My problem with Treliving is his inability to make those franchise altering moves since that Hurricanes blockbuster. We are a bottom tier free agent destination but all of the moves since have basically been in that market.
2018- huge franchise altering summer. Hurricanes trade, Neal signing, Ryan signing, new coach
2019 - keep the band together re-signing Tkachuk, Bennett, Rittich, Mangiapane while swapping bad money in Neal for Lucic free agent swap getting Talbot and Smith heads north
2020- spending spree with Brodie, Hamonic, and Talbot out Tanev and Markstrom in
2021- Gio lost to Kraken, money spent on Coleman and Zadorov. Bunch of Sutter types because there have been 2 coaching changes since the transformational summer of 2018.
Frolik+Pelletier for Zucker - glad that one fell through
Brodie+Jankowski for Kadri - would have been a great trade but Valimaki tearing his knee would have made losing Brodie really tough. Still a win trade for the Flames
Other rumored deals:
Bennett+Hanifin for signed Hall+Vatanen - likely would have been a bad deal considering the Hall contract would have been pre-Covid
Valimaki+++ for Mark Stone - wouldn’t have made a big difference against the Avs. If he was somehow able to be signed then absolutely it would have been worth it but unless the Flames made huge cap dump moves that offseason it would have been impossible.
It has been clear the core has needed a shake up based on the last 3 years of worsnjng results. It sounds like the only way the Flames could make a change is if they were willing to get fleeced so instead it feels like we will watch core players slowly walk for little to no return and head toward a potential painful rebuild. Here is hoping the combination of players hungry to rebound, Sutter getting full buy in, and a weak division this team is able to go on a run
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