Say What - 'It's A Special Group'

On the decision to move on from Toffoli, Zadorov, Lindholm, Tanev and Hanifin in the past year:

“It wasn't just (Johnny) Gaudreau. (TJ) Brodie left. (Mark) Giordano left (via the Seattle Expansion Draft). There was more. That was the most recent that made me think if I can't get things done, if we have to re-group and move forward, we have to get assets for them and even if you're in a situation where, right now, we're battling for the playoffs. But to be able to get assets, to kind of re-group, we had to do it. To let those guys go just didn't make any sense. Even though we wanted to get Johnny signed - we thought we were going to – and when we didn't, it does hurt not to get anything back for him.”

On making tough decisions and securing assets for players on expiring contracts:

“People think it's been the last month or two, but really, it's been (since) the summer. As a group, we've been working together, we've been trying to come up with a plan; what we thought were fair offers for the players. The one thing - when you're unrestricted, it's your right. You can sign a contract or you don't have to sign a contract. We wanted to do what we thought was fair by the players and that worked for us moving forward. And obviously, we didn't come to terms with any of the guys and I think as you move forward, we tried to get ahead of it earlier so I kind of knew where everybody stood. ... Tyler Toffoli was the first thing, and then Nikita (Zadorov), and then we worked our way through. It's tough. All great players, all great people. I wish them all the best, but I knew we had to do this for the organization and the franchise moving forward.”

On the Flames winning five of six and pushing for a playoff spot:

“It's amazing, this leadership group. Our coaching staff, Mikael Backlund and the whole group. It's (Blake) Coleman, it's (Jonathan) Huberdeau, it's (Nazem) Kadri. It's not just one person. It's (MacKenzie) Weegar, it's (Jacob) Markstrom. All these guys put together are doing it night-in and night-out. It's hard, because when I played a long time ago and there was trade stuff, it was in the paper. You see it on TV. But now, it's out there every day. There's stuff every day. I wish I could've calmed the noise. I wish I could've done more, but you can't. But the way these guys have handled it and the way they've risen to the challenge every day, it's very impressive and it says a lot about the team down there and the belief they have in each other. It's never easy when you lose friends and good people, but in the end, we know it's a business and everybody has come to work. And that's what these guys do - they come to work every day. It's a special group and we're going to keep pushing forward here right to the end.”

On Kevin Rooney earning a one-year extension:

“He changed up his training. I think he went to California this year. He decided to change it up and didn't like the way he felt the year before. He did an amazing job. Came in, he was in great shape. He was excited, the coaches were excited, and unfortunately to miss Markstrom (in practice), he jumped over him and dislocated his shoulder and have surgery. To see him work the whole time and to have (Jakob) Pelletier there with him, to have two guys to have the surgeries one day apart, to work together and kind of push each other the whole time... Kevin did an amazing job. Came back and right now, he's playing in kind of a fourth-line role, but he's on our first penalty-kill with Backs (Mikael Backlund) and he's done a great job, he really has. He's kind of done what we thought he was going to do the year before and couldn't be happier with him. He earned the extension, for sure.”

On Oliver Kylington becoming a UFA at the end of the season:

“I wanted to make sure Oliver felt comfortable. It's been a long year-and-a-half. We've reached out to his agent to see (how) he feels and if he wants to continue to do this. It's a little bit different than everyone else because you're really just thinking about him right now. You just want to make sure he's happy, he wants to continue to play, and just look at how well he's playing. We'll work forward and hopefully we'll get something done. 

“It seems like he's having fun and I don't want to pressure him in any way. But I think he's been playing really, really well for us. I couldn't be happier and I hope he feels the same way.”