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Kovaz · 11-22-2019, 05:50 PM

I think the tricky part with evaluating Treliving is when you look at what he inherited. He started with Gaudreau, Monahan, Giordano, Backlund, Brodie already as a core, and they made the playoffs before he had a chance to do much of anything.

Right now we're debating whether or not our core is good enough - can you win with Gaudreau and Monahan as your starts and Backlund anchoring a second line. But rewind to the summer of 2015. If you're in Treliving's shoes then - what do you do? Our team, while flawed, was clearly too good for the type of tanking that the Edmontons, Torontos, and Buffalos of the world were doing. At the time, the narrative seemed to be "Gaudreau, Monahan, and Brodie are the next Kane, Toews, and Keith!"

Given that, what was he supposed to do? You've got a core that's clearly a cut above the true bottom feeders, so the only way you're getting a top-5 draft pick is if something goes catastrophically wrong (a-la Hiller or Gulutzan). Should he have intentionally iced a bad roster around those guys? I doubt he still has his job if that were the case. Should he have traded the core and started another rebuild? He'd have been crucified.

So strategically, I think he went with the only plan that made sense: assume that your core guys are good enough to be core guys, and build around them with long-term moves. The Hamilton trades alone were massive wins value-wise - turning a 15th overall pick and 2 second-rounders into two young top-5 picks signed to great deals is about as good as it gets.

At the end of the day, the guys slumping down the stretch and the guys that are falling apart this year are the guys he inherited to build around. We're not winning a thing without Gaudreau and Monahan being elite, and without Backlund being a damn good #2 - but that's what they've been for years. Maybe it's the coach, maybe it's the players. I don't know. But I have a hard time faulting Treliving for Gaudreau being the worst flame on the ice.

11-22-2019, 05:50 PM	#123
Kovaz Scoring Winger Join Date: Nov 2016 Exp:	I think the tricky part with evaluating Treliving is when you look at what he inherited. He started with Gaudreau, Monahan, Giordano, Backlund, Brodie already as a core, and they made the playoffs before he had a chance to do much of anything. Right now we're debating whether or not our core is good enough - can you win with Gaudreau and Monahan as your starts and Backlund anchoring a second line. But rewind to the summer of 2015. If you're in Treliving's shoes then - what do you do? Our team, while flawed, was clearly too good for the type of tanking that the Edmontons, Torontos, and Buffalos of the world were doing. At the time, the narrative seemed to be "Gaudreau, Monahan, and Brodie are the next Kane, Toews, and Keith!" Given that, what was he supposed to do? You've got a core that's clearly a cut above the true bottom feeders, so the only way you're getting a top-5 draft pick is if something goes catastrophically wrong (a-la Hiller or Gulutzan). Should he have intentionally iced a bad roster around those guys? I doubt he still has his job if that were the case. Should he have traded the core and started another rebuild? He'd have been crucified. So strategically, I think he went with the only plan that made sense: assume that your core guys are good enough to be core guys, and build around them with long-term moves. The Hamilton trades alone were massive wins value-wise - turning a 15th overall pick and 2 second-rounders into two young top-5 picks signed to great deals is about as good as it gets. At the end of the day, the guys slumping down the stretch and the guys that are falling apart this year are the guys he inherited to build around. We're not winning a thing without Gaudreau and Monahan being elite, and without Backlund being a damn good #2 - but that's what they've been for years. Maybe it's the coach, maybe it's the players. I don't know. But I have a hard time faulting Treliving for Gaudreau being the worst flame on the ice.