It was quite a long weekend for the Calgary Flames. A solid 10-player NHL draft was followed up by a low-key first day of free agency that saw GM Craig Conroy make more of a splash with an internal signing than anything big on the open market.

And that’s a good thing for the rebuilding Flames.

Conroy made a splash with a five-year extension for Yegor Sharangovich — who was one of the high points of the Flames season in 2023-24. It was a tidy signing that locked up a core piece for essentially the same money the GM disposed of in the Andrew Mangiapane trade. Both were entering the final year of their current contracts.

Sometimes the best moves are the ones that don’t get made. In the case of the Flames, they had been rumoured to be kicking tires on the likes of Jake DeBrusk, Anthony Duclair and Viktor Arvidsson, but didn’t want to put up either the money or term they ultimately signed for.