Brad Treliving so far: an overview

[devo22]

We've just passed the midway point of Brad Trelivings first season as the General Manager of the Calgary Flames, so after nearly nine months in charge, I thought it was time for a first assessment of what he's been doing so far. This is neither a "I like Brad Treliving" nor a "I don't like Brad Treliving" thread (which we both had when Feaster was in charge, so it's quite surprising that we have neither right now), but rather a list of all of his moves and an attempt to interpret them.

Let me preface this by saying that I was very happy when Brad Treliving was hired and I still am. He appears to be a very intelligent and pragmatic guy who was certainly ready to step up from his assistant role in Phoenix and become an NHL GM himself. The thing I probably like most is how he deals with the media - he's basically the anti-Feaster, who was bubbly and seemed to try to oversell his players and transactions all time.



One of Trelivings strongest fields so far IMO, I can't really find a bad apple here. Most of those were no-brainers and Treliving certainly didn't overpay for any of those guys. The two signings at the bottom are the most valuable ones, without a doubt. T.J. Brodies new contract blends in nicely with contract extensions of comparable young upcoming defensemen in the league and he will certainly be a core member of the team going forward. Bob Hartley also deserved an extension and it's nice to see them agree to a new contract so early.



Again, not really a single bad decision there. Cammalleri was a good veteran to have, but I'm really happy that Treliving stayed away from giving him a similar contract as the one he signed with the Devils (5 years at 5.0). All the others were depth guys and I think it's fair to say that none of those has been missed.



Still love the Hiller contract because not only did it create competition in net for the starting job this season, but it also allowed the Flames to be patient with Joni Ortio and send him to the AHL for one more season. Because of the short term, it also makes Hillers contract tradeable should the Flames decide to go that route (which I'd prefer - trade Hiller, re-sign Ramo ... but maybe that's just me). Acolatse, Thiessen, Setoguchi, Potter, Diaz - hey, why not. Some good depth guys to be in the press box or down in Adirondack.

With Raymond and Engelland, it obviously gets more tricky ... Treliving shelled out a lot of money and it's up for debate whether the Flames have so far got their money's worth. Raymond has obviously gone on a lengthy cold streak and he needs to start producing again. Engelland is pretty much as advertised ... a bottom-six defenseman with some grit, but probably not worth his contract, neither in term nor AAV. The Setoguchi experiment obviously failed and some will criticize Treliving for that one, but I still don't mind the signing at all. Low risk acquisition that didn't pan out, that's all.



Obviously it's way too early to assess this draft, but at least it's encouraging that Hunter Smith and Austin Carroll have been able to improve their scoring numbers and that both Brandon Hickey and Adam Ollas Mattsson have settled in nicely after moving up to higher leagues. Mason McDonald has faced a much higher workload than last season and that's a huge plus in my opinion. Sam Bennetts injury has been a pity, obviously.



Have there really only been two trades so far? I double-checked, but it really seems I didn't miss any. Obviously the jury is still out on Shore, but there seems to be more potential than with Knight and so I'd call that a win for now. Bollig? That's a different story. I'd have prefered if they had simply used the pick on a player and I'm not a big fan of Bollig so far, but again, that is surely up for discussion.

So in short:

POSITIVES

* re-signing T.J. Brodie and Bob Hartley

* creating competition in net by signing Hiller

* letting all the UFAs leave. The Flames have not missed them at all ... well, maybe Cammalleri, but the contract would not have been worth it.

* signing stop gaps and competition in order to let prospects overripe in the AHL and earn their NHL spots instead of just gift-wrapping them.

* Treliving seems to have no problem freeing up roster spots for young players. Johnny Gaudreau got a spot out of training camp, Josh Jooris secured one shortly after that and Markus Granlund has been up with the Flames for the majority of the season as well. Treliving waived veterans like Setoguchi and McGrattan to create roster spots for young players.

* Trelivings trade record would indicate that he prefers to play it safe despite in theory being allowed to spend to the cap. While I'm not a fan of Bollig, his acquisition made sense as in getting bigger and adding grit to the lineup.

NEGATIVES

* flipping a 3rd for Brandon Bollig. Wasn't worth a 3rd then, isn't worth a 3rd now.

* Mason Raymonds contract does not look pretty right now. Obviously Treliving could have not predicted the impact of the young players who have stepped up, otherwise, does he sign Raymond to that contract? Probably not. However, let's not forget that Raymond was great at the beginning of the season and it's entirely possible that the injury is still slowing him down.

* Deryk Engelland ... I guess that contract is immovable until the final year, but maybe I underestimate Engellands worth. Probably not though.

That's still a pretty good scorecard in my book. All in all, I'd give Treliving a B so far.

[northcrunk]

Big negative - Seana Acolatse. EA Sports is so stupid they put him on the Flames roster in NHL 15 HUT instead of Gaudreau rrrrrrrrr

[neo45]

He really did come into an ideal situation for a GM: Had all of his picks, no bad contracts, 2 open compliance buy out spots, a top 5 pick, good prospect cupboard, unlimited cap space, and owners that claim to be willing to spend to the cap every season.

Based on all that I can't give him a B. He hasn't really impressed yet but it is very early to tell. His moves where he looks bad are Raymond, Engelland, and Bollig and despite being stuck with those for 3 years it's not like they are going to kill us. Diaz and Setoguchi will be gone before we know it. The draft is too early to tell but I hate that we took a goalie so high and expected us to add a right handed defense man to our stable with one of our second round picks

I'll give him a wait and C

[Enoch Root]

Nice job putting that together, Devo.

I don't have much to add because I pretty much agree with everything you said. I am not concerned about the Raymond or Engelland contracts - you overpay for UFAs and they both create competition that the kids have to overtake.

And I don't have a problem with Bollig either. But the next point covers him.

I think Treliving's biggest failure so far is that he under-estimated what he had here. Can't blame him, a lot of people did. Thinking that he had a 30th place team and a long rebuild ahead, he brought in Bollig, Engelland and Raymond to fill out the roster and keep the other teams honest. I have no problem with that, and agree with the strategy.

Fortunately (and unfortunately with respect to his report card), the Flames and their prospects are much better than he anticipated. And now he has a couple more vets around than he would like. However, that is a vastly superior and much preferred problem to the opposite, which would have been an empty roster and a reliance on kids that weren't yet ready.

So I give him a pass on it.

All in all, I like him with the media and I think he is an intelligent and patient guy, so I am on board. But not enough has happened yet in order to really judge.

[Timbo]

Great post,it mirrors my observations on our GM

[TorqueDog]

Considering our salary cap situation, I don't mind that Treliving made a couple of ... we'll call them 'risky' signings. We probably wouldn't hit the cap floor without them, and by the time we need to start signing our prospects to bigger and better contracts, those old contracts will be off the books one way or another.

[GioforPM]

I have a hard time blaming him for Raymond or Engelland since there was a bidding war for both guys. We needed a D, and I guess you'd have to look at who else was signed to match against Engelland. Raymond came off a good year and had mostly good years before that, too.

I think the Bollig trade he got taken, but it happens. Maybe he should have let Burke do the trading (wasn't it Burke who got a 2nd for Berra?)

[Mony]

I agree with most if not all of your points, devo. Nothing to hate about those contract extensions, Brodie and Hartley are A+s. The ones who didn't get resigned are good moves. Jonas Hiller is a good signing for your reasons provided. I also like Acolaste, Thiessen, and Potter even though those are just small moves. I had doubts about Mason McDonald and Hunter Smith at first, but they're starting to impress me, particularly the latter. I like everyone we acquired in the 2014 draft class. Also loving the Drew Shore for Corban Knight trade.

Moves that leave a bad taste in my mouth are Mason Raymond's contract and Deryk Engelland's. Setoguchi and Diaz were low-risk low-reward so they're alright. Not a fan of flipping a 3rd round pick for Bollig. Those are the only things about Treliving's tenure so far I can say I dislike. Everything else has turned out well imo.

[Scoutski]

Really nice write-up, thank you for this.

I agree with pretty much everything you said as well as what neo said. I think the situation as a GM that he came into was really great, it wasn't high pressure and he really can let things play out without having to make reactionary moves (e.g. big trade to push for the playoffs this season). The jury is out, but I'm happy with how things have been going for sure!

[Oling_Roachinen]

Biggest positive is T.J. Brodie's contract by far. 5 years at under 5M for Brodie is looking like a huge bargain.

Committing 22M to Raymond, Engelland and Bollig - while costing the team a third - is far from ideal.

He was a GM tasked with rebuilding the Flames and that will happen through the draft, where the jury is still completely out on, so I think it's too early to really judge.

Based on what we can judge, I guess it depends on how instrumental Treliving was in getting Brodie signed. There exists the possibility that any GM could have signed him for a decent contract, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Right now I say his positives counterbalance his negative moves and I'll give him an average rating.

[GranteedEV]

Derryk Engelland might be salvageable if we can get a skating, passing #5 to put beside him. Maybe bring up Culkin next year?

Raymond's been real soft, but I feel like he will want to prove to himself that he's an NHLer worth his contract.. he has the heart for it.

[Funkhouser]

Get out of my head!!!!

But seriously, great post.
Although Raymond, Engelland and Bollig haven't been great additions, on the positive none of them have much term (I believe all 3 have 3-year terms remaining on their contracts including this year). Should we decide to buy-out or waive any of the three at some point next season, it will not be a huge burden. I suppose he also deserves credit for that.

He seems to be a very pragmatic GM.

[Parallex]

I think it's far to early to grade him on much yet. There have been some positives and some negatives and they basically cancel each other out. I think after the next draft would be the best time to evaluate how he's done.

[polak]

Whole lot of meh... He hasn't really done much cause he hasn't had the opportunity to. One thing I know is that we WILL miss Feasters drafting. No way Burke and co would have taken a risk on a player like Gaudreau.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by polak

Whole lot of meh... He hasn't really done much cause he hasn't had the opportunity to. One thing I know is that we WILL miss Feasters drafting. No way Burke and co would have taken a risk on a player like Gaudreau.

Good thing Tod Button made the call.

[ComixZone]

I still think people looking negatively at Bollig and Engelland is a mistake. Without those guys in our roster, we're the softest team in the league hands down. While you may argue "who cares", fact is it impacts team chemistry, which is important and something we all talk about as a positive with our team.

Bollig and Engelland, while you may not love them on the ice (I personally am "okay" with both in their very small roles), seem to be part of a positive group. They both work hard, and are both willing to stand up for their teammates (which we have seen).

The big thing that I love about Treliving so far? Patience. He's trusting the process, and it is paying off.

[Erick Estrada]

I'll grade him in a couple of years when there have been some noteworthy moves made. So far it's just been maintaining the course and fill some roster spots with stop gap players as little was expected or required for this season's edition of the Flames.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Good thing Tod Button made the call.

Yep. While Feaster definitely deserves some credit, he sometimes gets way too much credit for the drafts.

I don't have too many problems with Treliving so far. Raymond contract sucks but at the time I thought it was great, so I can't blame him too much for that. Engelland contract is also questionable but he won't be around long-term. The Bollig trade doesn't bother me too much. Chances are that 3rd rounder would never have played a game in the NHL. Obviously it could have been the next Brodie or Johnny, but realistically that probably won't happen.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by polak

One thing I know is that we WILL miss Feasters drafting.

it depends on whether Todd Button and the scouts can still do their thing under Treliving like they could under Feaster. Feaster himself said that he let the scouts make the call at the draft and look at what that got us. The 2011 draft is a thing of beauty in its entirety and both 2012 and 2013 look decent right now too. I think it's no coincidence that Todd Button has outlasted so many GMs already ... that man is good at what he's doing if he's allowed to. Sutter probably interfered too much while Feaster didn't at all, and that's why Feasters draft record looks so good right now.

[polak]

Well I hope that continues.