CALGARY – It took just over two minutes into his season-ending presser for Craig Conroy to utter the words some fans have been waiting over a decade to hear.

“It is about the long term,” said Conroy when asked several different ways about the approach he’ll take this summer.

“It’s not about getting into the playoffs one year, not in the next, in one year, then out. We want to be there consistently.”

Sure, the Calgary Flames would like to make the playoffs next season, as echoed by almost every player who addressed the media following Friday’s exit meetings. 

The lads are paid to say that, and as Kevin Bahl suggested, there’d be no point in showing up with your hockey bag every fall if you didn’t have spring hockey as a goal.

Management and ownership would cherish post-season hockey, too.

But the most important thing about how Conroy conducts himself this summer is that he follows through with the lane he picked at the trade deadline, when he traded two aging pillars for a boatload of picks and prospects: the long road ahead. 

Conroy said the plan, as of now, is to make all 11 picks in this summer’s draft, including both first-rounders and four seconds.

However, the GM hedged his bets aplenty by adding that the plan can easily be altered a tinge if he can move up in the draft or find a trade partner looking to shake up their roster.

“If there is an opportunity to make a trade for a player that we feel is someone that can help us now and in the future, absolutely we’d grab that player,” said Conroy.

“We will leave no stone unturned.”

He’s already been out scouting most of the top six prospects, a window in which the Flames are guaranteed to pick regardless of how the May 5 draft lottery goes.

Would he make a trade to move into the top three if the lottery balls fall in a manner that keeps them in fourth spot, or drop a slot or two?

Absolutely, said Conroy. But he’s excited about the fact that regardless of which of those half dozen prospects he ends up with, it’s going to be an impact player – something his organization is woefully short of.

“Of course, we want to pick No. 1, but no matter who we pick in there, I think the people here are going to be very happy,” he said.

“Matthew Tkachuk was No. 6, Sean Monahan was No. 6. You know, I’d take those guys any day, so I’m not stressed about it.”

With very few top players available anymore via free agency, the only way to up their ability to add high-end skill is to do it via the draft – a route Conroy is poised to lean heavily into again this summer.

“We’re going to go and try to do whatever we can to help the team and make it better, but a lot of it is going to come from within,” he said of the internal growth the organization will count on for the next few years from emerging young pillars like Matvei Gridin, Matt Coronato, Zayne Parekh and Hunter Brzustewicz.

“We don’t want to rush the players. Definitely, there was talk about signing some of the guys we drafted a few years ago (like college hotshots Cole Reschny or Ethan Wyttenbach), and maybe get them to turn pro. But we want to do the best for them long term. It’s not about just getting guys in here for one year and turning this thing around. We want to do it the right way for the next 10 years.”

Which brings us to the captain, Mikael Backlund, who was asked how quickly he thinks his 29^th-place team can return to challenge for a playoff spot.

And while an acceptable response would be, “how long is a piece of string?” Backlund and the veterans want it to be next season.

“It’s also up to management,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of prospects and picks, and it’s up to them, ‘what do you want to do?’ – if they want to keep collecting, or if they want to make some trades, make things happen.

“It’s an exciting summer for the organization, for sure, with one high pick and lots of other picks and prospects. It’s an exciting future for the organization, and we want to turn it around quickly.”

“The million-dollar question is what do we improve, and how do we get to that next level,” said another veteran, Blake Coleman, whose future with the club will also say plenty about the long-term vision.

“I think obviously our high-end production leaves a little bit to be desired. I think the leading scorer is in the 40-point range and it’s hard to go too far with that.”

Sure is, but that’s OK for a team willing to be patient and develop their next scoring leaders from within.

“It’s one of those things that takes time, you’ve got to draft well and let guys grow in-house, and maybe make some moves in the off-season,” said Coleman, who told Conroy he’d be happy to return in the fall with an eye on maintaining a healthy culture, but wants an extension if so.

“I know everyone is doing everything they can to keep improving, and go up from here. I think that’s the plan as far as I understand it. If everything trends in that direction, there’s a lot to look forward to.”

But it has to be done right, which means exhibiting newfound patience – something this organization hasn’t had since the ’80s.

We’ll find out in the next few months just how committed they are to it.