2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Groot

The season after the Sharks drafted Will Smith 4th Overall, the first top 5 pick of their "rebuild", they traded Erik Karlsson for Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund and Jan Rutta, all over the age of 30 (Rutta and Hoffman were 34). They then let Hoffman walk for nothing, held onto Granlund an extra season, and held onto Rutta until he left last year for the Swiss league, getting nothing in return. They also held onto Edouard-Vlasic at +35 until he retired and they got no return.

Not sure if that counts but that was easy to find looking at 1 team in the last 2-3 years.

Sure, but the return for Karlsson was low because the Sharks only retained I think 1.5. That's still a pretty hefty contract. And if someone would have taken Vlasic off their hands, I have no doubt they would have done it; he was terrible and wasn't he making around 7?

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Bingo

They will trade Andersson.
That will make them much worse.
That should mean they are more open to trading other vets.
They'll trade other vets.

A lot of that depends on when they trade ANdersson. Unless you're talking about future years.

But I would assume there is at least some urgency around getting out of the descent phase of the rebuild.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

A lot of that depends on when they trade ANdersson. Unless you're talking about future years.

But I would assume there is at least some urgency around getting out of the descent phase of the rebuild.

There's always the looming risk of injury as well. Including at the olympics.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

A lot of that depends on when they trade ANdersson. Unless you're talking about future years.

But I would assume there is at least some urgency around getting out of the descent phase of the rebuild.

No this year.

I'm guessing they deal Andersson in the first half of January ... and then start losing more games ... fully realize they won't get back into it ... and move other vets before the deadline.

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by Bingo

No this year.

I'm guessing they deal Andersson in the first half of January ... and then start losing more games ... fully realize they won't get back into it ... and move other vets before the deadline.

When they move Andersson, Weegar will play with Bahl and be amazing. Bru will have acclimatized himself to the NHL game and slide seemlessly with his old partner Kuznetsov. Parek, coming off an amazing WJ, will be a steady presence on the 3rd pairing with Hanley but also running PP1 which dramatically improves. Flames don't miss a beat. Ultimately having cake and eating it too .

[Muta]

100%. I don't think we see a scenario where Rasmus isn't moved since he is a pending UFA and has indicated he wants to move on; we learned the hard way with Gaudreau about waiting too long and I don't see that happening again with high profile upcoming free agents - this franchise cannot afford to not get something for them if they're not coming back.

[bluejays]

While I hope Conroy deals the vets this year, I'm going to guess that Anderssen and Coleman will be, but Kadri will be an off-season move. You have to have players to play on the NHL roster, and dealing for mediocre NHL players to just be here is a waste. Moving Anderssen and Coleman this year allows for some draft capital to be brought in while more or less using the players we currently have, while next year someone graduates to the roster allowing Kadri to be dealt more or less for pure draft picks.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Muta

100%. I don't think we see a scenario where Rasmus isn't moved since he is a pending UFA and has indicated he wants to move on; we learned the hard way with Gaudreau about waiting too long and I don't see that happening again with high profile upcoming free agents - this franchise cannot afford to not get something for them if they're not coming back.

Conroy has been pretty clear he won’t let that happen so I agree they will trade Andersson who is playing great and earning himself an Olympic spot and huge payday from someone.

He is likely the first domino to fall of hopefully several veterans this year.

[NewFan]

Originally Posted by Bingo

They will trade Andersson.
That will make them much worse.
That should mean they are more open to trading other vets.
They'll trade other vets.

They should start Andersson trade last season or at least last off-season. Now they have less time and our most important 1st round pick for next draft is getting worse in every game.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Bingo

No this year.

I'm guessing they deal Andersson in the first half of January ... and then start losing more games ... fully realize they won't get back into it ... and move other vets before the deadline.

Makes sense although I personally hope the decision to trade other vets has nothing to do with how they play post Andersson trade in a very small sample size. Anything could happen, teams lose great players all the time for various reasons and doesn’t immediately get reflected in results.

If the plan is to maximize the return for a guy like Kadri with term left, I say no time like the present to get that ball rolling. He might retain his trade value next year, but I’d rather not take that risk.

[ResAlien]

I think we'll continue this torrid pace, solidify ourselves in a playoff spot, and if anything we'll add after the Olympic break.

It'll be tough to walk Ras to UFA like Johnny but you have to let the guys know you see their hard work and not undercut it. Should be a fun few months.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by NewFan

They should start Andersson trade last season or at least last off-season. Now they have less time and our most important 1st round pick for next draft is getting worse in every game.

They didn't.

I don't see the need to labour what we have no control over.

Luckily he's playing better than at any point in his career and has probably driven the price up from last summer.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Makes sense although I personally hope the decision to trade other vets has nothing to do with how they play post Andersson trade in a very small sample size. Anything could happen, teams lose great players all the time for various reasons and doesn’t immediately get reflected in results.

If the plan is to maximize the return for a guy like Kadri with term left, I say no time like the present to get that ball rolling. He might retain his trade value next year, but I’d rather not take that risk.

Personally I think they've already set prices for the three key vets and they're just vetting it out against offers starting to come in.

We have Seravalli and Steinberg in the last few days saying the Flames are more open for business ... so clearly the word is out.

I don't think they need a slide to commit to a path that is already mathematically pretty certain.

Now it's a matter of a mathematical formula ...

Value of Assets later (W)
less
Value of Assets now (X)
plus
Value of trade position at the end of the season (Y)
less
Value of trade position at the end of the season if they dealt the vets now (Z)

Fairly safe to assume Z is greater than X

Is W greater than X?

If so is W-X>Y-Z?

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by NewFan

They should start Andersson trade last season or at least last off-season. Now they have less time and our most important 1st round pick for next draft is getting worse in every game.

You can time-travel? That’s a coulda, shoulda, woulda and is completely irrelevant.

Flames are dealing in the NOW. Andersson will return us more than he “woulda” last year. No need to fret. Conroy has long announced that no-one will walk for nothing again. I’ll put my faith in the pro at the helm.

[Burning Beard]

I feel like Conroy's gamble to hang on to Andersson has paid off. The return (even on a rental trade) is probably at a higher level than the end of last season. He is playing great and has a swagger that most guys don't bring.

[traptor]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

You can time-travel? That’s a coulda, shoulda, woulda and is completely irrelevant.

Flames are dealing in the NOW. Andersson will return us more than he “woulda” last year. No need to fret. Conroy has long announced that no-one will walk for nothing again. I’ll put my faith in the pro at the helm.

Speaking of the NOW then, they should be trading Andersson, Kadri (35) and Coleman (34) NOW (next couple months).

[Roko]

Losing to Detroit and LA would go a long way this week. It’s just poor asset management if we don’t trade this guy at peak value

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by traptor

Speaking of the NOW then, they should be trading Andersson, Kadri (35) and Coleman (34) NOW (next couple months).

So you don't have a return level that says hold? At all?

And I wouldn't equate now with "next couple of months". The trade deadline is three months away. They should probably trade them before then if they want to do it this year.