TAMPA – Never mind salvaging the season, the Calgary Flames need to safeguard their future.
And that starts with signing Craig Conroy to a contract extension.
It should have happened months ago, as itâ€s beyond insulting for him to have been operating this season as a rare, lame-duck GM whose contract runs out next summer.
That is, of course, unless an extension has already been quietly agreed to. Â
Thatâ€s certainly a possibility, as ownership is well aware of how well the popular spokesman for the club has navigated through choppy waters over the last two-plus years.
The club may simply be waiting to find the right time to make it public, which has been tricky due to the optics of announcing that the man in charge of the leagueâ€s 31st-ranked squad is being extended.
And so we wait, with everyone outside the organization pondering whether the team is somewhat directionless without him getting the nod to plot a clear path through the new series of tests that await.
Despite the teamâ€s current standing, there is certainly no shame in what Conroy has done to date.
Given how well he re-shaped the team through two years of tumult, heâ€s proven he has the patience and smarts to continue putting pieces in place as part of a rebuild/retool/hybuild (hybrid rebuild) he kickstarted to help stabilize a team in significant flux.
The players trust him, they like him, and they respect him, as he was once one of them.
Equally as important is the fact heâ€s beloved in the community.
Now, perhaps more than ever, heâ€s needed to not only pave the way forward, but also be the one to shape the messaging hockey president Don Maloney struggled with last week.
As one of the most popular players ever to wear the Flaming C, heâ€s built up plenty of emotional equity with a fan base heâ€s asking to be patient.
Itâ€s time to give Conroy another three-year mandate to continue trying to accumulate and develop a young core capable of taking over from the veteran leadership group when the time is right.
Long-term vision is what’s needed most.
As players are dealt, acquired, drafted and developed moving forward, there needs to be one stabilizing voice mapping the way, setting the tone and staving off criticism from a growing number of impatient fans.
Heâ€s done it before, as evidenced by the mess he tackled admirably his first year when he had to trade away key veterans Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin.
By seasonâ€s end, he managed to stabilize the team, putting a cherry on it in the summer by trading Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane in separate deals.Â
The second-rounder for Mangiapane turned into highly-touted Theo Stockselius.
The Markstrom swap with New Jersey will pay off for years to come, landing the Flames Kevin Bahl, first-rounder Cole Reschny and opening the door for franchise backbone Dustin Wolf to become a Calder finalist.
Despite being criticized by knee-jerk fans at the time, it proved to be his finest hour.
The Lindholm trade was equally as shrewd, landing the Flames Andrei Kuzmenko, Joni Jurmo, Hunter Brzustewicz, a conditional fourth-round pick and a 2024 first-rounder that turned into one of the organizationâ€s most exciting prospects, Matvei Gridin.Â
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Kuzmenko was later packaged up to help the Flames land top-six forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee.
Both trades are well-orchestrated gifts that keep on giving.
Although perceived as a deal in which Conroy was backed into a corner, the Hanifin swap gave the Flames a third-rounder last year (Kirill Zarubin) and a first-rounder from Vegas in this yearâ€s deep draft.
His moves havenâ€t all been home runs (see Yegor Sharangovichâ€s extension), but his track record is full of patient, well-thought-out transactions that demonstrate he is capable of boldly moving the organization forward. Â
Debate all you want which veterans should be shipped out, which youngsters should be brought in, and how the team should react to a playoff-ending start that has the fan base in a tizzy.
But the reality is there is only one obvious first step that needs to be taken: ink the architect, giving him a runway on which to build something the city can be proud and excited about a year, two or three after the new arena opens.
Ownership was proven right when it took a chance on Conroy to be the clubâ€s rookie GM.
The group put even more faith in Conroy when they approved his recommendation to promote Ryan Huska from assistant to head coach.
Conroyâ€s intuition was right on Huska, as evidenced by the two-year extension he just inked to continue managing the bench.
Now itâ€s Conroyâ€s turn.
If it hasnâ€t already been signed, you can bet it will be.
Given the noise, frustration, uncertainty and importance of charting the right course, thereâ€s no better man for the job.
And thereâ€s no better time than now to make it public.
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