I found it interesting that when asked about the re-signing/trading, and if it was a response to Gaudreau walking, Conroy responded with: "It wasn't just Gaudreau. It was Brodie, it was Giordano."
Good to know that even with some future expansion probably coming, that Conroy will probably be a bit more proactive next time around, and that he probably won't look at "Lose Brodie but signed Tanev" as the compensation. Should have dealt Brodie, and signed Tanev (or made room and had them both even). That's always been my personal view, so it is great to hear that losing these guys wasn't insignificant, and that there could have been something done to either keep them or find value for them somewhere (though Giordano would have been difficult, as you either had to trade Kylington or risk losing him as well). Regardless of HOW it would have looked like, it is nice just to know that the GM realizes that this team simply can't lose assets for free in this market. I am sure that would change when this team is actually going for a cup run.
I have liked Conroy's body of work. He doesn't appear to be really all that interested in a complete tear-down to the studs. I would assume that next season, Calgary is likely to finish in the bottom 5 or so, but after that it all depends on how the goaltending is looking. That's a lot of decent defensive prospects to join the existing prospects, plus the existing defencemen. All that's missing is some high-calibre offensive forwards (especially a centre or two), and hopefully Calgary finds those in the upcoming drafts. I am really liking the overall body of work that Conroy has been doing.
I also love how he is going to go scouting himself. He has found players on his own before, so having another set of eyes out there can only help.
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