CALGARY – Craig Conroy can finally walk the streets of Calgary without being accosted.
Following a very lengthy search for a 23 to 25-year-old centre his club could grow with, the Calgary Flames‘ patient general manager pulled the trigger on a shockingly attractive deal Thursday night that should help the team now and down the road.
“I think this fills a couple holes that I’ve been trying to find since the draft last year, and it hasn’t been easy,” smiled the Flames GM, looking relaxed and confident his late-night deal serves several purposes.
“And I know, I walk around the city, ‘what are you doing? Is your phone not working?’ I understand that people like to chirp me when I’m walking around, but you don’t know when it’s gonna happen and when it’s the right time.
“Today felt like the right time.”
In a deal Conroy said started Thursday morning for just one player, he wound up swinging a six-piece deal with Philadelphia that landed him 25-year-old centre Morgan Frost and 24-year-old winger Joel Farabee.
“I definitely wanted to give the team something – they deserved it,” said Conroy, of a team that beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 Thursday to move one point up on Vancouver for the final wild-card berth.
“They’ve earned it, to give them a boost, a shot in the arm. We felt like these two players could do that, and they were at the right age.
“They’re not 33, 34-year-old players, but 24 and 25-year-old guys that we can grow with. And that’s always been the plan.”
Conroy describes the six-foot, 193-pound Frost as a natural, left-shot, playmaking centre with great hands and vision. The former 19-goal scorer has been on Philly’s first power-play unit and is a pending RFA. The Ontario native isn’t slated to become a UFA for at least another year.
Farabee is somewhat of a bonus in the deal, last seen chasing Martin Pospisil around in a fit of rage when the Flyers visited recently.
“With Joel, he’s got some jam and he can score,” said Conroy of the two-time 20-goal man, who is six-feet, 183 pounds and has three years left on a six-year deal that pays him $5 million annually.
“When you watch him, he’s like a younger Blake Coleman-type player, where he chips in offensively, but he’s got some grit. You feel very comfortable when he’s on the ice in all situations.”
Both are first-round draft selections with upsides.
The first hint of a deal came minutes before puck drop when Kuzmenko was a late scratch.
Pelletier was pulled from the game after the first period, fuelling speculation on a night in which the Dome was already buzzing. Despite endless online reports and speculation, the trade wasn’t announced officially until an hour or so after the game, ending one of the stranger nights in recent Dome lore.
The Flames’ plan all along was to trade Kuzmenko this year, adding to the haul the club already received in the Elias Lindholm swap.
But with the oft-scratched pending UFA scoring just four times, it seemed unlikely they’d find any takers.
The Flyers are clearly hoping the former 39-goal scorer can foster a mutually beneficial relationship with fellow Russian rookie Matvei Michkov, with whom he played briefly in the KHL.
Pelletier was the hard part for Conroy, teammates and fans, who were constantly pulling for the undersized first-rounder to find his way in the NHL.
He appeared to start doing just that the last month or so, following a start to the season that saw him go unclaimed on waivers.
Pelletier had emptied his locker and left the rink shortly after the game ended, but not before sharing several teary goodbyes with those who crossed his path.
“He was emotional, I was emotional for him,” said Conroy of the popular winger who loved his team, the city and spoke often of his excitement surrounding the possibility of staying here well past the opening of the new arena.
“I know what it’s like to be sitting on that other side. It’s not easy. Unfortunately, to get players you have to give up players. And that’s what we had to do with this deal.”
Both Frost and Farabee are expected to be in the Flames lineup Saturday when they host Detroit.
“I feel like these players coming in are going to help us this year, for one, but they also fit the wheelhouse for what we’re trying to do,” said Ryan Huska, who said he had a rough idea of how they’ll slot into his lines.
“For me, I think the players did this. They put themselves in a position where you want to see your GM help you out if he can. And I think because of the way our guys have competed this year and played, they kind of earned the opportunity to have Craig act.”
The Flames have plenty of cap space to extend Frost’s contract and accommodate Farabee’s salary.
There’s no debating the merits of this one from a Flames point of view, as the biggest asset going the other way is a second-rounder — a price the team should be ecstatic to pay for the centre they’ve been searching for since Lindholm was traded.
Farabee is a talented bonus — a Boston University standout selected 14th overall in 2018 who posted 20 goals and 38 points in 55 games in his second NHL season.
With increased ice time, his opportunity here will grow.
There will be no salary retention or futures, prompting legions of Flames fans and observers to wonder what the catch is.
This, quite simply, is a home run for Conroy whose patience has proven once again to be one of his biggest virtues.
What’s more, he gets the heavy lifting done five weeks before the trade deadline.
“I’m excited,” said Conroy.
“I got a chance just to talk to both of them briefly, and they’re excited. They’re looking forward to it. They know we’re in a dog fight for that last playoff spot, and it’s not going to be easy, but they’re excited about the opportunity to come and get a fresh start for them.”
And Conroy’s relieved he will be able to walk the streets with a lot less chirping directed his way.
