2024/2025 Trade Rumours and Speculation thread

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Marner for Huberdeau.

Who says no?

Marner

[traptor]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Yeah I don’t see any of that happening. He isn’t hand out big UFA deals, or trading for old players.

I think they bought into his vision to rebuild.

I think people will surprised at how quiet we are for any big signing m, and at how bad we will be.

I hope you're right.

[Rhett44]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Yeah I don’t see any of that happening. He isn’t hand out big UFA deals, or trading for old players.

I think they bought into his vision to rebuild.

I think people will surprised at how quiet we are for any big signing m, and at how bad we will be.

We can only hope. But I would not be surprised if we signed Chandler Stephenson to a 7 year x 10 million contract either.

[dammage79]

Conroy said in his end of season presser that UFA wasn't something he was going into this offseason. Maybe some depth low cost additions.

I truly believe Conroy and Co. Are building through the draft.

Also some trades.

[YyjFlames]

Here's the year end press conference with Conroy. Worth a listen in the context of this debate, particularly between around minute 5 and 17, which talk about next year and what he's trying to work on and create: https://www.sportsnet.ca/960/flames-...up-the-season/

My take aways (and a lot of this has been said before):

Conroy is going to target 18-23 year olds with some of the draft capital he's collected. He acknowledges trading for younger players is tough, but teams like Montreal have pulled trades like this off recently. (Very clearly looking for an age group that can push them through the rebuild and not just filler players)
They'll also "weaponize" their cap space if they can to get more assets.
They don't think a Canadian fanbase will support a complete rebuild (he describes it as trading every one on the current team and try to lose), so they've basically traded the key veterans that they couldn't reach an agreement with and they're moving forward through strong drafting and smart trades (the Dallas model... which he acknowledged included having a really fantastic draft).
He expects younger players to take another step forward, and prospects to have a great summer and try to push for a job (he mentioned Honzek).
"Intent" is to make the playoffs and win -- but this is ultimately on the players as Conroy can't score goals, block shots or make saves, which in my mind is why we heard from guys like Weegar, Coleman and Kadri the late season message that guys have to work harder to win (more on this below). Mostly, even through the rebuild, he wants to create a winning culture and for every player, veteran and young, to commit to this culture.

From listening to it and spending a decade working in media relations/public relations, guy is clearly sending a message that he wants the team to maintain a winning culture and for the leadership and veterans to hold the team accountable and take responsibility for where they land. His goal appears to be the playoffs, but I get the sense that even though he'd like that, he has every expectation that the team may struggle next year and he just wants them to work hard and maintain that culture and take steps forward.

I don't get the sense, even trying to read between the lines, that he expects the rebuild to last much more than next year and he'll likely make trades and deals (for young players if he can) to be back in the playoffs by 2025/26. I suspect this is the message he's giving to Coleman/Backlund/Kadri so that they feel that they're a real part of this hopefully quick retool.

What's going to be interesting is whether they can actually pull it off or if they'll have to pivot again if they lose a lot of games -- like they had to pivot this year, when the UFAs didn't want to resign. Gonna be an interesting offseason and couple of years.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Marner for Huberdeau.

Who says no?

I hate the thought of how many 1st rounders we would need to package along with Huberdeau to make that happen.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

We can only hope. But I would not be surprised if we signed Chandler Stephenson to a 7 year x 10 million contract either.

Conroy isn’t Treliving.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

PLD has entered the chat.

$8.5M vs. $10.5M and still some hope that it’s just first year jitters on PLD’s side.

@ YyjFlames

Conroy talking about a winning culture is a joke - as the Flames don’t have one, and haven’t had one since the 80s.

If Conroy is to be believed, then the Flames aren’t changing philosophies and they’ll continue to be an organization that does not have a real shot at winning a championship.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

$8.5M vs. $10.5M and still some hope that it’s just first year jitters on PLD’s side.

I’d trade Huberdeau for PLD and then buy out PLD.

[dissentowner]

Ya, what YyjFlames just posted is what I have been saying here.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

Here's the year end press conference with Conroy. Worth a listen in the context of this debate, particularly between around minute 5 and 17, which talk about next year and what he's trying to work on and create: https://www.sportsnet.ca/960/flames-...up-the-season/

My take aways (and a lot of this has been said before):

Conroy is going to target 18-23 year olds with some of the draft capital he's collected. He acknowledges trading for younger players is tough, but teams like Montreal have pulled trades like this off recently. (Very clearly looking for an age group that can push them through the rebuild and not just filler players)
They'll also "weaponize" their cap space if they can to get more assets.
They don't think a Canadian fanbase will support a complete rebuild (he describes it as trading every one on the current team and try to lose), so they've basically traded the key veterans that they couldn't reach an agreement with and they're moving forward through strong drafting and smart trades (the Dallas model... which he acknowledged included having a really fantastic draft).
He expects younger players to take another step forward, and prospects to have a great summer and try to push for a job (he mentioned Honzek).
"Intent" is to make the playoffs and win -- but this is ultimately on the players as Conroy can't score goals, block shots or make saves, which in my mind is why we heard from guys like Weegar, Coleman and Kadri the late season message that guys have to work harder to win (more on this below). Mostly, even through the rebuild, he wants to create a winning culture and for every player, veteran and young, to commit to this culture.

From listening to it and spending a decade working in media relations/public relations, guy is clearly sending a message that he wants the team to maintain a winning culture and for the leadership and veterans to hold the team accountable and take responsibility for where they land. His goal appears to be the playoffs, but I get the sense that even though he'd like that, he has every expectation that the team may struggle next year and he just wants them to work hard and maintain that culture and take steps forward.

I don't get the sense, even trying to read between the lines, that he expects the rebuild to last much more than next year and he'll likely make trades and deals (for young players if he can) to be back in the playoffs by 2025/26. I suspect this is the message he's giving to Coleman/Backlund/Kadri so that they feel that they're a real part of this hopefully quick retool.

What's going to be interesting is whether they can actually pull it off or if they'll have to pivot again if they lose a lot of games -- like they had to pivot this year, when the UFAs didn't want to resign. Gonna be an interesting offseason and couple of years.

As much as I love Conroy's positivity, him and ownership and whomever are completely missing the mark on a Canadian team not accepting a rebuild. If not a Canadian team than whom else would accept a rebuild. I'd argue the opposite in that they are the ones that CAN afford a rebuild because of passionate fans who understand. So if you don't do a rebuild to bring hope, when and how are you going to bring in elite talent? We know a rebuild won't happen when a new building is built. So why do they have this belief system in place? What are they going to do differently to bring in elite talent?

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by YyjFlames

Here's the year end press conference with Conroy. Worth a listen in the context of this debate, particularly between around minute 5 and 17, which talk about next year and what he's trying to work on and create: https://www.sportsnet.ca/960/flames-...up-the-season/

My take aways (and a lot of this has been said before):

Conroy is going to target 18-23 year olds with some of the draft capital he's collected. He acknowledges trading for younger players is tough, but teams like Montreal have pulled trades like this off recently. (Very clearly looking for an age group that can push them through the rebuild and not just filler players)
They'll also "weaponize" their cap space if they can to get more assets.
They don't think a Canadian fanbase will support a complete rebuild (he describes it as trading every one on the current team and try to lose), so they've basically traded the key veterans that they couldn't reach an agreement with and they're moving forward through strong drafting and smart trades (the Dallas model... which he acknowledged included having a really fantastic draft).
He expects younger players to take another step forward, and prospects to have a great summer and try to push for a job (he mentioned Honzek).
"Intent" is to make the playoffs and win -- but this is ultimately on the players as Conroy can't score goals, block shots or make saves, which in my mind is why we heard from guys like Weegar, Coleman and Kadri the late season message that guys have to work harder to win (more on this below). Mostly, even through the rebuild, he wants to create a winning culture and for every player, veteran and young, to commit to this culture.

From listening to it and spending a decade working in media relations/public relations, guy is clearly sending a message that he wants the team to maintain a winning culture and for the leadership and veterans to hold the team accountable and take responsibility for where they land. His goal appears to be the playoffs, but I get the sense that even though he'd like that, he has every expectation that the team may struggle next year and he just wants them to work hard and maintain that culture and take steps forward.

I don't get the sense, even trying to read between the lines, that he expects the rebuild to last much more than next year and he'll likely make trades and deals (for young players if he can) to be back in the playoffs by 2025/26. I suspect this is the message he's giving to Coleman/Backlund/Kadri so that they feel that they're a real part of this hopefully quick retool.

What's going to be interesting is whether they can actually pull it off or if they'll have to pivot again if they lose a lot of games -- like they had to pivot this year, when the UFAs didn't want to resign. Gonna be an interesting offseason and couple of years.

This is why. I think it would have been more beneficial for them to finish a little lower in the standings., but instead they won some meaningless games with the end of the season. I get the sense that they wanted to get wolf some wins, At that point I don't think it would've made a whole lot of difference in regards to winning culture. Will we get an impact player at 9, That is an important question because we only get one pick After eight players have already been selected. If this group struggles next season, We could be forced into a rebuild, especially if our veteran players don't like what they see.

I don't want to harp on it. I think not finishing a little closer to number one pick was a missed opportunity.

[Paulie Walnuts]

After the Hanifin trade he said it will take 3 years to turn this around. That was with Parker on Flamws Tv.

You can’t retool something like this in 1 year. You also don’t make the trades you just made if this is a 1 year retool. Like people have said we have nothing to retool around.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

After the Hanifin trade he said it will take 3 years to turn this around. That was with Parker on Flamws Tv.

You can’t retool something like this in 1 year. You also don’t make the trades you just made if this is a 1 year retool. Like people have said we have nothing to retool around.

Yeah, trying to bring in 18-23 year olds is a great talking point but hard to do. If he can get a Dach or something with the extra futures they have then go for it. Don’t sign any players over 30 to deals longer than 3 years. I’d keep Sharangovich if his contract demands are reasonable and trade Kuzmenko, Markstrom, and Mangiapane.

I think their real goal is a team on the upswing for the new arena.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Ya, what YyjFlames just posted is what I have been saying here.

Yeah, but it's your interpretation of it that I don't agree with...

Conroy may use assets to acquire young players, but they are still young players (with an eye on the future). The only difference between draft picks and young players is that the young players are a couple years further along. But it's still future-focused.

Conroy can talk about wanting to make the playoffs, but it is pretty easy to read between the lines that he knows that it won't happen next year, they just don't have the horses. He is saying he wants a 'winning culture' but what he is really saying, IMO, is that he wants a compete level, and a competitive level, that is above a full tank. Work hard, have a good team culture, and tank respectably.

This team was a bottom 5 team, from the trade deadline on, when the players were moved. And they are going to be a bottom 5-7 team again next year.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Yeah I don’t see any of that happening. He isn’t hand out big UFA deals, or trading for old players.

I think they bought into his vision to rebuild.

I think people will surprised at how quiet we are for any big signing m, and at how bad we will be.

That’s pretty much what he is doing so far. He is just bluffing about the playoffs stuff and people bought it.

Hopefully the trend continues, not because the wizard handcuffed him

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by bluejays

As much as I love Conroy's positivity, him and ownership and whomever are completely missing the mark on a Canadian team not accepting a rebuild. If not a Canadian team than whom else would accept a rebuild. I'd argue the opposite in that they are the ones that CAN afford a rebuild because of passionate fans who understand. So if you don't do a rebuild to bring hope, when and how are you going to bring in elite talent? We know a rebuild won't happen when a new building is built. So why do they have this belief system in place? What are they going to do differently to bring in elite talent?

I actually think the “passionate fans who understand” thing is entirely overrated. It puts a few butts in seats, but for the most part it just means there are more guys who will argue over whether or not it’s actually technically speaking an official or unofficial rebuild for months or years on end without ever actually attending a game to support said rebuild (because it’s not technically officially a rebuild and only when it is technically officially a rebuild and they hear it directly from Conroy in a written statement will they be able to support the rebuild even though we got to see a lot of great young players this season).

Maybe it works for Toronto and Montreal. But Calgary isn’t that. Let’s stop pretending. The team has almost left once and has had relocation threatened against us within the last five years. The attendance this year was the worst since 2004 before “the run” (not counting COVID years).

The Dome is a library. Fans are “passionate” about the game, but that translates into people quietly following the action and being miserable outside the playoffs. That’s even a problem in Toronto. The fans aren’t there for a good time, they’re there to watch hockey and see a win. Period. They’re incredibly boring. And, when there’s no wins to be had and the hockey isn’t good, Calgary fans have shown they aren’t much for going just to “support the rebuild!”

You can argue the best way to get people excited is to get star players and the best way to get star players is a rebuild and you’d be right, but let’s not pretend mid-market Canadian teams are special in their tolerance for this stuff. Winnipeg isn’t even rebuilding, they were competitive for the division, and nobody wanted to go to those games.

[Erick Estrada]

The Flames were missing the playoffs every 2nd season when they had a solid core of Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Gio, Hanafin, etc so I get a good chuckle that Conroy thinks that this organization has ever had a culture of winning even when the roster was strong. The only culture the Flames have cultivated is that of mediocrity and it’s kind of laughable given the current roster that the organization is even discussing the playoffs as the current roster may be the worst in a couple of decades. I get it that employees of the organization including Conroy are not permitted to publicly ever admit to rebuilding but the current state of the roster and talent pool is going to dictate their fate regardless as they will be drafting top 5-10 for the coming years. Hopefully they can catch some lottery luck in the coming drafts as this organization deserves some good fortune.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yeah, but it's your interpretation of it that I don't agree with...

Conroy may use assets to acquire young players, but they are still young players (with an eye on the future). The only difference between draft picks and young players is that the young players are a couple years further along. But it's still future-focused.

Conroy can talk about wanting to make the playoffs, but it is pretty easy to read between the lines that he knows that it won't happen next year, they just don't have the horses. He is saying he wants a 'winning culture' but what he is really saying, IMO, is that he wants a compete level, and a competitive level, that is above a full tank. Work hard, have a good team culture, and tank respectably.

This team was a bottom 5 team, from the trade deadline on, when the players were moved. And they are going to be a bottom 5-7 team again next year.

Yeah, this is my feeling too. Conroy may make a couple moves this year to get younger and he’s probably not tearing it down (unless he ends up having to), but I don’t think he really thinks they’ll be in the playoffs next year. But he also doesn’t want people, especially the players, to be thinking that way though. He wants them to be pushing so that they get back into the playoffs un year two or three at the very latest.

I’m a little in between both you two. Their defence is too weak next year and goaltending too inexperienced without Markstrom to finish outside the bottom 10, but I don’t think it would take too much to get them back in the mix again the following year, especially if their young guys and a couple prospects take a big step forward and they maintain the drive to win. The wildcard is if young guys don’t step up and/or they are forced into trading Andersson, Sherangovich and Kuzmenko…then this thing isn’t likely going to turn around that quickly.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Flames were missing the playoffs every 2nd season when they had a solid core of Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Gio, Hanafin, etc so I get a good chuckle that Conroy thinks that this organization has ever had a culture of winning even when the roster was strong. The only culture the Flames have cultivated is that of mediocrity and it’s kind of laughable given the current roster that the organization is even discussing the playoffs as the current roster may be the worst in a couple of decades. I get it that employees of the organization including Conroy are not permitted to publicly ever admit to rebuilding but the current state of the roster and talent pool is going to dictate their fate regardless as they will be drafting top 5-10 for the coming years. Hopefully they can catch some lottery luck in the coming drafts as this organization deserves some good fortune.

I’m not sure he thinks they’ve had a winning culture under the previous core just that he and the coaching staff is preaching that with the veterans that remain so they have it going forward. It’s reflected in the tone guys like Weegar, Backlund and Kadri have adopted the last couple months, even when they’re losing. The biggest risk of this tactic is that if the retool/rebuild takes more than a couple years — or if they’re incredibly bad next year — can the veterans continue to push guys or will they just give into the negativity?

Conroy’s putting a lot on a quick turnaround and if they don’t, he might not be long for the organization.