Ever since Craig Conroy took over as General Manager of the Calgary Flames, things have been moving in the right direction, and that continued throughout the 2025/26 season. During the campaign, Conroy dealt Mackenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson, and in doing so, he established a clear direction for the team, prioritizing the youth and the future.
Obviously, the team isn't anywhere near the end of their rebuild right now, but with significant draft capital moving forward and a top tier prospect group, things are off to a very positive start in Calgary. With a bright future, this summer is crucial to their current rebuild, so these are five things the team need to accomplish if they are to continue the positive build that they've had thus far.
The Flames need to fill out the Wranglers roster with young free agents
In 2025/26, the Calgary Wranglers struggled mightily for several different reasons: a first-time Head Coach, injuries and players moving in and out of the lineup throughout the regular season. Coming into the off-season, the following Wranglers are heading into free agency, with the team needing to re-sign a significant amount of them: Brennan Othmann, Rory Kerins, Clark Bishop, Nick Cicek, William Stromgren, Lucas Ciona, Carter King, Parker Bell and Sam Morton.
While not all of them will ever find their way into the NHL with the Flames, they're all very solid pieces down in the AHL, and if the Flames do continue selling off their veterans, it may finally be time to see some of these players in their early 20's get a true shot. This isn't the Flames top priority in the off-season, but young depth is a key moving forward, so getting many of these UFA's and RFA's re-signed will be a great idea for Craig Conroy.
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