CONROY'S FLAMES RETOOL IS ALMOST COMPLETE
In a lot of ways, the last nine and a half months have all been leading to these next two days.
When Craig Conroy was hired as the Calgary Flames' general manager on May 23, 2023, he spoke candidly about the challenges facing the organization and how he intended on tackling them.
In his introductory news conference, he acknowledged that having seven key players become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2024 was untenable and that decisions would have to be made by the players and the team about how to move forward.
But he also made clear that he'd learned from the way former GM Brad Treliving had lost Johnny Gaudreau for nothing. Conroy had no intention of letting something similar happen again.
“As far as Johnny leaving, I think it was a little bit of a learning thing for me,” Conroy said. “I was hoping Johnny was going to come back. I thought Johnny was going to come back, but I don't think I would allow that to happen again.
“You think, `Uh-oh, you just lost an asset and one of your best players of all time and you didn't get anything for him.'”
And with that, the stage was set for nearly 10 months of rumour and speculation surrounding the team. Conroy was as clear as a GM is ever going to be about his approach. He wanted to get guys re-signed, but if they weren't signed by the trade deadline, they'd be moved.
Now, the trade deadline is Friday at 1 p.m., and nobody can say Conroy hasn't been good to his word.
Mikael Backlund re-signed and was named captain. Four of the seven prominent soon-tobe unrestricted free agents are already gone.
Only Oliver Kylington and Noah Hanifin remain.
Tyler Toffoli was flipped before last year's draft, with the Flames getting Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round pick.
When Nikita Zadorov's agent went public with a trade request, Conroy shipped the big defenceman to the Vancouver Canucks for a 2024 fifth-round draft pick and a third-round selection in the 2026 NHL draft.
Elias Lindholm wasn't re-signing, so he joined Zadorov in Vancouver, with the Canucks giving up winger Andrei Kuzmenko, defensive prospects Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, a first-round pick and a conditional fourth rounder in this summer's draft.
Chris Tanev wanted the chance to compete for a Stanley Cup and didn't think that was going to happen in Calgary. Conroy traded him to the Dallas Stars last week, getting defensive prospect Artem Grushnikov, the Stars' second-round pick in 2024 and a conditional third rounder in 2026.
Kylington's contract situation hasn't been resolved, but it doesn't seem like a huge concern.
Which leaves Hanifin, who will be moved between now and Friday. The only questions there are the destination and the return.
Once he's moved, Conroy's transformation of the Flames will largely be complete. There are still going to be lingering questions about the future of Jacob Markstrom and possibly Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri, two guys in their 30s who might prefer to spend the next few years playing for a real contender.
But the big questions on Day 1 of Conroy's tenure as GM were about a few things, primarily. He needed to hire a head coach, so he promoted Ryan Huska, who has done a nice job managing a team that could have easily been derailed by all the off-ice distractions.
Conroy was asked about the free agents, too, and he's stayed true to his promise to either get guys re-signed or move them in trades regardless of whether the Flames were contending for a playoff spot like they are today.
And Conroy made another promise, too.
“We're going to change the core a little bit, not the core pieces, but I think we're going to add some youth into the lineup,” Conroy said. “My big thing has been drafting, watching players, and what I've watched and learned is you need young players in the team. You need excitement and what they bring day in and day out.”
Younger? Yeah, the Flames are definitely younger. Conroy has traded for young players and draft assets while the coaching staff has given Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil lots of opportunities in important situations.
Has it all gone perfectly? No, of course not. Things never go perfectly.
But if anyone wants proof that Conroy's stuck to a plan, they only need to go back and look at the news conference on the day he was hired.
He's done exactly what he said he was going to do.