Calgary Flames GM Craig Conroy on asset management: ‘I just don’t want to ever see someone just walk away for free’

After a dozen years in hockey operations, Craig Conroy is now the general manager of the Calgary Flames. And it’s time for him to get to work. Conroy joined Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli for a chat in the latest edition of the Frankly Speaking podcast.

Among the topics discussed: asset management, getting youth into the lineup, and finding a head coach.

The entire interview is worth listening to, but here are a few selected quotes.

Regarding the seven players that could become unrestricted free agents – and walk away, ala Johnny Gaudreau in the summer of 2022 – Conroy explained the situation the team’s in like this:

“The reality is, you have to let me know if you want to be here. And if you don’t, you also have to let me know that. My job is to make sure we put the best team on the ice and make sure asset management’s a big thing for me. I just don’t want to ever see someone just walk away for free. If they want to be here, great. If not, I’d be disappointed because all these guys are huge parts of this team, but I understand. Some people just say ‘hey, you know what, it’s not for me’. And then we’ll work with what we have from there and move forward.”

On Matthew Phillips, pending Group 6 unrestricted free agent:

“He’s earned the right to do what he’s gonna do going forward. But I just like that he said ‘Craig, I like Calgary, everything’s still on the table and we’ll see what it goes moving forward.’ So I was happy with that.”

On the importance of having young players on the roster:

“The only way to really win nowadays is to have young guys in the lineup because of the salary cap.”

On reigning two-time AHL goaltender of the year Dustin Wolf:

“Wolf definitely put himself right in the mix. It’s a good problem for me to have three goalies that we feel very comfortable with.”

On the timeline to hire a new head coach:

“Obviously, the sooner the better because the UFAs, that’ll be the first question I know they’re gonna ask. ‘Who’s gonna be the new head coach?'”

Listen to the entire Conroy interview on the new edition of Frankly Speaking, available wherever you find your podcasts.