The Calgary Flames will play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, and that means former Flames general manager and current Toronto executive Brad Treliving will be in attendance at the Saddledome. Treliving will get yet another chance to lay eyes on the work that his protege Craig Conroy has done since taking control of the team in 2023.

The Flames general manager has quite possibly been the busiest executive in the National Hockey League since he assumed the role following the departure of his predecessor 20 months ago. Though he worked under Treliving for nine years as an assistant GM, Conroy clearly employs a different philosophy when it comes to team building.

When Conroy first addressed the media after being named General Manager, he was asked about the departures of key players in the prior off-season, namely Johnny Gaudreau who walked in free agency. In his response, Craig detailed how he thought Gaudreau would return and that he was surprised when he didn’t, he stated simply “I don’t think I would let that happen again”, in reference to the Flames not recouping any assets for the star winger. Conroy made good on that statement last season when he shipped out anybody on an expiring deal that wasn’t willing to extend.

Calgary served as a one-stop-shop for contending teams looking to add last season. Need a winger? Try Tyler Toffoli or Andrew Mangiapane. Help up the middle? Have Elias Lindholm. A blueliner? Choose between Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov. Help between the pipes? Here’s Jacob Markstrom. Conroy left no stone unturned and made it his mission to get a return for every asset walking out the door. In exchange for the many veteran pieces they parted with in 2023-24, the Flames opted to target draft capital and young prospects, truly committing to the tear-down of the roster.

Treliving appeared to be rebuilding at the beginning of his tenure in the 2014-15 season, moving Curtis Glencross and Alex Tanguay for picks in separate deals. Calgary was an incredible story that year, coined as the “find a way Flames” and “the comeback kids,” the Flames exceeded expectations and made it to the second round of the playoffs on the backs of impactful young players Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. In a knee-jerk reaction to the Flames’ limited success, the former Calgary GM then made a sharp change of course, and began trading to improve the team in the present.

In the midst of their supposed ‘rebuild’, the Flames spent three straight summers trying to expedite the process, trading much of their major draft capital to acquire players. On June 26, 2015, Calgary acquired Dougie Hamilton for a first and two second-round picks. 363 days later, on June 24, 2016, the Flames moved a second and a third-round pick for Brian Elliott. Then again exactly a year later Calgary gave up a first and two second-round selections for Travis Hamonic and a fourth. Calgary made the playoffs just once in the following seasons, where they were swept in the first round.

Rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf has catapulted the Flames into the playoff conversation in a similar way that a rookie Johnny Gaudreau did 10 years ago. With the emergence of Wolf, Conroy sits in an eerily similar position as GM to that of his predecessor a decade prior.

The night of Jan. 30, Conroy pulled the trigger on a deal with the Flyers that brought 24-year-old Joel Farabee and 25-year-old Morgan Frost to Calgary in exchange for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a second-round pick in 2025 and a seventh-round pick in 2028. Both Frost and Farabee are proven players who are under team control and have multiple prime years of play in front of them. Conroy may have made this move regardless of how the Flames were faring in the standings, but he at least publicly states that this was a move to reward the team’s success this season.

The trade shows Conroy’s willingness to stay aggressive in his efforts to improve the team in the present, something Treliving was constantly doing. Where Craig’s approach has differed from that of his predecessor, is his unwillingness to leverage the future in order to achieve immediate success. Although the Flames give up draft capital in the deal with Philadelphia, it pales in comparison to the multitude of picks traded out of Calgary from 2015 to 2017 when they were in a comparable position.

Ultimately, Conroy appears well-equipped to guide a rebuilding club. When necessary he’s shown an ability to make shrewd moves to improve the lineup, without sacrificing future assets.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and If Conroy is a student of Flames history he’ll nurture Calgary’s pipeline and recognize that this team may still need years of additional drafting and developing before they can become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.

It remains to be seen if Craig can prevent history from repeating itself, but if his most recent trade is any indication, it appears as though the Flames are in good hands.

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