Craig Conroy’s run of trades as Flames GM has already produced some swings, some misses, and a few deals that still need time to breathe. After grading the first three moves in part one, the next three transactions show the full range of what comes with deadline pressure and roster turnover.
The cleanest way to start is with the deal that felt lightest at the time: Chris Tanev to Dallas. Calgary sent out the 50% retained veteran defender and got back a 2024 second-round pick plus Artem Grushnikov.
Tanev’s value around the league is obvious. He has the kind of defensive reputation that contenders chase when they think they’re one piece away from a deep playoff run, which is why many Flames fans were expecting a first-round pick to be coming back.
Instead, Conroy landed a second-rounder and a mid-level prospect, and the reaction was pretty muted.
That second-round pick eventually became forward Jacob Battaglia, who was then flipped for Brennan Othmann, an AHL/NHL tweener. Grushnikov, meanwhile, managed 8 points in 136 games with the Calgary Wranglers.
That’s not the kind of return that changes the mood around a trade like this, and it’s hard to call the result anything other than disappointing for Calgary. The organization’s pro and amateur scouting has done strong work over the last three years, but this one didn’t hit.
Letter Grade: C.
Noah Hanifin’s move to Vegas carries a different kind of uncertainty. Calgary sent the 50% retained defender to the Golden Knights and got back a 2026 first-round pick, a 2024 third-round pick, and Daniil Miromanov.
The biggest issue here was leverage. When a high-end player on an expiring contract is willing to sign long term with only a very small list of teams, the market changes fast.
In Hanifin’s case, the rumoured landing spots were the Lightning and Panthers, and that limited flexibility made the trade function more like a rental move than anything else.
The Flames have at least given themselves a chance to come out of it with something meaningful. The picks turned into Jack Hextall and Kirill Zarubin, both prospects with upside.
Hextall is described as a smart, skilled centre who projects into Calgary’s middle six, while the Flames are very high on Zarubin’s upside. If one or both turn into effective NHL players, this deal can age just fine for Calgary.
If not, it’s the kind of transaction that will look a lot worse in hindsight.
The most straightforward of the three was the Nikita Okhotiuk trade with San Jose. Calgary sent a 2024 fifth-round pick and got Okhotiuk back, with the idea being to use a pick acquired from the Zadorov trade to bring in a 22-year-old defenceman their scouting staff wanted.
On paper, that’s a sensible use of assets. In practice, it fell apart quickly.
Okhotiuk played only 9 games for the Flames before signing in the KHL with CSKA Moscow. That left Calgary with essentially nothing from the move, and the fifth-round pick feels wasted.
It wasn’t a premium asset, but it still vanished with no meaningful return. Trade Grade: D.
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The Tyler Toffoli and Nikita Zadorov moves were both designed to turn present value into future assets, and the early returns have been easy enough to sort through with hindsight. Conroy got Yegor Sharangovich and a draft pick for Toffoli, and two draft picks for Zadorov, but the larger question around those first swaps is still the same one hanging over a lot of Calgarys recent business: how much of the return can be judged now, and how much depends on what the Flames eventually turn those picks into? [Read more 🡒]
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It is the kind of housekeeping move that rarely draws much attention outside the organization, but these jobs matter once the pace picks up and players start filtering in for camp. The staff shuffle also adds another layer of experience around the Flames' development group, with Seymour stepping into a role tied to player growth and skills work while the club gets its camp infrastructure in place. [Read more 🡒]