Flames president reticent to trade Kadri amid ‘retooling’ process

CALGARY – C Calgary FlamesWith playoff hopes all but extinguished, speculation has naturally arisen about which veterans could be moved to speed up the rebuild.

However, president of hockey operations Don Maloney rejected the idea that the man at the top of most lists. Nazem Kadrishould be among them.

“I think we need more Kadris, not less,” Maloney said of the 35-year-old center, who he believes is critical to his team's culture and leadership.

“We need more of this win.”

Interpret this however you wish.

IN wide range of seating On Friday, Maloney went against the fan consensus in many areas, insisting that the team will not give up on its playoff dreams, that he has no plans to embrace the idea of ​​a top-three lineup, and that he has no desire to even use the word “rebuild.”

His candid assessment of the situation continues in the second part of the Q&A, where he pinpoints the word he prefers to use, gives a vote of confidence in his coach, refuses to discuss the future of his grandmaster, and dives deeper into the future Zain Parekh, Matvey Gridin And Rasmus Andersson.

Sportsnet: How would you rate Craig Conroy's work?

Don Maloney: I think Craig has done an excellent job of creating an atmosphere here and a culture of pride in playing in Calgary. I think his biggest strength is his relationships with the players and they are excellent. He cares and they know he cares. I think the first year was very difficult because there were so many good players who were out of contract. A couple of these guys would probably help us right now, but we got through it. I think the second year was very strong. But again, you want to keep putting pressure on each other and that's why we say we want to be a playoff team. We don't want to start the season saying, 'We want to be in the top five.' I don't want to be associated with this in any way because then why are we doing this? Just imagine we get a star player?

SN: Conroy is in the final year of his contract. Why wasn't it extended?

DM: We keep it inside ourselves. That's not what we're discussing. We have a certain process that we go through here.

SN: The team is at a critical stage in shaping the future, so isn't it important that the architect is responsible for shaping the project for the long term?

DM: Again, we're not going to talk about the contract. I won't comment on his status, but Craig has done a good job for us. And as we all know, as we go through each day, everything is an assessment. I think he's done a good job of making the Flames organization an attractive place to be. When people come here they say, “Wow, this is a good place to play.” And when the new building comes up, it will help us not only attract, but also retain our players. So, let's see how this ends.

SN: How would you rate Ryan Huskey's performance as coach?

DM: I think Ryan is a great coach. I think it was a very difficult time for him and his team. I think he has a good feel for how we should play. But ultimately we are in the same place in the standings. In the end, the coach controls this too. There are areas of our game that we know we need to improve and make some changes, like the power play. After all, this is the coach. We have no intention of thinking about the need to restructure our coaching staff. Ryan is a good coach for this team and needs to continue to work to get more out of what we have.

SN: What are Matvey Gridin’s plans anyway?

DM: He's in a great position (with the AHL Wranglers) and he has talent. Yes, he can go down there, turn over pucks, and no one will pay attention to him. He is one of the best scorers among rookies. He still produces. If you bring him up, he should play in the top nine. Grid will be a tremendous player for us in the future, but that may not happen until February or March, depending on how he goes and where the team is. We need to be more patient. Some people might like the idea of ​​sending all these young players into the league, but then there are confidence issues. These young guys are used to scoring at every level, and then all of a sudden they don't touch the puck for two weeks and they lose their game and their faith. Celebrini are an exception. Even look at (Connor) Bedard a year ago… and now he's back to where he should be.

SN: Can I assume you'll point to Zain Parekh's season as a good example of why you don't want to send young players into the league too early?

DM: Zane is a perfect example. We caught a glimpse of him last April when he came into the team late in the year and in his 82nd game he was superb. He was dynamic, his skating, his fluidity, his passing, his entry onto the ice. It was one game, so I'm guilty of that too. In my mind I said that at least he will help our power play. But after three or four months he had some health problems, he comes to the camp and tries to catch up with his opponent. And then he loses confidence and now he's just trying to keep his head above water. He's just nowhere near the player we think he'll be. Not everyone becomes a star overnight. Physically, mentally and emotionally, when he hit a wall like that, he was trying to simply figure out, “How do I survive in this league, let alone thrive?” In an impatient world, everyone wants people to be here now and (to) include them and allow them to fail and grow. We don't think this is the right way. We think we need to put them in different places to be successful.

SN: Has anything changed on the Rasmus Andersson front?

DM: This is Craig's area of ​​expertise, but we talk about it all the time. He loves Calgary, his family loves Calgary. He hates losing. We want more players here who hate losing and you can feel that when you watch his interview. The last thing we want is for him to walk out the door, but he has certain rights. We have rights. The idea was: “Let's start the season and see how things go.” We'll get back to that at some point.” And that's where we sit. We didn't close the door at all. I don't think he did, but there is a time element to it that at some point this decision will have to be made. Personally, we'd like to find a way to sign him here long-term, but we'll see if that can be done.

SN: Were you as impressed as I was with how well he handled the situation knowing he would almost certainly be traded?

DM: I really admire how it didn't bother him from day one. He's only here to help us win, and that was his goal. I admire this. He's probably been our best defenseman and he's certainly been playing great hockey the last three weeks, which is great for him and great for us. After the Four Nations and World Cup, it started to grow. At some point, if we can't find something that works for him and us, we'll have to look for alternatives. We know that, but we're not in a rush to do something unless it says, “Okay, this is something—someone wants to take a step forward.” And these are not draft picks, because anyone who wants Rasmus, his draft pick will realistically be anywhere from 20th to 32nd overall. It would be different if you said, “Yeah, you're guaranteed a top three or top five pick.”

SN: In your interview with Brendan Parker on Wednesday night, you used the word “rebuild” and then quickly replaced it with “retool.” What word would you use to describe what you guys are doing now?

DM: I think the retooling is more accurate, but it started two years ago when we traded all these really good NHL players. New thinking is ahead. If you think back to the last few years when Tre (Brad Treliving) and Darryl (Sutter) were here, we were getting there. We gave up picks and acquired players, but unfortunately we didn't have the playoff success we wanted. We're at a different stage now, but we still think we can be a competitive team. We can compete for playoff spots as the franchise expands.