CALGARY — Rising across the street from the Scotiabank Saddledome is the partially built future home of the Calgary Flames.
As construction continues ahead of the scheduled opening of Scotia Place in the fall of 2027, general manager Craig Conroy continued his reconstruction of the club’s roster on Friday, making three deals ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
The headline move was trading No. 1 centre, Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche, where the native of London, Ont., won a Stanley Cup in 2022.
“I was over in the new building the other day thinking it won’t be next year, but the year after, we’re going to be there and I want to be on that upswing, where we’re pushing to make the playoffs,” said Conroy.
“I think we’re on the right path, but I think you have to be patient. We wish we could do it faster. Speed it up as quick as we could, but it does take some time.”
Also going to the Avalanche is a 2027 fourth-round pick. In return, Calgary gets forward Victor Olofsson, the rights to unsigned draft pick Max Curran, a conditional 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick.
The 35-year-old Kadri, who led the Flames in scoring with 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) through 61 games after scoring a career-high 35 goals last season, is under contract with a $7-million salary cap hit through the 2028-29 campaign. Calgary will retain $1.4M of that salary.
“Nazem’s one of those guys that you really like. He was great though the whole process, too. He’s a competitive guy. He wants to win at his age. He wants another opportunity. For him to actually be able to go back to Colorado, I think it’s kind of a dream come true probably for him,” said Conroy.
“For us, we knew where we’re going and with his age, this is something we needed to do.”
Add in the recent departures of veteran top-four defencemen Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar, and it’s a clear indication the Flames (24-30-7), who woke up Friday morning second-last in the NHL’s overall standings, are in a rebuild.
“The reality is we’re not good enough,” Conroy said. “It’s about getting this organization back to where we want to be consistently and that’s all we’ve ever wanted to do.”
He knows there will be growing pains as the club commits to injecting younger players into the lineup and increasing the responsibilities of others, but it’s the direction the club needed to go.
On the verge of missing the playoffs for a fourth straight year, Calgary has only reached the second round of the playoffs twice since 2004 when it lost to Tampa Bay in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.
“You’re going to have young guys and they’re still going to need a little time. But you see (Matvei) Gridin and (Zayne) Parekh here right now, they’re going to make mistakes. That’s OK,” said Conroy.
“It’s frustrating because I hate losing games, but again, it’s a learning process. Now to see some of these young guys, and we’re going to see more young guys down the stretch here. That’s what it’s going to take. We’re going to need them to grow and become better NHL players.”
More youth will be on the way from these deals as Conroy has amassed a ton of draft capital.
Looking ahead to the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, Calgary is projected to have six picks in the top 50. Over the next three years, the Flames have 14 picks in the first two rounds of the draft.
While the commitment to youth is on, Conroy recognizes that veterans such as the newly acquired Olofsson and defenceman Olli Maatta, who came over in the Weegar deal, will still play an important role. He noted it’s why further trades weren’t made Friday, despite having offers for right-winger Blake Coleman and defenceman Zach Whitecloud.
“With those two guys, they want to be a part of this moving forward,” said Conroy. “They’re not good with where we are right now, but they’re OK with, hey, I want to be a part of the solution moving forward. And I think when you saw what the return was going to be, having them here with our guys outweighed it.”
In other moves, the Flames added centre Ryan Strome in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2027 draft from the Anaheim Ducks. He will plug the hole vacated by Kadri. Calgary also got forward Brennan Othmann from the New York Rangers for prospect Jacob Battaglia.
Strome has three goals and six assists through 33 games this season after producing 41 points in each of his past three campaigns.
The 32-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is under contract through next season at a $5-million average annual value.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2026.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
