May 23: Calgary has made the hire official, also adding Dave Nonis as the team’s senior vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager. The team has also retitled the roles of Chris Snow and Brad Pascall, who were previously assistant general managers. Per Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg, the team has given extensions to both Snow and Pascall while expanding their roles.
May 21: TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting the Calgary Flames are expected to name Craig Conroy their next general manager, promoting him from the assistant role he’s held since 2014.
Conroy succeeds Brad Treliving, who the Flames mutually parted ways with last month after a disappointing season. Dreger notes that the team’s management overhaul, also accented by firing head coach Darryl Sutter, likely isn’t over. More hires are expected to be announced in Calgary’s front office later next week.
While Conroy may not have been the most experienced hire available for Calgary (he has no previous general managing experience), there are few who’ve been around the Flames organization longer than him. Not only has he spent the past 13 seasons in the Flames’ front office in some capacity, but he also played nine seasons in Calgary dating back to a 2001 trade deadline move.
It’s a straightforward choice for Calgary, who are looking to live up to the expectations they set for themselves after completely rehauling their roster last summer. Swapping Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar while also adding Nazem Kadri flamed out, with most of their additions having extremely disappointing seasons under Sutter.
The hope remains that some new blood in the front office and behind the bench, along with an organizational shift more willing to give opportunities to the team’s younger players, should pay short-term dividends and return the Flames to a consistent playoff status in the Pacific Division.
Conroy won’t have that busy of an offseason with just five free agents on the NHL roster (all unrestricted depth players), but many core pieces like Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli, and Chris Tanev are expiring in 2024 and become eligible for extensions on July 1.
Earlier this week, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that Dave Nonis, Stan Bowman, and Marc Bergevin were also being considered for the job alongside Conroy.
Says he will change the core
Who is that? Huberdeau, Kadri, and Weegar?
Not sure their new contracts will be easy to move there Craig.
I actually think that Calgary has a really good team, just need a better coach/system.
I’m gonna assume he meant the guys on expiring deals, but I agree. I’m not sure they have the assets to pull off a retool. They have a few decent prospects — develop them well and stay the course. They’ll be back to contention if they do.
Conroy is a down to earth guy and he will think as a player not as a GM and on the Inginla coach think maybe assistant not head…