Wilson: The conundrum facing Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames​on February 17, 2025 at 6:30 pm

As the NHL pauses for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Calgary Flames unexpectedly find themselves hovering just three points out of the final wild-card spot in the West.

The organization is, by all rights, rebuilding. The roster has been stripped of key veterans, leaving a collection of young, emerging talent that should, in theory, struggle for a while before climbing the league’s hierarchy. After picking 9th overall last year it seemed a near certainty the team would poised for another top-10 pick in the summer of 2025.

Instead, Dustin Wolf’s performance in net has dragged them into the playoff conversation, despite an offence that barely scrapes by and a team structure still in flux.

So, GM Craig Conroy is faced with a conundrum-continue to rebuild or pivot to crafting a competitive club?

The Zary Cohort: Close, But Not Quite

Right now, the focus is on the Connor Zary cohort—players aged 22 to 25 who represent the team’s emerging middle class: Yegor Sharangovich, Kevin Bahl, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Matthew Coronato, and, of course, Wolf himself.

Many of these players are good NHLers. Zary and Coronato may even become excellent players. But none of the skaters are going to win the scoring race or a major individual award.

Wolf’s presence changes things. Had he been merely average, the Flames might be well on their way to a bottom-10 finish, ensuring they retain their first-round pick rather than surrendering it to Montreal.

Instead, he’s giving them elite goaltending, the kind that props up a flawed roster and keeps them in games. That forces the organization to ask: Is this team closer to contending than it seems?

The temptation is there. The Flames still lean heavily on aging veterans like Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, and Nazem Kadri. Andersson, a foundational piece on the blue line, still has prime years left but will soon age into a different category (and is a pending UFA after the 2025-26 campaign). If the Zary cohort is meant to drive the next competitive Flames team, it needs more elite talent.

Unfortunately, there is no clear path to adding a 20-something-year-old elite skater to this cohort. Discussions of acquiring Dylan Cozens or Trevor Zegras feel like a desperate attempt to manifest a first-line centre out of sheer willpower. And while Cozens or Zegras might bounce back in Flames colours, neither of them is a Connor Bedard, Gavin McKenna or Macklin Celebrini. Or in Flames terms, a Johnny Gaudreau. They’re aren’t players who shift the trajectory of a franchise.

The Parekh Cohort: The Long Game

If the Flames are serious about building a contender, they need to optimize for the next cohort headlined by defenceman Zayne Parekh. The 19-year-old is arguably the Flames’ most important prospect, a player whose junior results point to a game-changing talent on the blue line, the kind of elite defender the franchise has lacked since Al MacInnis.