2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

You may have missed my post last page, but in the last 10 years only 2 wildcard teams out of 36 made the finals, both lost.

My opinion though sort of ties into the trade deadline. If you’re in the top 3 divisional spots you’re “buyers”. If you’re wildcard or worse, you’re sellers. Now there’s varying degrees of how much to buy or sell, but standing pat last year like the flames did was shortsighted. Not moving Andersson was a very bad move and should be strike one against Conroy.

Careful, have you seen the standings lately?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by browntrout

CC has no desire to trade either Coleman or Kadri, if your stance is " I will only trade them if an offer blows my socks off" say alot to me, if you were serious about trading them, you would take anything that resembled a fair offer, even if it was a little less than market value.

This team is clearly trying to avoid a rebuild, just because you don't trade away a pick or two for immediate help does not mean your rebuilding, what it means is your spinning your wheels in the mushy middle....again. A rebuilding team looks towards the future, and make strategic moves that align with that philosophy. Not trading players like Coleman and Andersson at the expense of another pick in the 10-15, is a huge mistake, and very short sighted. We have missed the playoffs the last 3 years and the highest we have drafted is 9 overall, not good enough for a team like Calgary that can't attract high end UFA's through free agency.

Ironically the very thing ownership is avoiding, a prolonged playoff absence when the new arena is about to open, is what they are creating by avoiding a rebuild. We don't have any premier prospects within our farm system, and it's getting very scary to look at next year and know that Backlund and Kadri who are getting very old now and declining, are two of your better centres, brutal

It's going to be a slow death, but they reaped what they sowed

You say this stuff with such certainty. You must know the facts. Tell me what "fair offers" have been turned down (presumably from teams that are not on NT lists). I also must have missed that Conroy quote - can you provide it?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Careful, have you seen the standings lately?

I presume the Panthers will be selling off since they are (a) a well run team and (b) barely in a wild card spot.

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

This assumes trades are easy to make and just can happen at will. What similar players to Rasmus, Kadri and Coleman have been moved in that time?

Moreover, in that same time the Flames have made no moves to try and make the POs and go deeper, despite high profile players being available and the Flames having all kinds of resources to trade for veteran players or sign UFAs. I think the path is clear - you just don't like the speed.

Quinn Hughes
Marco Rossi
Zeev Buium
Zack Bolduc
Mitch Marner
Noah Dobson
Trevor Zegras
Chris Kreider
Branden Carlo
Brad Marchand
Charlie Coyle
Mikko Rantanen
Logan Stankoven
Brandon Tanev
Brock Nelson
Reilly Smith
Yanni Gourde
Seth Jones
Gustav Nyquist
Mikael Granlund
JT Miller

These are all players that have been traded in the past 12 months. I can keep going if you want. The point is, you can make trades.

[dino7c]

Mitch Marner wasn't really traded come on now

So you will give Flames credit for trading Ras if they trade his rights the day before FA for pennies lol

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I presume the Panthers will be selling off since they are (a) a well run team and (b) barely in a wild card spot.

They had two more points than the Flames last season...should have sold obviously

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Not a great correlation. There were 18 non-unique teams in the cup final and only 4 of which were divisional winners. The 3rd round had 36 non-unique teams featuring 7 divisional winners. This doesn’t really support your assertion that divisional winners translate into more success, if anything it shows that they don’t perform significantly different than any playoff team.

So avoid winning the division then?

Are you saying being a good regulation team isn't a good start for winning in the playoffs?

Seems like an odd argument to me.

However, if you feel that winning a division isn't important, I'm perfectly fine with that.

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by shutout

Management taking a long term view of how to build the team, still does not mean that they want to lose on purpose. I do not think that there are very many people leading any professional sports teams that look at a season as trying to lose on purpose.

In the second half of a season they might make moves that build on where the team is going, but they don't start out with that mandate. Flames were never going to decide it was a lost season after the first month. Too many decision variables that come into play when deciding which players to move out and what price to assign them.

It was always going to be a January evaluation of the team and who they want to keep to continue to get younger, faster, and more skilled while properly developing the young players that come into the lineup.

When looking at the last twelve months, October looks like the outlier. So the team will look at who they have ready to step into the lineup that is younger like they have with Kuznetsov and Brzustewicz and who is best to help them succeed. If there is a player that needs to come in then they will decide who needs to go out. Players like Zary and Coronato are showing that consistency is something that has to be learned. Players like Backlund and Coleman are great at helping these players be their best.

Making space on the wings might end up coming from players like Sharangovich and Farabee being moved out rather than Coleman because of what he brings in the dressing room, on the ice, and to the younger linemates that he helps mentor.

Kadri is always going to be a tough choice because there is nobody to replace him in the lineup. Which means that other players are going to be playing over their heads up the lineup and not succeeding.

Easy to say lets trade these guys and lose on purpose. But you are trying to develop young players and losing the majority of your games does not do that. Along with the fact that players are smart enough to know if they have a chance to be competitive or not. If they are told that the standard expectation is that they should be able to win every game they play than making moves that just makes the team worse does not help with that development.

The trades need to be something that everyone in the organization and locker room see as helping the team or else you lose the team and culture they are trying to build.

There is no culture that was built. I am so over this culture talk lol.

You know how you build a winning culture? Being a good team and winning playoff games. You know which team has not been winning playoff series for 20 years now? The Calgary Flames.

[dino7c]

20 years ago is irrelevant...we all know the team has made tons of mistakes.

Since Conroy took over is the only thing worth debating

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by browntrout

How is their playoff record since 2004

Getting so tired off all the passive aggressive responses on this site.

I'm aware of the playoff record.

My argument to the original comment was two division wins and missing the playoffs isn't mushy middle since 1989.

Stands.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

Quinn Hughes
Marco Rossi
Zeev Buium
Zack Bolduc
Mitch Marner
Noah Dobson
Trevor Zegras
Chris Kreider
Branden Carlo
Brad Marchand
Charlie Coyle
Mikko Rantanen
Logan Stankoven
Brandon Tanev
Brock Nelson
Reilly Smith
Yanni Gourde
Seth Jones
Gustav Nyquist
Mikael Granlund
JT Miller

These are all players that have been traded in the past 12 months. I can keep going if you want. The point is, you can make trades.

lol what is this list? Some of these guys aren’t comparable at all, some weren’t even traded, and some were traded for each other!

[Niemo]

The truth from what has been leaked to the public and what we can see from other trades is that Calgary resisted trading their desirable vets when prices were high (last deadline) and continue to be high - all for the excuse of 'maintaining a good culture' and to stay competitive.

It's not the direction that most of us believe to be the right direction - but it's a direction. Management seems to be more worried about what the players want than what is best for the teams future. Also, the culture that has Parekh basically saying (this is how I read it at least) that he is having so much fun at World Juniors because he can be himself vs in Calgary.......Our awesomely amazing culture was supposed to help the kids develop into winners.....

We need a No 1C. Better yet, it would be great if that 1C was a franchise C. Cue the Reschny mentions......If he was projected to be a bonafide 1C or Franchise C - he would not have done 18th Overall. I am high on Reschny but he projects as a 2C - and that is IF he hits projections. Getting a 2C out of an 18th Overall pick is already a win. We need a 1C with a top 10 pick or a Franchise C with a top 4 pick.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

Quinn Hughes
Marco Rossi
Zeev Buium
Zack Bolduc
Mitch Marner
Noah Dobson
Trevor Zegras
Chris Kreider
Branden Carlo
Brad Marchand
Charlie Coyle
Mikko Rantanen
Logan Stankoven
Brandon Tanev
Brock Nelson
Reilly Smith
Yanni Gourde
Seth Jones
Gustav Nyquist
Mikael Granlund
JT Miller

These are all players that have been traded in the past 12 months. I can keep going if you want. The point is, you can make trades.

Since the Flames are trying to make the POs I assume they tried to get those guys.

And some of those guys, like Hughes and Miller, demanded a trade or forced their way out (and others were the guys traded for them).

Most of the others were expiring contracts after this season, like Andersson and not like Coleman and Kadri. Of those, Coyle got a second, Brad Marchand was traded for a conditional second, Marner got Nick Roy, Smith got Brisson and a 3rd rounder, Granlund and Ceci together got a late first... I can go on if you want. Those aren't satisfactory returns for any of Kadro, Andersson or Coleman, let alone good ones.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Bingo

So avoid winning the division then?

Are you saying being a good regulation team isn't a good start for winning in the playoffs?

Seems like an odd argument to me.

However, if you feel that winning a division isn't important, I'm perfectly fine with that.

The fact is cup winning teams are almost always top regular season teams for a season or two BEFORE they win any cup(s)

Blues are the only team that didn't in recent memory

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Careful, have you seen the standings lately?

This team is so directionless it wouldn’t surprise me if they did. And to Lionel Hutz, Esq, the phrase “varying degree” is probably a tough one to grasp lol.

[Bonded]

They should have got Zegras and Cozens instead of Frost and Farabee. Simple…

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

This team is so directionless it wouldn’t surprise me if they did. And to me Lionel Hutz, the phrase “varying degree” is probably a tough one to grasp lol.

"Top 3 divisional teams should be buyers unless the Flames are top 3" haha

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by dino7c

"Top 3 divisional teams should be buyers unless the Flames are top 3" haha

Is today the trade deadline? My bad lol

[browntrout]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

The only significant move we have made in the past year and a half is the Farabee and Frost trade. In which we also gave up a 2nd rounder.

That is why it is interesting to me that some people are adamant this is a clear rebuild. When the Flames have not done anything at all rebuild wise in 1.5 years. Sure, they have not been a buyer but they have not been a seller either.

You can use an analogy that we are kind of like a ship at sea without a captain. Sometimes the ship is headed west because of the wind, sometimes north and sometimes south. But there is no clear path or direction that we have been heading for well over a year now, which is why fans are wondering what is going on. You need to pick a path whether it is trading the vets or retooling. Doing nothing is not really helping anything when you pick 15th every year.

Two words for.....murrrrrray edwaaaards

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by dino7c

The fact is cup winning teams are almost always top regular season teams for a season or two BEFORE they win any cup(s)

Blues are the only team that didn't in recent memory

And most of the teams that are cited as rebuilding models (like SJ) didn't crash right to the bottom, they drafted in similar positions to the Flames and drifted down.