CALGARY — The Calgary Flames are looking for another centre.
They have been ever since they lost Elias Lindholm nine months ago.
It’s not new.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long, long time,” Conroy told Sportsnet on Monday.
“When we lost Lindholm, a right-hand centre in your top-six, that’s kind of something you’d like to find.
“Is it an easy thing to find? Probably not.”
He certainly found that out over the summer when the issue became more pressing, putting a whole lot more at stake with Martin Pospisil’s audition up the middle.
So far so good with Pospisil and the rest of the centres who’ve been integral to the team’s franchise-best start at 4-0-1.
Regardless of their surprising success, the plan hasn’t changed.
Conroy’s top priority is still to find an “age-appropriate” centre, which he defines as being a player between 23 and 25 who has pro experience.
Someone who can be part of the long-term plan in Calgary.
Think Kirby Dach, a six-foot-four, 221-pound 23-year-old who shoots from the right side.
Costly, as he was traded by Chicago for a first and third rounder.
The question is what sort of assets the Flames would be willing to part with for a middle-man of any significance?
“Unless you have some injuries and needed to do something, sending a first-round pick for a guy who would be here for a year doesn’t make much sense,” said the GM, mindful of the rebuild afoot.
“But if it was a first-round pick for a guy who would be here long term, we would be open to that.”
“Centres are tough. It’s a hard market.
“If you have them, you don’t really want to give them up. So that’s my job, to look and see if it’s out there.”
The Flames’ desire to add a centre came even more into focus on the eve of the regular season when Cole Schwindt was claimed off waivers by Vegas.
“Yeah, that hurt,” said Conroy, of the sizable farmhand acquired in the Matthew Tkachuk trade, who likely would have been his first call-up.
“We were hoping he would get through, but when he didn’t I wasn’t overly surprised.”
As shocking as it may sound, Schwindt was the only right-handed centre in the organization’s pro ranks — making that a clear priority to better serve left-wingers.
No wonder the Flames have such high hopes for 19-year-old Jaden Lipinski, a fourth-round pick who is a hulking, right-handed centre playing for Vancouver in the WHL.
Given the start the Flames have had, one would think the issue at centre isn’t pressing, as Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund, Pospisil and Justin Kirkland are all effectively playing their roles.
An admittedly aging group, Pospisil is the only one under age 28, making his smooth transition from the wing an integral part of the team’s early prosperity.
In that vein, the team is also confident Connor Zary or the injured Yegor Sharangovich could play up the middle in a pinch, as they did for stretches last season.
But both have proven to be more productive on the wing.
With Kevin Rooney on the verge of being cleared for a return following his opening-night concussion, the organization may soon have to make the tough decision to send Kirkland, the feel-good story of the season, back down.
They’re now comfortable that the journeyman can play a bottom-six role if they need to recall him at any time.
A quick peek at the Flames’ depth chart up the middle:
Nazem Kadri, 34
Mikael Backlund, 35
Martin Pospisil, 24
Kevin Rooney, 31
Justin Kirkland, 28
(In the minors)
Sam Morton, 25
Rory Kerins, 22
Clark Bishop, 28
Ilya Nikolaev, 23
Morton was signed as a free agent last year as a college hot shot out of Minnesota State-Mankato and was solid enough in training camp (and late last season with the Wranglers) to get a look this year in a bottom six role.
Kerins is a sixth-round pick of the Flames from 2020 who has seven goals in his first five games with the Wranglers this year, making him a top candidate for promotion if a scoring centre was injured.
Bishop has 47 games of experience in the bigs and would be a reliable call-up.
Injuries inevitably happen, and it’s then the Flames’ depth at centre starts to get tested — something Conroy hopes to avoid by bringing in another proven commodity when he finds the right fit.