Flames Report Cards: Brad Treliving

Well, with the signing of Noah Hanifin’s new contract last week, it appears Brad Treliving’s summer To-Do list has finally been completed. Obviously the work never stops for an NHL GM, but Hanifin was the last big thing Tre had to do this summer.

Now we can finally get to his off-season report where we’ll list all of his offseason moves, provide our grades, then give you a chance to vote on his offseason.

Our Individual Grades

MGMacGillivray: (A) You’ve got to admire the (Mike) stones on Brad Treliving. If things aren’t going well or his team has any problems, he won’t hesitate to make big moves. It was clear going into this offseason that major change was needed in Calgary. A new coaching staff, a big trade, and a few notable free agent acquisitions were a big part of Treliving shaping the core of the Flames this summer. Signing Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm to long-term contracts could prove to be a very valuable move in a few years. James Neal is a fantastic addition to the top six, and Derek Ryan and Austin Czarnik should bolster the depth in the bottom six. Very happy with the moves this summer.

MilhouseFirehouse: (A) There’s much to be said for how busy the front office is after a disappointing season or two; there’s also much to be said about the way they go about being busy. There’s a panic mode where change is being made for the sake of change and moves are being made to simply get the disappointment out of sight and out of mind, and there’s a methodical, well-thought out proactive approach to not just shipping out the bad, but bringing in real tangible improvements to replace it. The coaching staff was a no-brainer, and he happened to bring in three of the new head coach’s favorites from his old job along too.

That conundrum in the Top 4 on the blueline was solved logically by moving out the top asset you could actually get something for (Hamilton), in the attempt to restore the lowest asset that you couldn’t get a bag of pucks for (Brodie) to former glory. He finally got past the lucid dream of 6 games in 2015 and came to the realization the Ferland isn’t a Top 6 (nevermind RW1) talent. He signed one of the leagues proven finishers to some serious term in Neal, and he got a smoking deal on Hanafin compared to what comparables like Skjei and Ristolainen are raking in. Whether it all gels as an on-ice product or doesn’t, we haven’t had any boring offseasons under Treliving, and that’s worth a solid grade all on it’s own.

GordieTaylor: (A-) It takes a big person to admit their mistakes, and Brad Treliving did a lot of that this offseason. Buying out Troy Brouwer was an important move, freeing the cap space to sign Noah Hanifin to an absolute steal of a deal. He shipped out Dougie Hamilton, his franchise changing draft day 2015 acquisition, who for whatever reason just couldn’t make it work in Calgary off the ice. The return for Hamilton and Ferland was spectacular, improving the teams top 6 (specifically the right side), while restructuring the team’s top 4, with T.J. Brodie rejoining Mark Giordano, and Noah Hanifin looking to help Travis Hamonic Bounce back.

Treliving also had the best free agent signing period of any team who didn’t win the John Tavares sweepstakes. James Neal will compete with Elias Lindholm to play on the right side of the coveted Johnny-Mony line, while Austin Czarnik and Derek Ryan add even more scoring depth to a team who’s bottom six was abysmal in 2017-18. A draft devoid of any significant picks is the only serious black mark on this offseason, especially considering Oliver Wahlstrom and Noah Dobson were up for grabs at the Flames number 12 spot.

Our Final Grade: A

Click here if you can’t see the poll.

by Michael MacGillivray