just doesn't make sense from any perspective and is total incompetence of the management at all levels either way.

[dino7c]

It was a massive miscaculation to think you could lose a 100+ point player who is actually a very good 2 way player and still be a contender somehow.

The idea was that the Panthers shut him down in he later games of the playoffs so they don't need him anyway or something. Panthers also shut down McDavid in the later games 2 years straight.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by This post is terrible

What’s it going to take to get Toronto 2026 First out of Boston? They like former Flames and with McAvoy being out, another spot for Rasmus.

I think Boston is going to have to be confident they will remain in the playoff hunt and have a chance to do something before they part with that asset. Last year Boston was kind of hoping for the one year faceplant that Francis speaks about for the Flames.

Here is a nice summary of the Boston sell off and how it has benefited them

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston...o-don-sweeney/

I feel like this team is trying to retool on the fly and would have to go on a pretty big run to part with some of the futures they got last year. Definitely feeling a little jealous at this very moment we didn’t move Andersson for the Carlo return

[Harry Lime]

Isn't kucherov a UFA looking for a retirement deal? Calagry has to get to the floor, so offer the full six years and run kucherov, McKenna and hiberdeau on the left side. That would make any center you run out look like an all star.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Saqe

All I remember the talk about Marner being before the NMC kicked in that Treliving had only been on the job for a short time (I think a year) and had to "evaluate" the situation.

Treliving was hired by the Leafs on May 31, 2023 officially. Marner's NMC kicked in a month later, on July 1.

[Jason14h]

Why would another team trade for Marner though knowing he is a UFA and doesn’t want to resign / only wants to play for 1 team/limited teams

Getting some futures for Marner wouldn’t help Toronto . Their best chance was last year , going on a deep run , and hoping Marner decides to stay

I guess maybe you could have dealt him to Vegas for something , but they do t have a lot of young NHL ready players to deal. Maybe you could have got the Rantonen deal out of Dallas assuming he would sign there (and I think Dallas would prefer Rantonen)

I think it’s easier said than done to trade a guy like Marner when you are trying to win a cup and actually get something back that helps you last season and moving forward

[dino7c]

Marner was never staying, everyone knew it...why would he?
leading scorer, 2nd in playoff scoring, needs to hire 24 hour security after death threats to himself and his family because they lost to the Panthers in 7 games and it was all his fault

Vegas could miss the playoffs and hand Calgary the #1 pick

"oh you play for the Knights? cool" would be the average reaction around town

[gvitaly]

Wes Gilbertson published an article:

Flames dead-last after 20 games … How often does that lead to a draft lottery win?

Summary - Where did the worst team after 20 games finish, and who did they draft:
Last: 5 times (38.5%)

Drafted: Reinhart(2nd), Eichel(2nd), Raymond(4th), Carlsson(2nd), Celebrini(1st)

2nd: 1 (7.7%)

Drafted: Turcotte(5th)

3rd: 2 (15.4%)

Drafted: Hayton(5th), Martin(5th)

Bottom 5: 1 (7.7%)

Drafted: Pierre-Luc Dubois^(3rd)

Bottom 10: 2 (15.4%)

Drafted: Boucher(10th), Korchinski*(7th)

Mushy middle: 2 (15.4%)

Drafted: Wennberg(14th), Brannstrom*(15th)

^Climbed due to the lottery
* Traded the pick

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by dino7c

meh, other teams could beat that

They could beat that, but are they going to? I highly doubt any contender takes him at his current salary without retention and we all know that Murray isn't going to sign off on that one without some ridiculous throw in that makes a deal untenable. I'm not bracing myself for any great returns on any of the veterans we should be moving (Coleman, Andersson, Kadri etc). .....If that market was existent a deal would have been done by now.

It's highly likely none are moved before the deadline or possibly not at all. If they are, we are quite possibly looking at conditional first rounders in the pick 25 range 1-2 years out again or second rounders and blah prospect type packages.

Cross your fingers and hope this team wins the lottery it desperately needs because it's the only express pass we have to play.