If you were to do a poll amongst Calgary Flames fans, most would be in agreement that Craig Conroy has done a solid job since taking over as general manager. After seeing the organization be frustratingly mediocre for well over a decade, he finally made the right decision to opt for a rebuild.
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Though Conroy has said that he doesn’t believe in tanking, he has essentially ensured the 2024-25 Flames won’t be competitive any time soon. He did so by trading several players last season in Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, and Noah Hanifin, and opted not to add any big-name free agents to replace them.
While the next few seasons could be long and grueling, the future does look bright, thanks in large part to some of the prospects Conroy has added. As mentioned, most Flames fans seem quite happy with the overall picture, though a recent survey suggests others aren’t as high on Conroy and his work so far.
Flames Front Office Ranked in Bottom Half of League
In a newer article from The Athletic, Dom Luszczyszyn put together a survey based on results from fans that rank all 32 teams from best to worst based on their front office. Many would have expected to see the Flames, at the very least, in the top half of the league. Some may even have thought they were deserving of a spot in the top 10 (from ‘Dom Luszczyszyn: NHL front-office rankings, 2024: How fans feel about every team’, The Athletic 8/6/24).
Instead, the Flames came in at 18th. It’s a significant improvement from their ranking of 31st a year ago, but proves there is still plenty of work to do for Conroy and his staff to prove to the NHL community as a whole that they are capable of building a winning team.
“From the inside, this year’s aggressive teardown is viewed as a big win for fans who finally believe the Flames are doing things the right way,” Luszczyszyn wrote. “While the consistency of the returns felt uneven at times, it’s hard to deny the Flames got a massive haul of futures. Couple that with a draft that many fans were thrilled with and the team’s rebuild feels like it’s starting on the right foot.”
It’s interesting that Luszczyszyn did include the fact that it seems as though Flames fans are happy with the direction. What this indicates is that likely due to the team’s struggles, other fan bases around the league have yet to take notice. That should change in the coming years when the wins start piling up on a more regular basis.
“The teardown is the easy part and while fans may be a little overzealous on that front, it does feel like the public is grading the Flames on the sins of the former regime,” Luszczyszyn continued. “The new group led by Craig Conroy has felt like an improvement — for this step at least.”
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That could also be the case. Many outsiders would likely look at some contracts on the Flames roster, particularly Jonathan Huberdeau’s, as a major mistake by management. However, as Luszczyszyn alluded to, that move, along with several other questionable decisions, were made by Brad Treliving, who has since left the organization and serves as the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Interestingly enough, the Maple Leafs ranked 30th on the same survey.
Improvements in Front Office Rankings Should Continue
Though many Flames fans may believe 18th is too low of a ranking, a 13-spot improvement is still significant. Should Conroy continue on this trend, they could be much higher on the list next year. That will, in large part, come down to what he does with several pending UFAs who are expected to be moved, most notably Andrei Kuzmenko and Anthony Mantha.
