Craig Conroy left another mark as the Calgary Flames GM on Friday night by trading Andrei Kuzmenko, Jacob Pelletier, and two picks to the Philadelphia Flyers for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Conroy has discussed acquiring a centre under 25 for months and finally found a suitable deal built around Frost, a 25-year-old left-handed centre.
The other side of the trade saw the organization part ways with Jacob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko, two big personalities surrounding the locker room. Pelletier has especially been a fan favourite since he joined the big club and was often discussed as part of the future in Calgary. Despite this, the business side of the game is a reality.
With that in mind, we wanted to know how fans are feeling about Conroy’s latest trade.
We asked, you answered.
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How do you feel about the Philly trade?
We presented the below poll to our readers.
After a few days, how do you feel about the #Flames trade with Philly?
— The Win Column (@wincolumnCGY) February 1, 2025
Conroy COOKED
Over 60% of fans think Craig Conroy performed an absolute masterclass acquiring Farabee and Frost from Philly. Both players are under 25 and provide the Flames with some much-needed forward support, especially up the middle.
Frost is 25 years old and, upon joining the Flames, was immediately the faceoff percentage leader. The former 2017 27th overall pick also immediately slots into the Flames’ top power play unit on the half wall. In 278 games over six NHL seasons, Frost has amassed 50 goals and 135 points.
Farabee has handled some criticism in the last couple years after regressing following a six-year, $30M extension that came after his first 20-goal season in 2020–21. Since signing the extension, the 24-year-old winger has only reached the 20-goal mark once in three seasons. Despite this, the 2018 14th overall pick could benefit from a change of scenery and provide some chemistry for Huberdeau and Kadri.
As far as additions go, Conroy got his young centre and another relatively low-risk forward that should benefit from increased playing time. Not too shabby.
Not bad, Sad losing Pelts
Roughly 35% of respondents were satisfied with the return but disappointed to say goodbye to Jacob Pelletier. Also known as Jonathan Huberdeau’s son, Jacob’s been a prominent name in the media since the Darryl Sutter era, famously sparking the “What number does he wear?” comment from his former coach after his NHL debut. Pelletier immediately added a boost to the locker room and quickly won over his teammates and fans alike. Top to bottom, Pelletier had a positive impact on the Flames organization.
Heading to Philly with Pelletier, Andrei Kuzmenko has struggled mightily this season and, due to a recent spike in performance, played his way onto the trade block instead of the waiver wire. Kuzmenko, also a huge media presence, will hopefully spark some chemistry with his former KHL teammate and current Flyers star sophomore, Matvei Michkov.
Getting any value out of Kuzmenko was a major win for the Flames and also grows the Elias Lindholm trade tree from last season. The second-round pick going back to Philly is something the Flames can easily live with, acquiring two full-time NHLers for a recent healthy scratch in Kuzmenko and a relatively inexperienced Pelletier.
At the end of the day, it’s a business, and it sucks to see guys get traded, especially when it’s a person like Pelletier, who enjoyed the city, organization, and fans as much as they did him.
Could have been better/Hated it
Only 2% of fans thought Craig Conroy could’ve done better or were flat-out disappointed with the trade. Initially, at least, it looks like Conroy hit an absolute home run with this one.
More to come?
Conroy said the Flames “earned” Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee by staying in the playoff race. In what seemed like a guaranteed down season, the Flames are defending the final wild card spot in the west and prompted Conroy to try and make a move sooner rather than later. The acquisitions are still within his mid-longterm plan and give an immediate boost to a forward group that’s struggled tremendously to score.
Conroy did mention on Friday that the Flames could still be active on the trade market, citing the team’s cap space as an asset to eat some salary for other teams trying to get trades done headed into the deadline.
It might not directly impact Calgary’s lineup, but at this point, Conroy can see how Farabee and Frost work out and potentially acquire some more draft capital by taking on salary. As much as it seems like the Flames are pushing for the playoffs, they haven’t made any decisions that sacrifice their future either, which might be the most important factor to fans at this point.
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