Calgary Flames GM Craig Conroy isn’t pretending the issue doesn’t exist. When he reaches out to agents about possible targets, he still gets the same kind of response far too often: a player won’t come to Canada, or won’t even think about Calgary.
That’s exactly why Conroy wants to push back on the assumption before it becomes a dead end.
“I’ll admit, I call a lot of these (agents). ‘They’re not coming to Canada’ or ‘They’re not coming to your team.’
But this is where I want to change the narrative. When we got (defenseman Jacob Middleton), we weren’t on his 15-team no-trade list.
I think it is changing here, but it takes time... You never know who’s willing to come and who isn’t.
But I think as we move forward, it will change a little bit, for sure,” Conroy said via TSN.
Middleton’s arrival in Calgary is the kind of move Conroy is pointing to. On July 2, the Flames sent Blake Coleman and Olli Maatta to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Middleton and three draft picks: a third-round pick in 2027, a fourth-rounder in 2028 and a second-rounder in 2029. Calgary also retained 50 percent of Coleman’s salary to get the deal done.
Middleton, 30, is in the second year of a four-year, $17.4 million contract that carries a $4.35 million cap hit. Calgary was not one of the 15 teams on his no-trade list. According to The Athletic, the no-move clause in his contract became a modified no-trade clause the day before the trade.
Middleton explained his side of the move after landing in Calgary.
“I have a new, young family. I’m from Canada, and I truly think it’s a beautiful city,” he said, per Sportsnet. He also cited the organization’s direction and the new arena, which is set to open for the 2027-28 season.
Conroy’s point isn’t that every player is suddenly eager to join a Canadian club. He knows the perception won’t disappear overnight. But he does believe the Flames should keep making the calls instead of assuming the answer is no.
And there’s enough recent evidence to show why the concern keeps coming up. Brady Tkachuk was traded from Ottawa to Florida to play with his brother Matthew. Connor Hellebuyck also left Winnipeg for New Jersey, while TSN reported that Detroit’s Dylan Larkin will not consider a Canadian team.
Still, the door isn’t shut for everyone. Connor McDavid said on the 32 Thoughts podcast, per the Globe and Mail, that “Americans still want to play in Canada … but they want to play for teams where they see a future.”
Former Vancouver president Jim Rutherford gave a more guarded take, telling the Globe, “I think it’s too early to tell.”
For Conroy, Middleton is proof enough that the conversation is worth having. The Flames remain in the middle of a rebuild and next face the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
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