For years under Brad Treliving, the Calgary Flames were just moments away from the franchise changing in a heartbeat, and with no real long-term plan beyond pushing just to get into the post-season, he was fired following the 2022/23 season.
Following that, the Flames hired AGM Craig Conroy to the role, and in three years, the team have managed to turn things around completely. Sure, they are still yet to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they still don't have a marquee star to lead them into the future, but under Conroy, the Flames have picked their direction, and with patience and all of their future assets, this could pay off in a big way.
With the 2026 NHL Draft on the way, we thought we would take this time to look back at the last three years, as we will now rank the top five draft picks from Conroy's first three drafts as GM of the Calgary Flames.
Honourable mentions: Kirill Zarubin, Andrew Basha, Axel Hurtig.
5. Aydar Suniev (No. 80 overall, 2023)
Early in Conroy's first summer as Flames General Manager, he made an impact early, dealing Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and the No. 80 overall pick. With that selection, the Flames chose Russian winger Aydar Suniev, who came into the draft on the back of a fantastic BCHL campaign where he picked up 45 goals and 90 points across 50 games played.
He followed that up with two standout seasons for UMass before officially having his first full professional season in 2025/26, playing in 57 games for the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL. It took him some time to adept to the professional game, but he did just that late in the year, ending the season with 16 goals before making his way to the NHL for his final six games.
In that time, he clearly started to adapt to the game at the highest level, and while it's unclear what his potential is for the Flames, he should start next season in a significant role with the chance to be a great contributor in the middle-six.
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