On May 23, 2023, the Calgary Flames named assistant general manager Craig Conroy, a 1,009 National Hockey League veteran as a player and budding club executive since his retirement in February 2011, as the club’s new general manager.

In his very first press conference, Conroy discussed his team philosophy, including both the importance of getting value for the club’s departing veteran assets and in helping the club’s NHL roster get younger. Since his first day on the job, Conroy has talked the talk. But he’s also managed to walk the walk.

While serving as GM, Conroy has been faced with multiple forks in the road with the club’s veteran players, and aside from Mikael Backlund, who was named captain and signed to a pair of contract extensions, Conroy has chosen to get younger at virtually every opportunity. Since ascending to the top position in Flames hockey operations, Conroy has traded away no less than 11 NHL regulars, adding over two dozen prospects and draft choices – leaning on his team’s scouting and analytics groups and accumulating one of the most fascinating prospect groups in franchise history in the process.

Conroy’s approach was accelerated during the 2025-26 campaign when, a season after the Flames missed the playoffs on a standings tiebreaker, he elected to trade not only pending unrestricted free agent Rasmus Andersson, but a pair of key players with term in MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri. (Blake Coleman, heading into his final year under contract, followed them out the door in early July.)

So while the Flames still have some quality veterans on their roster to insulate their kids – many of them acquired in the already-mentioned sell-offs of existing players – they’ve arguably cashed in their biggest trade chips already.

The largest intentional sell-off of established NHL talent in Flames franchise history is arguably over now, and it’s left the NHL roster for the 2026-27 season perhaps a bit lean in terms of established star power, but pretty packed in terms of promising young players and fascinating on-ice stories to follow over the next 84 games.

Oh, and did we mention it’s the final year of hockey at the historic Scotiabank Saddledome before the club moves to Scotia Place in 2027-28?

Possibly the first great success story of the Flames’ new drafting and development philosophy (which Conroy helped build as assistant GM), number-one goaltender Dustin Wolf is such a great story. A product of Northern California who grew up both out-performing his peer group and being doubted due to his size, Wolf was the fourth-from-last selection in the 2019 NHL Draft despite having some of the best numbers in the Western Hockey League that season. The Flames grabbed him at 214th overall and have looked incredibly smart for their “gamble,” watching Wolf impress in the WHL, American Hockey League and NHL in turn. He’s entering his third NHL season and the first year of a long-term deal with the Flames.

Spelling Wolf off as his backup is another NoCal product, Devin Cooley. One of the most fascinating people in hockey, Cooley is a modern-day reconnaissance man, with a pet rabbit, a ceaseless curiosity about the world, and an endless enthusiasm about hockey. In his first full NHL season after time in college and minor-pro, Cooley was one of the league’s top backups in 2025-26.

Considering the number – and quality – of veterans the Flames have traded away under Conroy’s regime, their blueline group for this season is fascinating.

The budding offensive aces are a pair of promising young puck-movers: Simon Nemec and Zayne Parekh. Nemec was one of the best-performing blueliners in Slovak history and was the second overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft by New Jersey. Parekh was one of the best-performing blueliners in OHL history and was the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Nemec was stuck behind a few similar players in New Jersey and the Flames acquired him during this past summer for a package built around high draft picks. Parekh spent 2025-26 learning the pro game, and after a year with a lot of tough lessons he looked really effective late last season.

Supporting Nemec and Parekh are a pair of younger defensive types: big-bodied Canadian Kevin Bahl and big-bodied Russian Yan Kuznetsov. Bahl was acquired from New Jersey a couple summers ago, while Kuznetsov stepped into the NHL lineup last November after a few seasons marinating in the AHL and thrived in a shut-down and penalty-killing role. Providing support to their support are a pair of slightly older defensive types: Zach Whitecloud and Jake Middleton. Acquired from Vegas, Whitecloud is a strong utility option on the blueline that can play on any pair or game situation, while Middleton, acquired from Minnesota, is more of a pure physical shutdown type.

The extra defenders, at least to start the season, are a pair of waiver claims from the 2023-24 season: utility defender Joel Hanley, claimed from Dallas, and physical defender Brayden Pachal, claimed from Vegas.

Waiting in the wings, in college, is 2026 first-round pick Carson Carels, widely expected to go pro at the end of his freshman year with the University of North Dakota. Oh, and don’t forget the top two defenders with the AHL’s Wranglers, Hunter Brzustewicz and Abram Wiebe. Bruzstewicz probably would’ve made the NHL roster on a few teams, but the numbers game has led to him starting the year in the AHL.

The Flames’ centres are anchored by two-way ace Mikael Backlund, the club’s first-round pick back in 2007 and current captain. His gig is to take on the toughest opposition lines to give easier deployments to everybody else. Morgan Frost, acquired from Philadelphia, Ryan Strome, acquired from Anaheim, and 2018 fourth-round pick Martin Pospisil round out the other three lines. Frost and Strome are on expiring contacts and could be free agents by year’s end, while Pospisil is seeking a consistent role after injuries have led to stops and starts in his development. Nominally, Frost and Strome are on the two offensive lines, Backlund is on the (third) shutdown line, and Pospisil is on the (fourth) energy line.

The Flames’ wingers sort of give you a hint as to how they want to build the team. The top three lines feature four recent first-round picks: Matvei Gridin (2024), Matt Coronato (2020), Sam Honzek (2023) and Connor Zary (2021). Gridin and Coronato have found a role creating offence with Frost, and Honzek on the shutdown line with Backlund, but Zary’s trying to find a niche to start the season with Strome. The top nine is rounded out by Joel Farabee, acquired from Philadelphia with Frost and who’s found success as a versatile two-way forward, and Yegor Sharangovich, acquired from New Jersey and trying to find consistency after initially finding a ton of offensive success with the Flames. Whenever he returns from hip surgery, Jonathan Huberdeau, acquired from Florida in 2022, will probably bump one of Sharangovich or Zary down the rotation.

The group is rounded out by a trio of checking wingers: towering Czech free agent signing Adam Klapka, big-bodied Russian Maxim Tsyplakov, acquired from New Jersey, and agitating winger Brennan Othmann, a 2021 first-rounder acquired from the NY Rangers at the last trade deadline.

Oh, and the proverbial cavalry is expected to arrive in the spring when college seasons end in the form of 2025 first-rounders Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter, and reigning NCAA leading scorer Ethan Wyttenbach. Oh, and don’t forget about 2023 pick Aydar Suniev, a whip-smart Russian winger with a superb shot, waiting in the wings with the Wranglers.

The defensive group features a pair of potential aces. The forward group may currently lack such a player – though we’re still bullish on Gridin’s ceiling – but there are a lot of younger players trending towards cementing themselves in some key roles, and who can help shepherd along the club’s youngster prospects when they arrive in the spring and into next season.

If you look at various standings forecasts, betting lines, and other prognostications for the 2026-27 season, the Flames don’t typically appear very high. Simply put, this is a team that has consciously chosen to sacrifice short-term success for longer-term success. It’s probably reasonable to expect some challenging games, more losses than wins, and a season that concludes with the final home game at the Saddledome on Apr. 10 against the Vancouver Canucks. This is not a group expected to make much of a push for the post-season this year.

But success for the 2026-27 Flames will be found in the process. Can some of the older players find the clear roles and consistency that’s eluded them in the recent past? Can some of the younger players build upon their first few experiences in the NHL to grow their games and cement themselves as key pieces of future Flames teams with loftier aspirations? And will Conroy continue to avail himself of chances to create more spots for younger players by sending veterans to pursue playoff opportunities elsewhere?

In the National Basketball Association, the Oklahoma City Thunder built themselves into a championship calibre team under GM Sam Presti by committing themselves to a meticulous process of drafting, development and asset management. It wasn’t always easy, but the Thunder kept at it through some growing pains and have emerged as a very good NBA team. The Flames have similar aspirations under Conroy, but they will have to navigate some growing pains along the way.

The 2026-27 season may have some tough evenings and occasionally lopsided scorelines.

But the Flames are going to trust the process, and hope success follows a little further down the road.

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