Brad Treliving only hit the Calgary Flames General Manager (GM) for only over a week. He was hired in April 2014 after the team missed the playoffs for five consecutive years. During his tenure as General Motors, the Flames made five playoffs and finished second and third in franchise history. All of this, they won two playoff series.
Indeed, Treliving can only be responsible for so much, but he is responsible for the team’s appearance on the ice for another year. In nine years we will see all of his best and worst deals as General Motors and how they emerge for the flames.
The best deals for Treliving with flames
March 2, 2015
We’ll start with the first flame deals from Treliving, which turned out to be a very good trade. Many of the trades in many of the deals the former general manager has done well in the long run, and his drafting plays a factor. The first great deal was in 2015, when the Flames traded Vancouver Canucks Sven Baertschi in exchange for a 2015 second round draft pick, which made them Rasmus Andersson.
Andersson has no doubt about the value of the team, as he is No. 1 for the Flames. He played 536 regular season games for Calgary, scoring 47 goals and 231 points. His contract was signed for another year, at $4.55 million. Where is Baertschi? From 2015 to 2020, he played only 225 games for the Canucks, scoring 58 goals and 110 points. But he fell in 2019, playing most of the seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) and then playing in the domestic league.
June 26, 2015
The next strong deal was shortly after, as the Flames traded the 2015 first-round pick (Zach Senyshyn) and two 2015 second-round picks (Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson & Jeremy Lauzon) to trade Dougie Hamilton with the Boston Bruises. The Bruins seemed like a considerable reward at the time, but the three played 119 games for Boston. Senyshyn is an Ahler at best, Karlsson has not made it to the NHL since 2018-19, and Lauzon has moved into several teams since last played for the Bruins.
Hamilton, on the other hand, played three very strong seasons for the Flames at the age of 20, scoring at least 12 goals and 43 points per season. At the time, he was the main work of the next deal we were going to discuss.
June 23, 2018
Three years in advance, Flame traded Hamilton but received a very favorable return in the process. Trade with the Carolina Hurricanes included sending Michelle Ferland, Hamilton and Adam Fox (signing rights) in exchange for Erias Lindholm and Noah Hannifen. Ferland performed the same as the Hurricanes expected, but only with them for one season. Hamilton retreated his first season in the Hurricane but returned to form. The team then lost him in free agents. The last part of the industry is that Fox has never played a game for Carolina and it seems he has a very specific team that wants to sign with him.
On the receiving end of the flames, they got two very productive players who worked with the team until the 2024 trade deadline. After the trade, Lindholm entered his right, scoring 148 goals and 357 points in 418 games. He also finished second in the 2021-22 Selke Trophy vote, while also winning the vote in three other seasons. The great two-way player is the Flames’ top center. He was traded to the Ganak. Hanifin has gained more opportunities in Calgary and has been a solid first-class defender over the past few seasons. He is also trading before the 2024 deadline.
July 28, 2021
Skip three years again, we went to three years ago when the Flames made a very good under-radar trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. In this industry, Flames acquired Nikita Zadorov in exchange for their 2023 third-round draft pick (Aidan Thompson). The Blackhawks drafted prospects have not yet signed a contract, but the NCAA is a player in almost every game this season.
Related: Flames’ offseason will determine the future of Backlund & Lindholm
Zadorov did a great job in the 177 games after being acquired by the Flame. He played very well and was in very physical form, even taking 14 goals in 2022-23, more ice time and sense of responsibility and more blocked shots. He was traded to the Ganak in December 2023.
February 14, 2022
When GM was in office, Treliving was ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, the fifth and finals of the best deal he made during his tenure. Eventually won the division and entered the second round of the playoffs, acquiring Tyler Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens before the trade deadline and abandoning Tyler Pitlick, Emil Heineman, 2022 first-round pick (Filip Mesar) and 2023 five-round pick.
Flame is not just about renting rent, because Toffoli had two seasons left at the time. His expected performance of the Flames after being acquired, scoring 11 goals and 23 points in 37 games, but leading the team goals and scores this season is one of the only consistent highlights throughout the season. Pitlick played 14 games for the Canadians, Heineman appeared in just 28 NHL games, and despite Mesar’s hope, it’s too early to bring Flames anything with Toffoli.
Treliving’s Worst Deal with Flame
February 20, 2017
Treliving’s first few seasons had a good choice, and we can review and criticize. But his first one was that the Flames won two draft picks from Michael Stone. The draft picks were the 2017 third-round pick (Stuart Skinner) and the 2018 fifth-round pick (Akira Schmid). Skinner is the 2022-23 Calder Trophy finalist if Schmid plays more games. Even if the Flames don’t necessarily need more goalkeepers now, every goalkeeper is now worth more.
Stone was the productive and reliable defender of the Arizona Coyotes before the trade and has been different since. He played for Calgary for an entire season the following year after the deal, but played in just 127 games in the five seasons after that, mainly for the seventh time defensive player. He signed a deal for several years, but it wasn’t worth the two draft picks.
June 24, 2017
In Treliving’s first bad deal as GM, he made another one to settle the defense. This also didn’t work, and if they didn’t do it, it would be greatly benefiting now. Calgary acquired Travis Hamonic and 2019 fourth-round pick (Lucas Feuk) in exchange for a 2018 first-round pick (Noah Dobson), 2018 second-round pick (Ruslan Iskhakov) and 2019 second-round pick (Samuel Bolduc) islanders from New York Island.
Hamonic isn’t anything special to the Flames, spending three seasons on the team and the players they’ve earned in the fourth round draft have no effect. But for the Islanders, Dobson is a great young player and is currently an important part of their squad, and Bolduc plays the playoffs for New York in 2023. As for Iskhakov, he returned to Russia in the 2024-25 season.
April 12, 2021
Treliving was very careful and didn’t make more mistakes until four years later. The Flames searched for the real season last season and began to shape different squads in a strong season. Sam Bennett, the former fourth draft pick, has never shown much in his draft position and the Flames have had enough. They sent Bennett and the 2022 sixth-round pick (Gustav Karlsson) to the Florida Panthers and the 2022 second-round pick (David Goyette).
Bennett immediately flipped the switch and changed his entire career. He scored six goals and 15 points in the remaining 10 games of the 2020-21 season, scoring a total of 95 goals and 196 points in 289 games against the Panthers. He has been a senior contributor to Florida since the deal, and Calgary has not returned both assets.
July 22, 2022
Treliving’s first bad deal in several years started the snowball effect. In the 2022 offseason, the flames face a big problem. Johnny Gaudreau chose not to resign, and Matthew Tkachuk plans to fight with the Flame for a final year at most. This happened after the aforementioned division champion and second round. Tkachuk seemed to kick himself out of a team he wanted to join, while Treliving competed for it. Flames trade Tkachuk and 2025 fourth-round draft picks, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mackenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and 2025 first-round draft picks. Excellent return…or we think.
Initially, if they could expand Huberdeau and Weegar to what they did, it would have looked like a very good trade. Huberdeau and Sutter didn’t blend well together, and one of the Wing’s worst seasons, from one season to the next NHL history, has the biggest score. Tkachuk has an MVP-Calibre season for the Panthers, and if it weren’t for Connor McDavid, he had a great chance to win Hart Trophy in 2023. Schwindt is also a good prospect, but the first-round pick is used to throw away a contract and we will get the next step.
August 18, 2022
Sean Monahan’s hat dump wasn’t the greatness of the flames and worked on it for the Canadians. He has been the team’s top center for the past few seasons and has been down for the fourth line or injured reserve team (IR) most of the time. By earning over $5 million in the final season, Flames decided to release the hat by moving his hat, and could also trade a first-round pick in exchange for future considerations. Although it might be a late first round when rolling in 2025, the flames aren’t going completely in the right direction.
Despite Monahan’s injury for most of the season, the team gained a productive second-tier center and he rebounded. The Canadian once landed on the IR, so his absence had a significant impact. He received an excellent follow-up in 49 games in the 2023-24 season ahead of the trade deadline. The Canadian moved him to the Winnipeg Jets, which gave Montreal a first-round pick in 2024. Calgary released funds to acquire declining veterans.
Do you think any transactions should be made here, good or bad? Let me know in the comments.
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