Brad Treliving so far: an overview

[Husky]

C for average. He really hasn't done anything. Brought in Hiller and resigned Brodie, offset by bad contracts for setoguchi, Raymond and England. No real trade wins or losses.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yes, but context is important. The Flames were tiny, both on the roster, and throughout their prospects, going into the draft. As a result, one of their goals was to get bigger. So...

Are you trying to say that they (Burke/Treliving) wouldn't have been trying to draft bigger in 2011?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Are you trying to say that they (Burke/Treliving) wouldn't have been trying to draft bigger in 2011?

I think the more pertinent question is whether Burke/Treliving would have let their head scout make the call on their fourth rounder, after having sat in on all the scouting meetings, read all the reports, watched all the available game tapes, and received feedback from the rest of the staff.

I would be surprised if even at their truculent-fetish best they would have been so quick to say "No" to Button.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think the more pertinent question is whether Burke/Treliving would have let their head scout make the call on their fourth rounder, after having sat in on all the scouting meetings, read all the reports, watched all the available game tapes, and received feedback from the rest of the staff.

I would be surprised if even at their truculent-fetish best they would have been so quick to say "No" to Button.

We'll never know but I'd bet $10 that Burke would not have drafted Gaudreau.

[crapshoot]

The thing I like most about Treliving so far is that he seems so calm and patient. He comes across as the polar opposite to Burke, and that, in my mind, is a very good thing. He seems to be set on doing this rebuild the right way.

[Dajazz]

I wouldn't say average, or good, or bad for that matter. Very neutral and minor moves with little to no importance with the exception of signing Hiller and re-signing Brodie and Hartley. Those were important and he passed them with honours.

Engelland and Raymond contracts look awful now, but hey, we needed to hit the cap floor and put some bodies in there for competition. If we signed a top tier player there would be little to no chance for a younger player to supplant them. So in the end, pretty smart moves with short contracts. So yea, they are overpriced, but we are so far under the cap that it doesn't matter. Raymond for 2M or Engelland for 1,5M we'd look at those two in a different light, so its just optics.

A 3rd for Bollig, I thought it was an OK deal at the time, but Bollig's good shifts have been few and far between. Then again, the odds of a 3rd liner player 200 games in the NHL. Small.

Appears to be a cerebral guy, no Bold Moves (tm) or crazy stuff.

So to reiterate what many have said; calm and patient, low risk moves so far, and with Burkie behind I think there is enough muscle in the organisation to pull of big deals if they see the value.

I am looking forward to both the trade deadline and the draft. After next season this team might look very different.

[getbak]

At this point, I think his biggest strength is that he has done very little to shake things up. Unlike a lot of GMs, he didn't come in and clean house to bring in "his guys", whether it be coaching, management, or players.

For both the Pascall and Huska hirings, he seemed to do his due diligence and hired them based on merit. They weren't hired because they were already in the organization or because he had worked with them before elsewhere.

There also doesn't appear to be any overriding ego with player decisions either. When it became obvious that Jooris deserved a full-time spot on the roster, Setoguchi was waived and sent down. Bollig, Raymond, and Engelland have all spent time as healthy scratches.

[EldrickOnIce]

I don't get the negatives much.
We needed a D.
We needed a goalie.
We needed to create competition.
We had to make cap floor.
If not them, then whom?

I'm not a big fan of Bollig for 3rd, but I think the writing was on the wall for Ern. Needed some muscle that could at least play a little.
Again, if not him, then whom?

B seems fair at this point

[Geeoff]

Can't say that I've liked all his trades and free agent signings but I LOVE the way he has handled the roster. We have an obvious meritocracy, which is awesome to see.

[Mony]

Article on flames.nhl.com. I know he's made some nice moves and also some moves that weren't very good, but I do trust Brad Treliving and have faith in him.

CALGARY, AB -- Understandably, there’s a temptation from general manager Brad Treliving to help his Calgary Flames over the hill. But he’s vowed to stay the course.

With his Flames holding down the second of two wild-card berths in the Western Conference and eyeing a playoff appearance for the first time since the spring of 2009, Treliving isn’t about to lose focus on his long-term project.

“The great part of this game is the emotion that it brings out,” Treliving said. “The feel good stories of the team and it’s great to be around town and people are excited and they come to the building and are excited. You want to do something to help so you’re always looking at a way to give your team a boost as you go down the stretch but you don’t want it to come back to cost you down the road. That’s the balancing act that you look at.

“You have to pull back on emotion a lot of the times. You have to do the work in terms of finding out if there are things that can help you at a reasonable cost. Getting caught up in something that feels good for a very short period of time but can hurt for a very long period of time, those are things we want to stay away from.”

The upstart Flames, just a season-and-a-half into a tear down and build-up, are in the process of rebuilding well ahead of schedule.

But it isn’t a reason for Treliving, who hasn’t been on the job for a full calendar year, to jump.

If anything, it might give the GM a reason to pause.

“With the way the team has performed, I think the responsibility of the manager is you’re obviously looking at the long-term vision of this team,” Treliving said. “Those ‘A’ assets that I look at, those first round picks, top young players, it takes a lot of pain to get those. As we continue to build this organization, those are very, very valuable assets and ones we’re not prepared to throw out for the sake of something that might, might help us for a short period of time. You’re looking at that long range.”

There are certainly additions to ponder.

Subtractions too.

Treliving has several pending unrestricted free agents on his roster that could yield assets that will help Calgary over the long haul.

“Now’s the time we’re going to look at those and see where we’re going to go with it,” Treliving said. “With the trade deadline approaching it does put somewhat of a focus on those types of players. As seen in prior years and with prior teams, the fact that a player isn’t signed by the deadline and isn’t dealt at the deadline doesn’t necessarily mean that that player can’t be signed after. We’re going to evaluate and continue to evaluate each situation independently and see where we get to as we get to the deadline and beyond.”

While Treliving eyes the long term, Flames coach Bob Hartley is tasked with the short term.

Both plans have meshed for the time being, though.

“The mesh is very easy because we talk every day whether he calls me, I call him, he’s in my office, I’m in his office before or after practice, before games, after games,” Hartley said. “I’m quite impressed with how he came in. He joined the organization, took the steering wheel right from the start. He’s guiding us in the right direction plus he’s fun to work with. It’s a great environment over here. It’s honest. It’s on the table. That’s the way it has to be. We have high expectations. Mediocrity for both of us is not part of our vocabulary.

“Yes we have different desks with different agendas on it but at the same time we all work for the Calgary Flames and we share one common goal.”

The common goal being the Stanley Cup playoffs.

How the trade deadline can help that goal, for both the short term and long, have yet to be determined.

Treliving is exploring that daily.

“You also have to be cognizant of the present and I think any manager will tell you if your team is there you’d always like to help them,” he said. “It’s a balancing act. We’re looking at things. Would we like to strengthen our team down the stretch? Sure we would. It always comes back to the cost, the acquisition cost.

“If there are things that may be able to help us at a reasonable price then those are things that we will and have look at now.”

As long as it falls within Treliving’s plan.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Treliving has done great IMO so far............but he's also had the easiest job in the NHL. No expectations on the team, tones of cap room, simply a need to fill holes and creat competition, then on top of that plum gig he gets the added bonus of a whole bunch of our prospects (which he didn't pick) be better and more ready than initially thought. Next to impossible to make a mistake.......YET.

Not his fault he walked in to an easy situation, but now moving forward, the Flames have made it harder. Closer to ready, some young depth up front, some veterans who are looking like they could be replaced by prospects, some holes on the back end, and a team on the playoff bubble probably 2 years in advance. His job really starts now, let's see how he does.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jacks

We'll never know but I'd bet $10 that Burke would not have drafted Gaudreau.

I believe GM's tend to be more involved in the first round picks and as the rounds get deeper trust the scouting staff more as it's impossible for a GM to be able to watch all the players that are available deeper into the draft. I would like to think if Button made a very good case for drafting Gadreau that Burke wouldn't have overruled him but we will never really know what may or may not have happened.

[OzSome]

I don't really any beef with Treliving except the 2 UFA signing in the off-season. I don't have any problem Derek Engelland here except for the amount of his contract. He was overpaid especially for a #5 #6 defensemen. Mason Raymond is another one I have problem with. He too was overpaid and I wouldn't have any problem even the way he is playing if he was signed for $2M or less. I always think he is a 3rd line player not a 1st or 2nd line. As for the other UFA, Setoguchi and Diaz I didn't have any problem with gambling on those two. They were cheap and they have been playing in the league for a few years. Setoguchi didn't pay off but I thought it was a good gamble. I think if he would work out, we are going to start calling Treliving a genius. Hiller I think was a good signing. There are times he's frustrating to watch but he's been playing really well majority of the times. He also bring competition to Kari Ramo. Diaz' gamble is paying off with the injuries to Smid. Some people just don't like Diaz but I thought he is filling in for Smid just fine.

[MissTeeks]

Couple videos with Treliving on the Flames site today:

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by Jacks

We'll never know but I'd bet $10 that Burke would not have drafted Gaudreau.

Fair enough, but it's a moot point because he was drafted and is here, and the odds of getting a player of Gaudreau's caliber at that position in the draft are infinitesimal. It's a feather in the cap for the scouts, they'll dine out on it for as long as they can and no doubt miss out on players in the future because immature teenagers are drafted, not mature men.

If we're going to play the what if game, why not go back further and assume that Burke would have made the call and drafted Jamie Benn in the 3rd round in 2007 instead of John Negrin. Maybe he would want a forward instead of defensemen. What we do know is that Negrin, didn't play with Burke's son, so perhaps Burke wouldn't be as likely to be smarter than his scouts.

The argument is rhetorical.

[DoubleF]

To revive an older thread....

Is this year's trade deadline a breath of fresh air, or maddening silence?

There seems to be very little news in terms of what is being done this year coming up towards the trade deadline. Last year Burke at least let everyone know he was actively shopping Cammellari which was specific. This year... Do we have any specifics of what Brad is doing? Looking organizational needs for RW or D isn't specific IMO, specific means specific names stated by management we are associated with and specific moves, not a "maybe keep or maybe trade" like we associate with Glencross.

Heck, I doubt anyone here would have predicted the Shore/Knight trade before it happened. Surprisingly, there's been a lot of nods at this trade and few critiques as far as I can tell. (Which I guess means much of CP thinks it was a spare parts for more useful piece move?)

What do you think? Breath of fresh air (anticipation of moves brings excitement?) or is the silence too much to handle?

NOTE: I'm not talking about his past performance, I'm talking about his current method of releasing information vs Feaster telling us anything and everything random. I also prefer not to chat drafting yet and instead would rather focus on Brad going into the trade deadline and it's refreshing or maddening effect.



For me, I like the suspense of wondering what Brad Treliving is going to do, but since his sample size of "action" as a GM is so shallow in terms of trading, it maddens me when I try and wonder what Brad would potentially do. I think the guy is a damn good contract negotiator, pretty good at off season signings, but trades is a complete ??? for me.
It maddens me to believe that even with the current CP speculation, the guy could potential trade with all 29 other NHL teams before the deadline or literally do nothing. This is generally not true for many other GMs. There is an ability to predict their moves based on past moves. Furthermore, he could potentially touch zero NHL players and grab us a wagon load of quality AHLers barely any of us had directly on our radar. I honestly think that Treliving unintentionally has truly has shown many of us fans how little we know in terms of the talent pool which is available to be tapped.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Jacks

We'll never know but I'd bet $10 that Burke would not have drafted Gaudreau.

This extreme thought about Burke is so dumb.

How do you explain Burke trading two first round draft picks for soft, small, and skilled Kessel? Or how about moving heaven and earth to draft the sisters?

Burke wants the best skill players, and he wants truculence around that skill to protect them.

[JiriHrdina]

I don't think the GM should be providing any specific names or outline specific plans. I like here about the rationale after the fact but I don't need to be told of plans ahead of time.
I like the way AA operates with the Jays - no one ever sees his trades coming.

[Huntingwhale]

Brad's holding his cards close and rightfully so. The only reason we desire insider info is for our own personal satisfaction. It serves the team no purpose to say what he plans to do. And so far it's working great for everyone.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Treliving is a smart GM. I think Burke found a good one for us.