Conroy just needs to do his best building through the draft, period.
The only prospects that i am hesitant on is NCAA players that are a bit of a project and need 3+ seasons. It isn't such an easy decision to remain in school for 3 more seasons if you are offered an NHL contract after the 1st season in the NCAA. I don't think it is a difficult decision to remain in school for the last year, finish your degree, and then have your pick of NHL teams to play for.
Other than that, I have no worries about drafting anyone from anywhere. I prefer Canadians just so I can cheer them on in international competitions more easily, but that's about it. There have been lots of Americans happy to live here, including the GM. There have been lots of other internationals as well.
Calgary needs to just draft well, have these kids grow up together and make strong bonds with one another, and step it up in other ways (like the meals and other 'first class' services some other teams provide), and really build on the Alumni.
Calgary has become the most irrelevant Canadian market in the last few years. Why? Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton in the playoffs. Montreal will always be a famous organization. Winnipeg in the playoffs. Ottawa is spinning wheels right now but they are likely to come out of it soon, so at best we are tied with Ottawa.
I do believe that if Covid didn't happen, and Gaudreau's dad didn't have that health scare, things might have been a lot different. Outside of Fox and the two failures - Hickey and Erixon - Flames haven't had much in the way of players wanting out. You have to go all the way back to Drury, I believe.
Once Gaudreau left, Tkachuk's decision was easy. Once Tkachuk stated he prefers to move on, it set-off a cascade reaction. Nobody wants to play for a loser if they can help it. Build a winner, and few won't want to play for Calgary, all other things being equal. That last bit is tricky - all other things being equal. Pay equal money (not having to overpay, and likely Calgary is a city that will rarely have many team-friendly deals given the tax environment and weather).
I think the sentiment is really overblown. I would bet as many Canadian-born players would rather not play in Calgary right now too.
Everyone would love to play with McDavid and Draisaitl, but that's pushing it as far as environment goes, plus I do believe they have a bit of a black mark as being perceived as a poorly-run organization that doesn't treat its players well - stuff like asking Comrie to pay back a portion of his contract, to Souray's treatment, to Reider being blamed for a bad season. Still, they managed to sign one of the more prominent UFAs in Lucic (which aged very poorly, yes), and there hasn't been much noise about players wanting out of that market lately, though Kane made it known he preferred to sign elsewhere before re-upping there.
The noise in Vancouver has quieted-down dramatically from last season. As soon as Toronto misses the playoffs and have to do a retool/rebuild, you will suddenly start hearing about how UFAs don't want to play there, and that it is too hard with the media and fanbase.
San Jose was probably the #1 destination for UFAs in the NHL for many seasons, but NOBODY is wanting to sign there right now.
Win, and all the noise dies. Winning cures all. It is magic.
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