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Flames fans react to the NHL’s trade deadline
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Photo credit: @nhlflames on X
Adrian Kiss
Mar 7, 2026, 11:00 ESTUpdated: Mar 7, 2026, 01:04 EST
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There were some tense moments of absolute nothingness throughout the morning, as the trade deadline was looking like one of the quietest in recent memory. As always though, it picked up a bit as time ran out.
Calgary Flames fans fully caught the trade bug Wednesday when MacKenzie Weegar was dealt. Everyone woke up Friday morning glued to their phones, tuning into their preferred deadline coverage and waited and waited for news on anything Flames related. It eventually began to look like nothing was going to happen.
Fans were expecting to hear at least one or two more names moved — Coleman, Kadri, Whitecloud, Hanley, anyone. When news of a trade finally broke, it just was not what anyone expected. The Flames did not sell. They bought.
Veteran Ryan Strome was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks for a seventh-round pick, much to the surprise of just about everyone — especially Flames fans.
Everyone must have immediately assumed there had been some kind of miscommunication. This team was supposed to be trading veterans away, not bringing them in.
People tried to make the best of it, reasoning that if he were eventually moved for anything more than a seventh-round pick, it could still be considered a win. But once that initial wave of emotion passed, it became clear there had to be more to the story.
If you were anything like me, you stayed glued to your screen well past the official deadline, waiting for those final trades to trickle through. I just did not expect the wait to last another two hours. But eventually, the news everyone had been waiting for arrived: Nazem Kadri had been traded back to the Colorado Avalanche.
A few more minutes passed before the full return was revealed. Learning the Flames were receiving a conditional first- and second-round pick, along with Victor Olofsson and prospect Max Curran, was an excellent outcome. And after all the reporting over the past few days suggesting Flames ownership did not want to retain salary, Calgary retained 20 per cent of Kadri’s contract to make the deal work.
But the Flames were not done there. Word soon emerged of another minor move, with Calgary acquiring former first-round pick Brennan Othmann in exchange for prospect Jacob Battaglia. Othmann has struggled to establish himself in the NHL, but there is still room for optimism.
Overall, what initially looked like it might be an underwhelming deadline quickly turned into a very successful one for the Flames. The organization managed to move out the contracts of MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri while adding draft picks, prospects and a couple of NHL roster players who can help fill spots in the short term.
Even though the Flames were unable to find deals for Blake Coleman or Ryan Lomberg, fans still seem quite pleased with the work general manager Craig Conroy accomplished at this year’s trade deadline.
This could very well be the official turning point for the organization. Yes, there is still plenty of losing ahead this season — and likely next year as well — but the future suddenly looks much brighter. If the Flames can secure a top pick in the upcoming draft and land an elite forward, and if Craig Conroy continues drafting as well as he has over the past couple of years, this “rebiggle” may not take as long as many expected. Good things are coming for the Calgary Flames.
With that in mind, it is already time to start looking ahead to the NHL draft. Let’s hope the Flames can secure that top pick.
Do you have any additional thoughts on how the deadline unfolded? Let us know in the comments below.
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