The Calgary Flames have long been a middling franchise, and beyond a 2021/22 campaign that saw career years from Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk among others, the team have struggled for consistent success. Following that year, the team are yet to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and in 2023, the team hired long-time forward (and then AGM) Craig Conroy to replace Brad Treliving.
Unfortunately for Conroy, he inherited an absolute mess of a franchise, with the team having no clear direction, a lack of stars and a fan base that's desperate for the team to rebuild. That hiring came on May 23, 2023, and in just over three years, Conroy has seemingly transformed the franchise, with fans once again getting on board with what he's done in charge.
So, just after the three year anniversary of his hiring, let's take a look back on the run so far for Conroy as Flames General Manager and grade every aspect of his job ahead of one of the more important off-seasons in franchise history.
Waivers
Waivers are often an underrated way to bolster a teams depth, and while most waiver claims don't turn out to be much, there's always a player worth taking a risk on for a General Manager. In his time in the role, Conroy's success has been up-and-down on waivers, with the two main pickups for the Flames being John Beecher and Brayden Pachal.
In Pachal, the team got a very solid seventh defenseman who has posted 5 goals and 25 points in 138 games played, and moving forward with the young names on the blue line, he's going to be very solid depth. Beecher on the other hand was an understandable risk, but after posting a 2 goals and a -5 differential in 29 games played, it's clear that he wasn't the answer for Calgary.
In terms of players lost on waivers, the Flames have seen the likes of Ilya Solovyov, Adam Ruzicka, Cole Schwindt and Nick DeSimone claimed by rival teams, but fortunately for Conroy, none of them have been able to establish themselves as NHL contributors at a high level.
Grade: B-
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