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Conroy chose a lane - rebuild through the draft (and he's done a damn good job of it). He even moved his starting goalie! Wolf arrived and was too good. This has changed things to the point where finishing in the bottom 5 isn't feasible.
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Did he really commit to this lane though?
He traded a 2nd and Equiv 3rd for Frost and Farabee
He wanted players back vs strictly picks in most his trades to remain more competitive.
It's also been rumored he has looked at trading picks for young established players who can help now and in the future.
We've had 13 draft picks in the last 2 draft - Which is 13th most - So middleish of the pack
Here's the teams with more
Anaheim
Buffalo
Chicago
Columbus
Detroit
Montreal
NJ
Ottawa
Philly
SJ
Seattle
St.L (13)
These teams have also had higher picks then Calgary the last 2 years (Didn't help we didnt have our pick which is not Conroy's fault at all)
So we arent really building through the draft more then the other rebuilding teams. In fact - We are building less through the draft since Conroy arrived then those teams.
This is what I find peculiar about the strategy. Fans and Media seem to agree the Flames have been (on paper) killing the draft. If this is our competitive advantage (great drafting) why aren't we leaning into it?
Why are we moving picks for the Farabee and Frost's of the league vs using our competitive advantage to find our next generation of stars. Why are we trying to get mid level players vs just more picks?
Even if we arent tearing down, the failure to acquire more draft picks the last 2 years while also trading some is a failure to me.