Alright gang, we usually don’t assign homework before you read a mailbag column, but a lot of stuff has gone on that is reflected in the mailbag questions we’ve received and we want to make sure nobody feels lost.

On Wednesday, Sportsnet’s Brendan Parker interviewed Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney in the first intermission of the Flames’ game in Buffalo. Watch the full interview here.

On Friday, Sportsnet’s Eric Francis interviewed Maloney in what was published as a two-part column on Friday and Saturday. Part one is here and part two is here.

Alright, we’re all caught up, let’s dive in.

In terms of Craig Conroy receiving a contract extension, my confidence level is at 95%. While he hasn’t been without his missteps – his long-term extension for Yegor Sharangovich isn’t aging well, for example – I really think he navigated the 2023-24 minefield incredibly well given all the expiring veteran controls and the Flames’ drafting and developing has looked quite promising under Conroy. I think he gets more time to unpack his vision.

In terms of how things unfolded this week, I won’t speak for my media colleagues. Thankfully, Francis noted on Friday’s Flames Talk how things came together for the two interviews.

Maloney is the head of hockey operations, the bridge between ownership and management, and it makes sense for him to do media from time to time. I really don’t think there’s any conspiracy afoot.

Disclaimer: So, Elliotte Friedman has a maxim he uses: “everybody lies.” He usually trots this out during the trade deadline and NHL draft periods, because especially during those time periods, it doesn’t do any of the teams any good to have their business out in the open. So expecting anyone from hockey operations – even Craig Conroy, who’s naturally very friendly and chatty and out-going – to be forthcoming with their true plans in a November interview while the team is in 32nd place is not realistic.

That all being said: I do think the Flames have a hesitance to blow it up completely. I’ve mentioned this before in prior mailbags, but the 1990s flat-out sucked to be a Flames fan. The team was bad, the Saddledome was empty, and the team was very close to relocating or folding. You do not have an annual “please save the team” ticket drive if things are going well. Things are going much better for the Flames these days, but I think your first few years of owning a team being a white-knuckle ride to keep things afloat leaves some scar tissue and impacts your decision-making. I don’t know how it couldn’t.

For this season, if you accept the premise that the Flames have some good players that they like… well, they need to make some decisions on which players they feel won’t be part of their long-term plan and set prices for them. You don’t rush anybody out the door necessarily, but you make your prices known for assets and then make moves if those prices are met. Aside from Rasmus Andersson, there’s no immediate time pressure to move players, so I think they just need to be really honest about what a strong Flames team would look like in 2027 or 2028 and then make some moves to shape the team towards that vision.

I think they just… live their lives, guys. There’s a lot of hockey left to be played and if the Flames play an entertaining style of game and make moves that support their purported future focus, I think the world will keep on spinning.