In part one of grading Craig Conroy trades we broke down his first three deals as GM of the Flames: Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, and Elias Lindholm.

Today, we will look at his next three trades.

As always, I am going to hand out letter grades (A, B, C, or D) for each trade.

For the sake of efficiency, I am only going to grade the 15 NHL trades Conroy has made. Pick swaps at the draft and minor league trades will not be evaluated.

I’ll be breaking these deals down with a mix of analysis from the time the deal was made and then with some hindsight now that we’ve had some time to see how they’ve worked out for the Flames.

Let’s dive into trades 4-6.

To Dallas: Chris Tanev (50% retained)

To Calgary: 2024 2nd Round Pick, Artem Grushnikov

Chris Tanev’s reputation around the NHL is a sparkling one as he is regarded as one of the best defensive defencemen in the sport. He is the perfect player for a team looking to go on a long playoff run. Flames fans were expecting to get at least a first round pick in return for the reliable defenceman.

Fans were a little underwhelmed when Conroy acquired a second round pick and mid level prospect in return for a 50% retained Tanev.

The Flames used the second round pick on forward Jacob Battaglia, who they traded for Brennan Othmann, an AHL/NHL tweener. Grushnikov put up 8 points in 136 games with the Calgary Wranglers. Unfortunately Grushnikov did not turn into the player the Flames had hoped. The Flames pro and amateur scouting staff has done a great job over the last three years. But this was not their finest moment.

Conroy has made a lot of great trades as GM of the Flames. This was not one of them.

To Vegas: Noah Hanifin (50% Retained)

To Calgary: 2026 1st Round Pick (Jack Hextall), 2024 3rd Round Pick (Kirill Zarubin), Daniil Miromanov

When it comes to trading a high end player who is on an expiring contract, you’re going to get a bigger return if the player you’re trading is willing to sign a long term extension with his new team.

Unfortunately for the Flames, Hanifin was only willing to sign an extension with one or two teams. The rumoured teams being the Lightning and Panthers.

That basically turned this into a rental trade for the talented American defenceman.

The Flames got a couple draft picks that they turned into Jack Hextall and Kirill Zarubin, two prospects that have upside. Hextall is a smart, skilled centre that projects to play in the Flames middle six. And the Flames are very high on Zarubin’s upside.

The deal has the potential to work out for the Flames if Hextall and/or Zarubin turn into effective NHL players. If they don’t work out, then we won’t look back on this deal fondly.

To San Jose: 2024 5th Round Pick

To Calgary: Nikita Okhotiuk

The idea behind this trade was a good one for the Calgary Flames. Use a draft pick acquired from the Zadorov trade to acquire a 22-year-old defenceman that your scouting staff identified as someone they would like to acquire.

Unfortunately the execution was not there.

Okhotiuk only played in 9 games for the Flames before signing in the KHL with CSKA Moscow. Conroy and the Flames might have well lit that draft pick on fire. Good thing it was only a fifth rounder.