GM Craig Conroy hints Calgary Flames could be players on free agent market this summer

MANALAPAN, Fla. — Ask Craig Conroy how his first nine months as general manager of the Calgary Flames have been, and he can do little more than let out a long sigh.

“It’s been a long nine months,” Conroy said at his first GM Meeting since taking over on May 23, 2023. “It really has.”

The Friday after the trade deadline might have been his most restful night of sleep in that span because it had been one thing after another.

“Everybody thinks about just the deadline, but it’s really from the time I took over,” Conroy said. “Hiring the coaches, then the UFAs that maybe weren’t going to re-sign. There’s been a lot to address.”

Not that Conroy is asking for your sympathy. He’s got his dream job, the upstate New York native is working in a passionate Calgary market and leading the same organization where he’s worked consecutively since he returned for a second stint as a player in 2007.

Now, after re-stocking Calgary’s draft board and shipping out Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin, Conroy can finally begin to put his fingerprints on the roster and begin building instead of tearing down. They may not all have been perfect trades in their own vacuum, but the totality of what Conroy acquired for those five free agents who ultimately weren’t returning has provided flexibility now and setup the Flames for the future.

It might have been baptism by, well, fire – but it’s hard to imagine a more difficult start to a tenure for a rookie manager, and Conroy is excited for the next part of the process.

“I think now to get through it all and know where our team is … we still have a lot more work to do,” Conroy said, “but I’m a lot more comfortable with the process and what to expect.”

Conroy dove into a number of topics in a wide-ranging conversation with Daily Faceoff this week:

Busy Summer Ahead

Still in the relatively early stages of whichever ‘R’ word you choose – rebuild, retool, reshape – it might be a surprise to think that the Calgary Flames would be a player in free agency this summer. But Conroy is already looking ahead to the market and thinking about what might be able to make Calgary more competitive.

Think back to last Canada Day; there was no manager less busy than Conroy. He didn’t sign a single UFA to a contract worth more than $1 million per season.

“One thing we didn’t have last year was any flexibility on the cap, so we weren’t able to add anything,” Conroy said. “So this year to have some money and build the team and add some players is going to be big for us moving forward.”

Calgary has roughly $19 million in space heading into the summer, with only $68.8 million committed to the $87.7 million upper limit. Don’t expect the Flames to be wining and dining the big names on the market, but they will certainly be a player in the mid-tier for players willing to sign for the right term.

“If there’s the right length of a contract, if there’s a need that we have, we’ll do that. It’s hard to find certain players,” Conroy said. “Maybe to add a veteran or two would be something nice. We have a good mix. We’re trying to let the young guys play, and that’s still the priority, but if we can find help for two or three years, that’s what we’d be looking for because it’s hard to make trades for certain players and we still want to be competitive.”

What’s next for Markstrom?

How competitive will the Flames be?

That is an answer goaltender Jacob Markstrom will want this summer, a player certain to be perhaps the biggest item on Conroy’s offseason to-do list.

Markstrom, 34, has two years remaining on his contract. He holds a full ‘no-move’ clause and all the cards on what happens next, and he voiced his frustration after agreeing to waive his no-trade in a deal to go to the New Jersey Devils that was ultimately scuttled.

Markstrom said he felt the situation “could have been handled differently from up top,” but we explained that his frustration was actually with team president Don Maloney, and not necessarily Conroy.

So far, Conroy said he has not yet spoken with Markstrom about his comments, but is not worried.

“I think with everything that was going on, I wanted him to have this period until the end of the year where he can decompress and just play hockey,” Conroy said. “Emotions are high at the deadline. I’ve been there. I think all of the outside noise, everything that was going on, it’s tough. It’s stressful on you and you, your family. With him and Chris Tanev, they were such good friends.

“I take everything with a grain of salt. We’ll move forward and move on. Marky, I don’t worry about him at all. Marky is true pro.”

Depending on what happens with Linus Ullmark, Markstrom figures to be the best goaltender available in what is expected to be an underwhelming free agent goalie class.

Conroy has stressed he wants the Flames to be competitive. More than anything, Markstrom wants a chance to be competitive. Is there a way to do that in Calgary on this contract?

Conroy said he intends to lay out the plan for Markstrom, including his intentions for free agency. It sounds like if Markstrom prefers to move on, the Flames will oblige, as Conroy said he wants players who want to be in Calgary.

“We need to sit down and talk,” Conroy said. “I need to see where Marky’s head is at – if I can add something [in free agency], see what he is thinking. We just need to sit down and have a conversation after the season. Right now I just want him to play and focus, he’s been banged up a little bit, and hopefully he is back soon.”

Complicating matters, in a good way, is that goaltender of the future Dustin Wolf has been excellent. Wolf, 22 and the two-time AHL Goalie of the Year, has a .931 save percentage in four starts in March since Markstrom went down with injury.

“Wolf has played rally well,” Conroy said. “I believe goaltending is the most sought after thing in the NHL. I told people coming into this season that I’m comfortable with all three goalies, and that’s going to be one of our big things here. We’ve got to figure that out. But when you have a position of strength, it’s a great thing for the organization.”

Evaluating Ryan Huska’s First Season

Conroy tapped Ryan Huska for his first NHL head coaching job on June 12, replacing Darryl Sutter. So far, Conroy said he is “very happy” with Huska.

He pointed out that Calgary fell out of the gate this year with a 2-7-1 record, but has since strung together a 31-23-4 mark, which is a 93-point pace over a full 82-game season.

They don’t award trophies for a pace season that almost puts you in the playoffs, but given that Calgary traded away four critical pieces in-season, it tells Conroy that they’re on the right track.

“We changed the whole system up early in the season and we were disappointed with the start,” Conroy said. “You’re always trying to climb back in the race but the West was so strong this year. At one point, we won five in a row and lost two points [of ground] in the standings. It’s tough.

“I think Ryan and his communication, the way he deals with the players, what he wants to do, the way he’s building this – I’m very, very happy with things.”

Huby Duby Doo

Very quietly, Jonathan Huberdeau seems to have found his footing in Calgary. There was no shortage of eyes on him earlier in the season after a tough start to the season that also saw him stapled to Huska’s bench for a stretch.

It felt like a grind for all involved, only in the first months of an eight-year, $84 million deal signed by Brad Treliving. How could they find a solution to work better together?

His production certainly won’t be up to a $10.5 million standard, but since the calendar turned to 2024, Huberdeau has 27 points in 31 games. There’s a lot more work to do, but you have to start something.

“You would think it would have worked with him and Lindholm, but for some reason, you don’t have chemistry with people for whatever reason,” Conroy said. “It’s funny, he was with [Yegor] Sharangovich for a while. Then Kadri. He seems to have gotten more comfortable. And I’ve seen him take more of a leadership role, too.

“What you guys don’t see is what [Huberdeau] does for guys off the ice, getting them together, taking them places – especially the young guys. I think his game has gotten better. It’s all about chemistry and we’re going to continue to look for fits.”

Down the Stretch

The big question every in Calgary wants to know: When will we see a finished product that can compete for the Stanley Cup? Conroy wouldn’t give a direct answer, because even he can’t pinpoint it exactly, but many seem to think the Flames have an eye on 2027 when they open their new downtown arena.

Conroy recognizes that the Flames won’t ever truly bottom out so long as Huberdeau, Markstrom, Mackenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri are on the roster – which is part of the reason he wants to chip away at building up again this summer.

He’s thrilled with Martin Pospisil and Connor Zary. He is excited for Sharangovich and Andrei Kuzmenko. And he wants to see what the future holds for the rest of Calgary’s young players and prospects, including recently acquired Hunter Brzustewicz and Artem Grushnikov.

This is a methodical build brick by brick, and it might come in fits and starts, but Conroy has his compass set.

“You’re trying to do it as quick as you can, but you don’t want to do anything to try to speed it up artificially,” Conroy explained. “You want to win every game – and that’s a culture thing. We won’t ever accept losing. This has been a hard year, a lot happening. The way we’ve played after these first 10 games is a positive, and maybe we can add to this group in the summer while continuing to let these young guys play. I want them around good pros, because I don’t want to ever let them think that losing is OK.”