It turns out Craig Conroy’s phone was working the whole time.

The Calgary Flames’ general manager joked on Thursday night that fans in the city had been playfully teasing him recently for not yet upgrading a playoff-contending roster that has surprised many in the hockey world who thought they’d be destined for the draft lottery.

On Thursday, he pulled off a significant in-season move, shipping out forwards Jakob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko, plus the club’s 2025 second-round draft pick and 2028 seventh-round draft pick to Philadelphia in exchange for winger Joel Farabee and centre Morgan Frost.

“People like to chirp me when I’m walking around,” Conroy said after the deal was made official following the Flames’ 4-1 win over Anaheim. “…You don’t know when it’s going to happen or when it’s the right time, but today felt like the right time.”

Kuzmenko, a pending free agent who makes $5.8 million this season, was a late scratch on Thursday, while Pelletier, a Flames first-round pick in 2019 who cleared waivers earlier this season, was........

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