2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Sure, every franchise makes short sighted moves.

And I'm not taking a shot at the Flames, more acknowledging they happen.

---

Your question just reminded me of Warner's(Barn Burner) biggest criticism of Conroy which is extending guys too soon. He wasn't too happy about Sharangovich, Backlund, or Pospisil signing well in advance of their free agency.

And then if they pop Conroy gets criticized for not extending before that happened.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by browntrout

Just because it does not guarantee anything does not mean it's a sound and rational move, it's about giving yourself the best opportunity to draft higher, as mentioned before consistent with short sighted moves

I don't disagree. I expect and hope the math they are doing is the delta between the return for players now v. what they want/expect to get later against the increase in probabilities that they drop in the standings.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Roko

I don’t love Kasper. Danielson is my target. I would do a 1 for 1 for him

And they probably don't. Kasper + 1st + another good piece would be a good offer in my POV.

[RedHawk12]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Danielson from Detroit would be just dandy. Don't much care about the periphal pieces that get Andersson to Det.


Man I feel like we've all talked all these teams to death over the last year. There's nothing new here.

Ok here's a new topic. Which struggling young players might need a change of scenery and might be available, and what might the cost be to acquire them?

Some I can think of:
Kent Johnson from CBJ
Cole Perfetti from WPG
Marco Kasper from DET
Matvei Michkov from PHI
Alexis Lafreniere from NYR
Alex Turcotte from LA
Barrett Hayton from UTA

Not saying they are available, but could we or should we try to pry any of them away?

WPG's core is in their prime and rumours are they are looking to get out of the basement. Perfetti + for Kadri?

Detroit's one of the teams interested in Ras. Kasper + for Andersson?

Do we make VGK 1st available for Kent Johnson or Michkov? What else might they want?

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Roko

I don’t love Kasper. Danielson is my target. I would do a 1 for 1 for him

Kasper is struggling this year no doubt but hes not even in the conversation if he progressed from last year. Pretty much 20 goals and 40 points in the nhl as a 20 year old playing good defensive hockey is crazy good. I think in a worst case scenario long run after showing what he can do last year he levels put as a 50-60 point a year defensively responsible 2c. But just ky read on him, and to he fair he looks completely lost this year for some reason after thriving at every level before this

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

And then if they pop Conroy gets criticized for not extending before thsat ahppened.

For sure, Rhett's full of contradictions. Wolf didn't make the list. He's just still unhappy about the contracts Hubby, and Weegar signed with Tre, before playing a game here.

[Royle9]

Danielson is not even a .5ppg player in the AHL.
I get the draft hype around him, and yes he’s still young.
But any sort of 1 for 1 would be an absolute fail at this point.

Over value on him big time.

[RedHawk12]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Kasper is struggling this year no doubt but hes not even in the conversation if he progressed from last year. Pretty much 20 goals and 40 points in the nhl as a 20 year old playing good defensive hockey is crazy good. I think in a worst case scenario long run after showing what he can do last year he levels put as a 50-60 point a year defensively responsible 2c. But just ky read on him, and to he fair he looks completely lost this year for some reason after thriving at every level before this

I agree with this. Kasper is a fairly safe 2C. If things go well, he could end up being a 1B center. He's going through a sophomore slump this year, but it could also be the only time he might be available. I'd be thrilled to have him as part of a Rasmus trade.

I feel like the prospect shine still has not worn off of Danielson yet, and there's two problems here. One is, he might not be available in a Rasmus trade and if he is, youre paying a premium. Second is, he's really not that great. I think he will top out as a solid, responsible two-way 3C. Maybe at best a Backlund type, but probably not even as good.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I don't disagree. I expect and hope the math they are doing is the delta between the return for players now v. what they want/expect to get later against the increase in probabilities that they drop in the standings.

And factor in the risk of not getting what you want later because of unexpected injury or decline in performance.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

Or Kadri could have told him his preference is to stay in Calgary, but he would waive for Colorado and other teams if we ask.

We don't know, and can speculate all we want.

That is the beauty of a fact free analysis, one can speculate all we want. What seems pretty much confirmed by multiple sources is the following

1) Kadri had a full NMC and could control where he went last year;
2) Kadri made it clear that he wanted to stay in Calgary and that he did not want to leave Calgary.

From that we can use deductive reasoning to reasonably assume a couple things

1) Kadri likely told somebody or more than one person that he did not want to leave Calgary and wanted to stay in Calgary for the duration of the season;
2) The individuals that he told this to are involved in Flames management. He may have also told other people like the waiter at his favourite restaurant or family and friends, but it is reasonable to assume that he told Flames management;
3) Flames management understood that when Kadri told them he wanted to stay in Calgary that he indeed wanted to stay in Calgary.

Things we don’t know

1) how many times did Kadri tell Flames management that he wanted to stay in Calgary. Was it once, five times, ten times. This number is not known nor can one use deductive reasoning to determine the number of times.
2) was management informed of this desire because they asked him to waive or were they informed because Kadri proactively told them in advance of any discussion about waiving the NMC. We can reasonably deduce that this information was shared with management under one of those two scenarios.
3) did management go to him even after knowing this information and continue to ask him to waive his NMC?

I guess we can also speculate on a whole bunch of things like “maybe Kadri said he wanted to stay in Calgary and he also would leave Calgary for a host of cities, including one that happened to trade for a center at the deadline last year”.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Danielson is not even a .5ppg player in the AHL.

Danielson has 44 points in 75 AHL games, which is a .59 PPG, including 5 points in 4 games this season. He was one of the youngest players in the AHL last season

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by browntrout

I don't need to be, I am a fan, it's the results that matter, not the intention

Oh sorry, I thought since you were talking about the business you were familiar with it.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

Sure, every franchise makes short sighted moves.

And I'm not taking a shot at the Flames, more acknowledging they happen.

---

Your question just reminded me of Warner's(Barn Burner) biggest criticism of Conroy which is extending guys too soon. He wasn't too happy about Sharangovich, Backlund, or Pospisil signing well in advance of their free agency.

It seems silly to get hung up on those contracts. Sharangovich is definitely the biggest offender but chances are we need his overpayment to stay above the cap floor, especially if the team makes more than 1 trade to ship out a vet.

Without Sharangovich and Pospisil each getting overpaid, the floor would be harder to stay above.

The cap floor is $70.6M this season and $76.9M next season?
- Right now the team is ~$15M above the floor and would fall below the floor if we trade all of Andersson, Kadri, and Coleman without retention / salary coming back
- Next season will be a bigger struggle to keep up with the rising floor while potentially still talking about trading Kadri and Coleman's combined $11.9M cap hits

Since it is unlikely the Flames will land a big fish in the next UFA class we are likely going to see an overpayment of a second tier player that "doesn't make sense" except for the fact that it keeps the team above the floor.

I can't even think of a good example... Coyle or Wennberg for $7M / 1 year?

Trying to get one big overpaid contract is better than jamming up the roster with 2-3 players and blocking young players from playing because we need to make the floor.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Ped

Danielson has 44 points in 75 AHL games, which is a .59 PPG, including 5 points in 4 games this season. He was one of the youngest players in the AHL last season

I'm not saying he's bad, but he's not enough to trade your leading scorer and proven playoff performer for.

Its just simply not enough.

I see him as a Rory Kerins equivalent at this point.
I fully expect him to be better, but its yet to be seen.

He'd be a piece of a trade I'd engage with the Red Wings on, but 1 for 1 is an absolute "oilersque" wild take.

[Ped]

Whether you would trade for him is a personal choice, but you stated he's not even a .5 PPG in the AHL which is simply not true.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

That is the beauty of a fact free analysis, one can speculate all we want. What seems pretty much confirmed by multiple sources is the following

1) Kadri had a full NMC and could control where he went last year;
2) Kadri made it clear that he wanted to stay in Calgary and that he did not want to leave Calgary.

From that we can use deductive reasoning to reasonably assume a couple things

1) Kadri likely told somebody or more than one person that he did not want to leave Calgary and wanted to stay in Calgary for the duration of the season;
2) The individuals that he told this to are involved in Flames management. He may have also told other people like the waiter at his favourite restaurant or family and friends, but it is reasonable to assume that he told Flames management;
3) Flames management understood that when Kadri told them he wanted to stay in Calgary that he indeed wanted to stay in Calgary.

Things we don’t know

1) how many times did Kadri tell Flames management that he wanted to stay in Calgary. Was it once, five times, ten times. This number is not known nor can one use deductive reasoning to determine the number of times.
2) was management informed of this desire because they asked him to waive or were they informed because Kadri proactively told them in advance of any discussion about waiving the NMC. We can reasonably deduce that this information was shared with management under one of those two scenarios.
3) did management go to him even after knowing this information and continue to ask him to waive his NMC?

I guess we can also speculate on a whole bunch of things like “maybe Kadri said he wanted to stay in Calgary and he also would leave Calgary for a host of cities, including one that happened to trade for a center at the deadline last year”.

I heard he had told the waiters at his top 3 restaurants.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Ped

Whether you would trade for him is a personal choice, but you stated he's not even a .5 PPG in the AHL which is simply not true.

.09 isn't much more, but you can have it if you want it that bad lol.
Regardless, dumb trade idea.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Royle9

I'm not saying he's bad, but he's not enough to trade your leading scorer and proven playoff performer for.

Its just simply not enough.

I see him as a Rory Kerins equivalent at this point.
I fully expect him to be better, but its yet to be seen.

He'd be a piece of a trade I'd engage with the Red Wings on, but 1 for 1 is an absolute "oilersque" wild take.

Interesting. It definitely seems to be a challenge for the Flames to try to find a trade partner that lands between Danielson's "simply not good enough" and McQueen's "totally untouchable".

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

And factor in the risk of not getting what you want later because of unexpected injury or decline in performance.

Yup absolutely

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Interesting. It definitely seems to be a challenge for the Flames to try to find a trade partner that lands between Danielson's "simply not good enough" and McQueen's "totally untouchable".

I get what you're saying.
But to be fair the "Not enough" and "Not good enough" are vastly different statements.