“I couldn’t be more excited” | Flames GM Craig Conroy signs a two-year extension

“I couldn’t be more excited” | Flames GM Craig Conroy signs a two-year extension

pleased to be joined by the general manager of the Calgary Flames, Craig Conroy. Craig, uh, some great news today. You get a contract extension, your senior leadership group extended as well. Just first off the top, your reaction to getting the deal done. Yeah, it’s super exciting. I mean, obviously, uh, couldn’t be more proud to be the GM of the Calgary Flames and having the leadership group along with me. Uh, you know, we know we have some work to do, but we’re really looking forward to it. But, uh, for me and my family, it’s a great day. take us through kind of the genesis of getting this deal done and uh getting it across the line. Yeah, you know, it’s it’s weird how it kind of worked. We actually right before the season, we came to kind of terms and where we were and then we signed it as the season started, but um you know, I think part of that was it was the focus on the team and what we wanted to do and it wasn’t really about putting, hey, we’re going to announce something and then it kind of went along a little bit and then, you know, here we are today. It’s no secret you were busy during the summer with respect to contract extensions. Dustin Wolf, Matt Coronado, two of the longerterm deals that you were able to put pen to paper to. Just when you look at the long-term future of this team, how important is it to have those young core pieces signed in in Calgary for the long term? Well, it’s huge. I mean, that’s what you’re building around. You’re building around the young guys and you know, we have a great veteran leadership group, but you also have to have the young guys. And you know, when we started this 2 and 1/2 years ago, uh it was all about drafting, bringing in players, young players to to add to that core, and then that’s how we’re going to get better. You were named general manager of the club in 2023 over the time that you’ve held this role. What is maybe one thing that you’ve learned about yourself, the role, and just how to navigate it? You know, I think the one thing is the patience. You have to have patience. you know, it’s uh everybody likes things nowadays uh instant and it’s just not that way. You have to take your time and build it slowly and build it the right way. And I feel like that’s that’s probably the biggest thing about building a team. You know, we just can’t just rush to try to do something quick. We got to we got to take our time and develop young players and bring them into the fold. It’s no secret that you’ve been busy over the past days and weeks as well with respect to scouting of the CHL games in Alberta this week. Uh ahead of you know what’s a pretty promising draft class in 2026. Just how important is it to get an early read on these guys as you start that process of kind of scouting and preparing for the draft? Yeah, it started right at Helinka and we’re going through I mean we you have to get a good read. You want to build your book through the whole year. You just don’t want to take one game here, one game there. You want to see them month by month and see how they progress. So, uh, really excited about the draft class. There are some really, really good players in this draft. Are you able to provide an update on just how Zay Perk is progressing? You know what? He’s progressing really well. I mean, I think, uh, he’ll be ready for the World Juniors and obviously everybody knows we’re you decided to let him go play and I think it’s a great opportunity to play against the best players in the world at his age group and, uh, you know, to be able to go and try to win a gold medal. Uh, pretty special. Last one for you. And given your history with the city of Calgary, both as a player, a manager, a resident, um just how excited are you to be at the helm when Scotia Place opens in less than two years time? It’s going to be amazing. I mean, it’s almost a dream come true. I remember when I first came to Calgary in 2000, you know, they were talking maybe have a new arena 2009. I’m thinking, will I get to play in it? Obviously, I won’t get to play in it, but to see it every day, to see what’s what it’s going to do for the city and how much it’s going to mean to the team, uh I couldn’t be more excited. The future is really bright. Appreciate you doing this and congratulations. Thanks for having me. Thank you.

It was a big news day in south Florida, as the Flames signed General Manager Craig Conroy and the senior management staff to a two-year extension.