Grading Flames general manager Craig Conroy’s off-season

I would argue Joel Hanley is of the same calibre of all these players, yet he is making considerably less money than all of them. It’s going to be a solid deal for the Flames, especially if he can play like he did in the final 40 games of last season alongside MacKenzie Weegar.

Nick Cicek was signed to a two way contract. The left shot defenceman played last season in Mannheim of the DEL. He will likely spend the entire season in the AHL.

Re-signings

This is where Conroy did his best work.

Matt Coronato – 7 year contract,  $6.5 million AAV

These are the types of contracts that smart NHL teams sign. The Flames locked up their 22 year old sniper for the prime of his career for only $6,500,000. Coronato’s shot is already elite. This is a player who has the potential to be a consistent 30 goal scorer. This contract will look like a steal when the salary cap significantly increases over the coming years.

Kevin Bahl – 6 year contract – $5.35 million AAV

This was another smart move by the Flames GM. Kevin Bahl is a 25 year old, 6’6″, 229 pound shut down defenceman. The type of player every team in the NHL is looking for. Bahl will be a fixture in the Flames top four for at least the next six years and could potentially be the perfect partner for Zayne Parekh.

Morgan Frost – 2 year contract – $4.375 million AAV

Signing Frost to a two year bridge contract made a lot of sense for the Flames and the player. We don’t truly know what type of player Frost is. We know he is talented. We know he is a beauty skater and has a great set of hands. But the production was lacking during as he only put up 12 points in 32 games with the Flames. Is he a 45-50 point player? Of is he a 30-35 point player? We are going to find out.

Martin Pospisil – 3 year contract – $2.5 million AAV

Pospisil still has another year remaining on his contract. It was surprising to see him extended this summer. But it’s another good contract for the Flames. Pospisil is a unique player who is fast, physical, and has some skill to his game. Those players don’t grow on trees. When you get them, you keep them.

Adam Klapka – 2 year contract – $1.25 million AAV

This is a prove it deal for Klapka. Now is the time for him to show what type of player he is going to be at the NHL level. Can he play in the top nine and produce points? Or is he going to be a fourth line checker? This is a good deal for the Flames to find out what what he is going to be.

Patience

The biggest win of the off-season was the fact the Flames didn’t do anything crazy. They didn’t hand out any crazy contracts in free agency. They didn’t trade young assets and draft picks in trades. Being patient and standing pat is the right thing to do with where the Flames are in their winning cycle.

The last thing they needed to do was sign a James Neal, or trade three draft picks for a Travis Harmonic like they did in the past. But this is a new administration under Conroy and he understands that now is not the time to go all in.

The negatives

Not resolving the Rasmus Andersson situation

Rasmus Andersson is still a member of the Calgary Flames and it’s looking like he is going to start the season on the roster. It’s obvious that he is not going to re-sign in Calgary and a trade is inevitable.

It would have been ideal for Conroy to get an Andersson deal done in the off-season. There were a lot of teams looking to add right shot defencemen, especially around the draft. It sounds like Conroy was trying to get a deal done, but ultimately he was not able to do it. Andersson’s unwillingness to sign an extension with another team and his limited no trade clause got in the way.

Now Andersson might become a distraction on a team that wants to avoid that at all costs. His eventual trade is going to be the number one topic of discussion among the fans and media.

Not using their cap space

One thing the Flames haven’t done is take advantage of their cap space. They have never been a third party broker in a trade and they have never taken on a bad contract with a draft pick.

Conroy has said in the past that he has explored these types of trades, but he’s hasn’t been able to pull one off yet.

These are the types of deals the Flames should be involved in. They have a ton of cap space that they’re not going to use this season. And they are at the point in their winning cycle where they need to be accumulating as many assets as possible to build for the future.

Overall, it was a successful off-season for Conroy and the Flames. They made some smart decisions when it comes to re-signing their own players. They made some low risk signings in free agency. And they didn’t make any win now moves.

Letter Grade: B+

What letter grade would you give Craig Conroy this off-season?