"It just made sense to us": Flames GM Conroy breaks down the Tanev trade
The fan base is mixed, but Calgary Flames general manager (GM) Craig Conroy seems to be happy with the return he got for Chris Tanev.
The Flames sent Tanev to the Dallas Stars last night in exchange for defenceman prospect Artem Grushnikov, a 2024 second-round pick, and a conditional 2026 third-round pick.
While the Flames would have loved to keep Tanev around, it wasn’t going to work given that he is set to become a UFA this offseason. It has been expected for months that the Flames would move him, and Conroy viewed this as the right time to do so.
“We just felt at this point in time, this was the right deal for us,” Conroy explained to Flames TV host Brendan Parker. “To be able to get a young player at 20 years old, a second-round pick, we don’t know who that’s going to be, and then a conditional third if they go to the [Stanley Cup] Final, it just made sense to us.”
One thing some fans noticed right away was Grushnikov’s numbers, or perhaps lack thereof. The 2021 second-round pick has just five points in 44 AHL games this season, after registering 17 in 65 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL a year prior. That isn’t a concern for the Flames GM, though, as he says there is plenty more to his game than the stat sheet shows.
“He knows what he is as a player,” Conroy said. “He’s a defensive defenceman. He kills penalties, he’s strong on pucks, he’s simple [and] direct with his puck plays. You’re going to look at the numbers, the numbers won’t be there, but that’s not what he does well. What he does well is on the [defensive] side of the puck. When you have guys like Jeremie Poirier and Hunter [Brzustewicz], more offensive guys, he’s a good mix with those kinds of players.”
It is also important to remember that Grushnikov is just 20 years old, meaning he is nowhere near finished yet in terms of his development. This is a trade that will likely take years to determine whether or not it was successful for the Flames.
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