Inside look at Calgary Flames

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Calgary Flames.

The Calgary Flames have a renewed sense of optimism heading into this season behind their new general manager, Craig Conroy, and coach, Ryan Huska.

The first order of business for Conroy, who replaced Brad Treliving on May 23, was to promote Huska on June 12. Three days later, he hired Hockey Hall of Fame forward Jarome Iginla as a special adviser to the general manager.

Each move was designed to help bring a fresh perspective to the Flames.

"Do I think we were a playoff team last year? One hundred percent," said Conroy, who had been assistant general manager under Treliving the previous nine seasons. "I was shocked we didn't make it and it's unacceptable, and that starts with us. I do think with the guys we have here we can make the playoffs, and anything can happen when you get in."

Conroy believes the right man to lead those guys is Huska, who replaced Darryl Sutter, who was fired May 1 after Calgary (38-27-17) finished fifth in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card from the Western Conference.

Familiarity is the reason behind Conroy's confidence. Besides spending the previous five seasons as an assistant with the Flames, Huska also coached Calgary's American League Hockey affiliate from 2014-18.

"When I was looking around to see who would be the best fit, it really became clear Ryan was the guy," Conroy said. "I feel like he's the one. He's put his time in, he's done everything he could, and the only thing he hasn't gotten is a chance to be an NHL head coach, and now he is."

The task now for Conroy and Huska will be to get more out of a team that was retooled by Treliving last offseason.

The main piece of that was center Jonathan Huberdeau, who signed an eight-year, $84 million contract ($10.5 million average annual value) with Calgary after being acquired along with defenseman MacKenzie Weegar from the Florida Panthers for forward Matthew Tkachuk on July 22, 2022.

Although Huberdeau struggled in his first season with the Flames, finishing with 55 points (15 goals, 40 assists) in 79 games, Conroy expects him to be better in 2023-24.

"As a player, you know when you have a good season and a bad season, and you're not going to blame it on anybody," Conroy said. "You know it, and you want to prove them wrong the next year. If you look over the last five years, he's one of the top five players in the NHL, and we need to get him back there."

Another player the Flames will need to bounce back is forward Nazem Kadri, who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million AAV) as a free agent on Aug. 18, 2022, to fill the void left by Johnny Gaudreau.

"There's a ton of excitement," Kadri told the Flames website at a charity event on July 11. "It's a reenergizing feeling anytime you make any sort of coaching or management change. But when you look at what Craig (Conroy) has built, we've got a coaching staff that is going to have us playing a different way, and in my opinion, more to our style."

Conroy continued to shake things up this offseason on June 27, when he traded the Flames' leading scorer last season, forward Tyler Toffoli, to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Sharangovich, 25, will inject more youth into the lineup, which Conroy believes the Flames need heading into the season.

Still, there is plenty of work remaining for Conroy as Calgary has seven players who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, including forwards Mikael Backlund and Elias Lindholm, and defensemen Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov.

Forward Dillon Dube also has one season remaining on his contract and can become a restricted free agent after this season.

"I kind of know where those guys are at, but that was as assistant general manager, and this will be different conversations," Conroy said. "I want to get where they're at. Obviously, we can't go into a season with seven UFAs. We have to make sure we're doing what's right for the Calgary Flames."