Give Craig Conroy credit. He’s trying not to tip his hand ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Conroy joined Dean “Boomer” Molberg and Rhett Warrener on Friday’s edition of the Barn Burner podcast for a 45-minute chat to discuss preparations for next week’s draft. And the biggest news item that Conroy let slip was that he’s picked out his new office at Scotia Place, and that it has a window.

But with 11 picks at his disposal, Conroy was open about talking about things fairly broadly… but seemed careful not to give away too much of his plans.

Here are a few interesting quotes and tidbits that we gleaned from the conversation:

Conroy’s getting some calls for potential trades: “Obviously when you have this many picks, you’re popular. I’ve got a lot of stuff on the go, but what is actually going to come through and what isn’t, and what makes sense… It’s fun, though.”

Conroy noted the value of the Flames’ four second-round picks and how many teams have been calling about them.

There might be some movement of picks: “It’s gonna be tough, that number six pick, to move up. But with 30, I think there might be opportunities to move up on that pick.”

There’s a lack of scouting consensus on the order of the first-round players: “People like the players, but there’s not like a set order… I think people like different players, so you might be able to get a guy you really like in the low 20s that you might have really high on your list, and visa versa for them. And then even in the second round, guys have a lot of players they like. So it’ll be interesting to see how it goes.”

They’re prepared to make every pick: In keeping with the club’s “every pick is important” mantra – remember, they got the NCAA’s leading scorer in the fifth round last year – they’re preparing as if they’re making every pick. Conroy added during the conversation that players that are picked can become potential trade chips later on.

Conroy was asked about four potential early picks – Carson Carels, Keaton Verhoeff, Viggo Bjorck and Caleb Malhotra – and spoke about them a lot: He didn’t tip his hand very much, though.

“You’d love any of these players. We’re going to get a good one. Which one, I don’t know.”

“I have two guys that I think I would be super excited to be there. And I think the scouts feel the same way, too. But if they were both there, I have one a little ahead of the other, for sure.”

He’s excited: “It’s probably the most exciting time of the year because this is where you can change your franchise.”