Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames have been busy this off-season adding to their blueline both now and in the future.

First, Conroy acquired 22 year old, right shot Simon Nemec from the New Jersey Devils for three draft picks and Etienne Morin.

With the sixth overall pick the Flames selected Carson Carels who is projected to be a top pairing defenceman down the road.

And finally the Flames acquired Jake Middleton from the Minnesota Wild as part of the Blake Coleman trade.

All of the sudden the Flames defence core features 10 players who played NHL games last season.

And the guy who looks like the odd man out as of July 7 is Hunter Brzustewicz.

With that in mind, what should the Flames do with their 21 year old defenceman?

Here are a few options.

This option is not going to be popular with Brzustewicz, his agent, and a lot of Flames fans. People want to see Brzustewicz in the NHL. Especially after seeing the progression he made last season.

But is sending a 21 year old defenceman to the AHL a bad decision? Especially for a guy who is only entering his third year of pro hockey.

What would you rather see from Brzustewicz? Be in and out of the lineup at the NHL level? And when he does play, it’s on a third pairing at 5-on-5 while getting no power play time? Or would you rather see him go down to the AHL and play first pairing minutes at 5-on-5 and quarterback the top power play unit?

If Brzustewicz dominates with the Calgary Wranglers and shows he is an undeniable NHLer, then you can make some moves to get him with the big club.

Brzustewicz is also waiver exempt. The Flames don’t have to worry about losing him like the did with Ilya Solovyov last year.

Brzustewicz is not going to play ahead of of Simon Nemec, Zayne Parekh, and Zach Whitecloud. All three players are better than Brzustewicz is right now.

Nemec and Parekh are a critical part of the Flames future and need as much ice time as possible to develop their games. And Whitecloud is a solid, veteran defenceman that can play shutdown minutes at 5-on-5 and the PK. Something the Flames need on the right side.

The only way to get get Brzustewicz ice time at the NHL level is to trade Whitecloud.

Is that the right move for the Flames right now? You could make the argument that Whitecloud is a critical member of this Flames team during their rebuild. His leadership off the ice along with the important minutes he’s going to play on this ice makes him someone you want to keep around.

The Flames could move Zayne Parekh to the left side. But that’s not putting him in a position to succeed.

Playing your off side in the NHL is already difficult enough as is. Now you’re asking a 20 year old with 38 games of experience to make quick plays using his backhand. Whether that’s making a breakout pass to the middle of the ice, or picking a puck up off the boards in the offensive zone on your backhand. Those are incredibly difficult things to do at NHL speeds.

It might be unfair to put Parekh in that position next season. Playing the left side is something the Flames could experiment with down the road.

And if Parekh were to move to the left side Yan Kuznetsov or Jake Middleton would have to sit out. I can’t see the coaching staff making either of those players a regular healthy scratch next year.

If the Flames believe Whitecloud is going to be part of this organization beyond the expiration of his contract, the best move for Brzustewicz mght be to trade him. The right side of the defence is loaded at the moment in the NHL. We also have to keep in mind that Henry Mews is going to be knocking on the door of the NHL within the next few years.

Brzustewicz could have some decent value on the trade market. 21 year old right handed defencemen with his pedigree don’t become available all that often. Could the Flames put him in a larger deal to acquire a young centre? That’s something Craig Conroy might want to think about.

If I were in charge, my plan would be to send Brzustewicz to the Calgary Wranglers. He can go down there and be the number one defenceman and play huge minutes in all situations. It’s important for a young player like Brzustewicz to play as much as possible during important developmental years.

Brzustewicz has a lot to work on to become a full time NHLer. He needs to get faster, make quicker decisions with the puck, and get stronger. He can do all those things with the Wranglers. That way when he gets a chance to play in the NHL he will be 100% ready for that opportunity.

Come February, the Flames can re-evaluate and see where they are at with Whitecloud and Brzustewicz and make their decision from there.