It will take years to decide whether the deal was a home run for the Flames, but the keys were to admit a rebuild was on and adding to Calgary's lacking prospects pool

Craig Conroy has been under the spotlight for months.

With the collection of pending unrestricted free agents on the Calgary Flames roster, the first-year, first-time general manager had to find the best way to deal with a difficult situation this season.

Conroy passed a tough test with the deal that sent Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.

In exchange for Lindholm, whose demands on a contract extension were not going to be met, the Flames acquired winger Andrei Kuzmenko, a couple of prospect defencemen in Joni Jurmo and Hunter Brzustewicz, a 2024 first-round draft choice an conditional fourth-round pick (which becomes a third rounder if the Canucks reach the conference final). 

Could the Flames have received more by waiting until closer to the deadline or retaining some of Lindholm’s salary? Possibly.

Could the Flames have pushed for more quality in the prospects pool, say Tom Willander? I’m sure Conroy tried.

Grading a trade before any players actually hit the ice for their new team is a fool’s errand. With so many variables at play, it is a guessing game what the future holds.

Maybe with the Flames Kuzmenko regains some of the scoring touch he had in netting 39 goals last season and excels with the change of scenery, much like Yegor Sharangovich. As a pending UFA after next season, the rebuilding Flames may be able to flip him a year from now.

Maybe Brzustewicz, an offence-first defenceman who is racking up the points in the OHL for the Kitchener Rangers, continues to show he should have been drafted higher than the third round. Even if he becomes a second-pairing defenceman who can run a power play, that’s a win.

Maybe the first-round pick, likely late in the round, pans out to become a key player for the organization.

It is also possible the Flames end up lamenting what might have been because too little panned out (much how the Jarome Iginla ended up, but you can look that up yourself.)

It will take years for the true impact of this transaction to be known, but in the immediate aftermath, Conroy did what the Flames needed to start an actual rebuild.