In part four of this series we handed out three A grades to Craig Conroy for his work on the Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, and Ryan Strome trades. Will we be handing any A’s for the three most recent trades the Flames have made? Let’s dive into it.

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.

To Colorado: Nazem Kadri (20% Retained), 2027 4th Round Pick

To Calgary: 2028 1st Round Pick, 2027 2nd Round Pick, Victor Olofsson, Max Curran

Craig Conroy let the hockey world know that the Calgary Flames were officially in a rebuild after completing the MacKenzie Weegar trade. He reinforced that message when he moved Nazem Kadri, with three remaining on his contract, back to the Colorado Avalanche.

Kadri had a great run with the Calgary Flames. Over the last three and a half seasons, he led the team in goals (100), assists (139) and points (239). He was everything the Flames could have hoped he would have been when they signed him to a seven year contract in the summer of 2022.

But the 2026 trade deadline was the right time to move him.

Kadri is 35 years old with multiple years remaining on his contract. He was hitting the age where the majority of NHL players start to see their play decline. Between that and the fact the Flames are at the beginning stages of a rebuild, it made sense to move on from the veteran centre.

The trade was a win-win situation. The Flames were able to acquire two draft picks and a prospect, and they used the first round pick as part of the Simon Nemec trade.

And Kadri got to go back to the place where he had the most success and won a Stanley Cup. Everyone goes away happy.

To Calgary: Simon Nemec, Maxim Tsyplakov

To New Jersey: 2027 1st Round Pick, 2028 1st Round Pick, 2026 2nd Round Pick, Etienne Morin

The easy part of a rebuild is trading away veteran players for future pieces. The difficult part is using the pieces you’ve acquired to add the future core of your team.

This is the first trade Conroy made to bring in a player who they want to become one of those core players.

The idea behind this trade makes a lot of sense from the Flames perspective. They use draft picks acquired in the Andersson, Kadri, and Weegar trades to bring in a talented, 22 year old defenceman who was the second overall pick in the 2022 draft. Those are the types of bets the Flames should be making.

There is some risk involved. Nemec has yet to truly breakout as a player. He has played in parts of three seasons in the NHL putting up 49 points in 155 games. Nemec has the talent to become a top pairing defenceman. But he has yet to put it all together. Can the Calgary coaching staff get the most out of this player?

It’s too early to give out a truly informed letter grade. This trade will come down to how Nemec turns out over the next five years. There is the potential for him to become a great defenceman. There is also the potential for him to become an average third pair defenceman. Only time will tell. But overall, I like the idea and am ok with the risk they’ve taken on in this trade.

To Minnesota: Blake Coleman, Olli Maatta

To Calgary: 2029 2nd Round Pick, 2027 3rd Round Pick, 2028 4th Round Pick, Jake Middleton

Craig Conroy has gone on record saying it was difficult to trade Coleman, one of his favourite people in the game. But similar to Kadri, it had to be done.

Coleman is a pending UFA heading into the 2026-27 season. And Conroy has made a habit of trading pending UFA’s.

The Flames got pretty good value for Coleman, a 34 year old defensive forward, and defenceman Olli Maatta. Especially when you consider what they got for Tyler Toffoli. Three draft picks and a veteran defenceman that they can flip within the next couple years for yet another draft pick (or picks plural). It’s not a home run like some of the other deals Conroy has made, but it’s still pretty good.

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