Flames GM Craig Conroy has only been at it for 10 months but the team's pantry has been replenished

The NHL trade deadline has passed, and the Calgary Flames don’t look much different than they did 24 hours earlier. But, boy, has general manager Craig Conroy ever given his franchise a facelift in 10 months’ time.

The last major milestone is in the rearview ahead of Conroy’s first anniversary on the job. The club has a new captain in Mikael Backlund, parted ways with last year’s leading goal-scorer Tyler Toffoli, top centre Elias Lindholm, two top-four defencemen in Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin, and arguably one of the better bottom-pairing guys in the league in Nikita Zadorov.

Amid the picks and prospects came some pretty good players.

Yegor Sharangovich has been the heartbeat of this team’s offence for much of this season. His effort as a clutch performer is a major reason why this Calgary Flames team continues to stick around in the playoff race they probably have no business being in after a horrible start to their season and a mass exodus of pending UFA players.

Andrei Kuzmenko is a project — but better to try and teach a former 39-goal-scorer to player better without the puck than a decent systems player to learn to score.

Barring more major moves in the offseason, the roster seems fairly set up front with wingers Jonathan Huberdeau, Blake Coleman, Andrew Mangiapane, Jakob Pelletier (RFA), Martin Pospisil, Connor Zary, Matt Coronato, Dryden Hunt and Walker Duehr all under team control next season. At centre, Sharangovich has done a decent job converting from the flank, joining Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and newly extended Kevin Rooney in the middle.

Zary will eventually get a better look there, too.

Conroy, of course, will look for upgrades everywhere, but especially in the middle of the lineup. One way he might be able to add another young player with upside is through some unfinished business from this trade deadline with goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

Markstrom stayed put but was close enough to being dealt to be asked to waive his no-movement clause, so you can imagine that idea will be revisited this summer with the Flames looking to find out if superstar AHL goalie Dustin Wolf can make the jump to NHL starter in the coming months.

Conroy could also deal from his depth on the back end. Surprisingly, and despite having to deal away half his starting defence, he’s still got two legitimate players on the top pair in Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar, and Oliver Kylington is expected to come to terms on a new deal before hitting unrestricted free agency on July 1.

The bottom half of the blueline should be competitive with newcomers Joel Hanley, Brayden Pachal, and Daniil Miromanov battling the likes of Nikita Okhotiuk (RFA), Jordan Oesterle and prospects like Jeremie Poirier, Artem Grushnikov, Ilya Solovyov and Yan Kuznetsov.

Dennis Gilbert has also endeared himself to the Flames management team and could find himself with a new deal come summer.

What all this means for the Flames’ future is still very much uncertain. Nobody expects this team to be a Stanley Cup contender. But most also didn’t think they’d be so strong since the all-star break — especially given the number of deals that needed to be made and the necessary rebuild taking place on the fly.

One thing that won’t change is the desire to win in spite of the odds against. It’s a necessary belief for all the players, old and new, to cling to. And if they manage to keep things interesting over the next five weeks, who knows what they might achieve once the picks and prospects develop into NHL regulars in the coming years.