Craig Conroy - treasure hunter extraordinaire

[Funkhouser]

In general, the league-wide media has viewed Conroy’s trades since his arrival poorly:

“Conroy, tough as his situation may be, has yet to win a trade” – Athletic

Markstrom Trade Grades: Athletic (D+, C-, B-), The Score (B+)
Hanifin Trade Grades: Athletic (C), CBS (B), The Score (B-)
Tanev Trade Grades: Athletic (D), The Score (D)
Lindholm Trade Grades: Athletic (B, B-), CBS (A-), The Score (B-)
Zadorov Trade Grades: Athletic (C, C-)
Toffoli Trade Grades: Athletic (C), Hockey Writers (C+)

_______

Its still early, but contrary to the media’s opinion, Conroy has shown an ability to identify undervalued assets and make strong draft picks. Of note, he has acquired:

-Sharongovich (31G scorer, can play all three forwards positions)
-Miromanov (large RD who scored at a 28 pt pace and had great defensive metrics
-Kuzmenko (offensive winger who scored at a 35G pace)
-Solid prospects: a top ranked RD prospect (Brz) who looks poised to make the NHL in 1-2 seasons, a solid LD (Grush) who looks poised to be in the NHL in the next year, and a long term D prospect (Jurmo)
-Picks that he has used to draft a trio of winger prospects (Gridin, Suniev, & Battaglia, who is ripping up the OHL to start the season), and a goalie prospect (Zarubin)
-2025 1st & 2nd, 2026 1st & 3rd

_________

Sharongovich, Miromanov & Kuzmenko were in the press box when they were acquired and are all positive contributors. Brz, Gridin, Suniev, Battaglia & Grushnikov all appear to have NHL upside.

Conroy is showing that he has a real eye for talent, notably affordable talent that other teams don’t value. While the Flames are currently lacking star power, we have so much depth that we can’t fit it all on the team. This bodes well for the future as I believe Conroy, once/if he can acquire some star power, will have no problem surrounding them with quality assets on a regular basis (the Carolina model?).

So while the rest of the league projects him as a GM who makes garbage trades, remember one team’s trash is another’s treasure.

Cheers to our garbage man! TRUFFLE PIG!

[DeluxeMoustache]

The notion that he hasn’t won a trade is ridiculous

Lindholm - a highway robbery. Lopsided win for Calgary. Lindholm subsequentiy left Vancouver as a UFA
Tanev - too early to say - we will see what Grushnikov is, but it’s promising. Tanev left Dallas as a UFA
Toffoli - win. Sharangovich filled that offensive production easily, and is younger and a reasonable contract. Toffoli left NJ as a UFA

Conroy is doing a very good job. Player evaluation is on point

[Bonded]

I was shocked by the media grades on the Markstrom trade. It is like they all ignored the past ten years of trade history.

[MrMike]

Originally Posted by Bonded

I was shocked by the media grades on the Markstrom trade. It is like they all ignored the past ten years of trade history.

Yup, the year before we would have had to attach an asset instead of receiving an asset to get out of his contract.

All of those grades are just dumb. Absolutely dumb.

[Wastedyouth]

When Markstrom pumpkins again this year in NJ, that trade is gonna look alright.

[Redrum]

“Conroy, tough as his situation may be, has yet to win a trade” – Athletic

Was this comment from before he made any trades? Wouldn't surprise me with how out of touch they are. The first trade was a win in every possible aspect. Got the better, younger, cheaper player AND got the + with Suniev. They sound like Conroy dumped them at the prom or something.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

In general, the league-wide media has viewed Conroy’s trades since his arrival poorly:

“Conroy, tough as his situation may be, has yet to win a trade” – Athletic

Markstrom Trade Grades: Athletic (D+, C-, B-), The Score (B+)
Hanifin Trade Grades: Athletic (C), CBS (B), The Score (B-)
Tanev Trade Grades: Athletic (D), The Score (D)
Lindholm Trade Grades: Athletic (B, B-), CBS (A-), The Score (B-)
Zadorov Trade Grades: Athletic (C, C-)
Toffoli Trade Grades: Athletic (C), Hockey Writers (C+)

_______


-Picks that he has used to draft a trio of winger prospects (Gridin, Suniev, & Battaglia, who is ripping up the OHL to start the season), and a goalie prospect (Zarubin)
-2025 1st & 2nd, 2026 1st & 3rd

_________

as complete and long as your list is, don't forget Misa and Jamieson too in the Lindholm haul

heck by roster players alone (and yes Lindholm- who I liked a fair bit- is a more complete player) Kuzmenko outscored him 2:1 last year. comblne that with the unlimited list of add-ons I have no clue how Conroy did not win that trade?

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by MrMike

Yup, the year before we would have had to attach an asset instead of receiving an asset to get out of his contract.

All of those grades are just dumb. Absolutely dumb.

I can see not loving the Tanev trade when they could have a 1st for taking on a cap dump.

[Gaudreau is a Ninja]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

The notion that he hasn’t won a trade is ridiculous

Lindholm - a highway robbery. Lopsided win for Calgary. Lindholm subsequentiy left Vancouver as a UFA
Tanev - too early to say - we will see what Grushnikov is, but it’s promising. Tanev left Dallas as a UFA
Toffoli - win. Sharangovich filled that offensive production easily, and is younger and a reasonable contract. Toffoli left NJ as a UFA

Conroy is doing a very good job. Player evaluation is on point

Don’t forget Aydar Suniev was the player chosen with the pick the Flames received in the Toffoli/Sharangovich trade.

[HitterD]

Laughable grades/analysis from the Athletic, as usual IMO. I wouldn't subscribe to it even if it were free. I suspect they have given up on the Calgary market at this point.

[Sandman]

I do think he could have got more/better assets in most of his trades (except the Lindholm deal, that was highway robbery), but he's more than made up for it with how he's drafted and the amount of picks he's acquired. We haven't had this good a prospect pool in decades, and there's still two more drafts with multiple firsts coming.

[Samonadreau]

He did the best with what he had.

Lindholm trade is now a clear win.

Toffoli trade is IMO a win.

Markstrom all depends on how he plays this season and where the 1st winds up being.

Hanifin, again we will have to see where the 1st winds up being.

Tanev I honestly don't care what we got back, we gave him a good shot to win a cup and he didn't wind up with the Grease.

Eatbread we did decent on considering his Cap hit.

[looooob]

I guess his other trade of note (with apologies to Emilio P) would be Mangiapane for a 2nd. which, in the end I guess maybe the timing could be questioned- although we already see the issue with the glut of tweener/veteran roster guys holding up slots. I assume the cap was cleared for something that didn't happen, but I suppose the alternative would have been keep Mangiapane and not sign Mantha. would we get more for Mangiapane at the deadline than the late 2nd we got and any Mantha return? probably not

[Matty81]

The Athletic panders to the bigger fanbases. They are even worse with premier league soccer when they rate the transfers, anything the big clubs do is amazing.

I didn't love a couple of the trades but agree saying he lost them all is ridiculous. The Lindholm deal was a complete robbery and the Toffoli trade looks good too.

Something to consider as well is that these ratings are typically posted right after the trade and the Lindholm and Toffoli deals are looking better and better the more time passes.

[The Cobra]

I'm not sure how you can grade a trade of a rental for future assets.

It's not relevant if the rental walks away, there likely was never any intention for that to occur.

The only question is whether that rental could have been traded for more future assets.

And no one really knows that.

But it appears that Conroy has done just fine.

But saying anyone wins a rental trade? For the team acquiring the rental play, they pretty much need to win the SC for it to be a success. But that wouldn't lessen the value to the team trading the rental player.

It's all a waste of a dumb exercise.

[CliffFletcher]

Classifying trades as wins or losses is so dumb. Trades are a market. When two parties in a negotiation find a price they agree on, the deal is made.

Given the market at the time, I’m confident Conroy got the best deals on offer. The returns only seem soft because the internet rumour mills went into overdrive with crazy speculation about possible returns that were never on the table.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

The notion that he hasn’t won a trade is ridiculous

Lindholm - a highway robbery. Lopsided win for Calgary. Lindholm subsequentiy left Vancouver as a UFA
Tanev - too early to say - we will see what Grushnikov is, but it’s promising. Tanev left Dallas as a UFA
Toffoli - win. Sharangovich filled that offensive production easily, and is younger and a reasonable contract. Toffoli left NJ as a UFA

Conroy is doing a very good job. Player evaluation is on point

How can you tell if he has won a trade when the majority of the returns are between 16-18 years old.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

In general, the league-wide media has viewed Conroy’s trades since his arrival poorly:

“Conroy, tough as his situation may be, has yet to win a trade” – Athletic

Markstrom Trade Grades: Athletic (D+, C-, B-), The Score (B+)
Hanifin Trade Grades: Athletic (C), CBS (B), The Score (B-)
Tanev Trade Grades: Athletic (D), The Score (D)
Lindholm Trade Grades: Athletic (B, B-), CBS (A-), The Score (B-)
Zadorov Trade Grades: Athletic (C, C-)
Toffoli Trade Grades: Athletic (C), Hockey Writers (C+)

_______

Its still early, but contrary to the media’s opinion, Conroy has shown an ability to identify undervalued assets and make strong draft picks. Of note, he has acquired:

-Sharongovich (31G scorer, can play all three forwards positions)
-Miromanov (large RD who scored at a 28 pt pace and had great defensive metrics
-Kuzmenko (offensive winger who scored at a 35G pace)
-Solid prospects: a top ranked RD prospect (Brz) who looks poised to make the NHL in 1-2 seasons, a solid LD (Grush) who looks poised to be in the NHL in the next year, and a long term D prospect (Jurmo)
-Picks that he has used to draft a trio of winger prospects (Gridin, Suniev, & Battaglia, who is ripping up the OHL to start the season), and a goalie prospect (Zarubin)
-2025 1st & 2nd, 2026 1st & 3rd

_________

Sharongovich, Miromanov & Kuzmenko were in the press box when they were acquired and are all positive contributors. Brz, Gridin, Suniev, Battaglia & Grushnikov all appear to have NHL upside.

Conroy is showing that he has a real eye for talent, notably affordable talent that other teams don’t value. While the Flames are currently lacking star power, we have so much depth that we can’t fit it all on the team. This bodes well for the future as I believe Conroy, once/if he can acquire some star power, will have no problem surrounding them with quality assets on a regular basis (the Carolina model?).

So while the rest of the league projects him as a GM who makes garbage trades, remember one team’s trash is another’s treasure.

Cheers to our garbage man!

Dafuq? It's like they had to struggle to say anything positive. The Lindholm trade was robbery. That gets a B-? Not only was the 1st plus Hunter Brzustewicz fantastic, we haven't even seen what extra assets Conroy gets for Kuzmenko.

[McG]

A really good measure is how the two fan bases view the trade.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Classifying trades as wins or losses is so dumb. Trades are a market. When two parties in a negotiation find a price they agree on, the deal is made.

Given the market at the time, I’m confident Conroy got the best deals on offer. The returns only seem soft because the internet rumour mills went into overdrive with crazy speculation about possible returns that were never on the table.

Was gonna say, the goal of a trade isn't to "win". It's to improve your team or its propects.