‘They believe’: Flames stand pat at trade deadline as team locks in for a playoff push

It's trade deadline day in the NHL and there were big moves around the league. But in Calgary, the heavy lifting has been done.

Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy stood pat at the NHL trade deadline on Friday, choosing to place belief in the group of players already in the locker room.

As the clock struck 1 p.m., marking the end of this season’s trading window, the Flames and Conroy finished the day without making a single trade.

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames' Nazem Kadri, centre, celebrates his goal with teammates against the Seattle Kraken in Calgary on Feb. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

Conroy told reporters in Dallas there were a few deals on the table, but none that made sense for the team right now.

“This group has done a great job,” the Flames GM said.

“They believe we’re going to do it, right from Day 1 of training camp, and now we’re going to see how they do down the stretch.”

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With 14 games remaining on the season, the Flames hold the second Western Conference wild-card playoff spot with a 29-23-10 record, for 68 points.

The biggest in-season deal came together for Calgary at the end of January, acquiring forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for wingers Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, along with Calgary’s second-round pick in 2025 and a seventh-round pick in 2028.

“You always want to help your team; you always want to give them that boost. But maybe the best thing for us is we did it early, and now that this is over, the team can go,” Conroy said.

With a handful of first-round picks changing hands over the past couple of days, Conroy said the prices on the trade market were ”pretty high.”

“I think so many teams are so close and in it that maybe the prices were a little bit higher this year; there weren’t as many people selling,” the Flames GM said.

The Flames were also hoping to act as a third party in deals to help retain an extra chunk of salary for an asset in return, but other teams were asking them to take on two-year contracts, which didn’t make sense, according to Conroy.

“If we could do a one-year retention, we were all in. And I don’t think we saw one retention by a third party today,” he said.

The Flames are in a tight race for that final playoff spot, with the Vancouver Canucks nipping at their heels with 67 points and a game at hand, the St. Louis Blues trailing with 66 points and the Utah Hockey Club sitting at 65 points.

The Flames are back in action at the Saddledome on Saturday, facing off against the Montreal Canadiens. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. MST.