The Newsy Neighbour Magazine
December Issue #110
By Jock Wilson of JockTalk
Flames general manager Brad Treliving is a
really nice guy!
What's the old saying? Nice guys finish
last.
While some may argue two and half years is
not enough time to honestly assess the job Treliving has done in Calgary, we
are coming to a point where we have to ask the question.
Has he done a good job? Has he made the
Calgary Flames better? Is he a good judge of character and talent? Is he a good
negotiator?
When Treliving took over the Flames on
April 28, 2014, he took over a salary cap friendly team with a youthful core
already in place. That core was Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Mikael Backlund,
TJ Brodie and the veteran Mark Giordano.
The facts are, every team in the NHL has a
great core of 5 or 6 outstanding players. The Flames core will improve with
emerging talent of young players like Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. Treliving
was the GM who selected these players and hopefully the organization will also
hit home runs with the likes of young defensemen Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington.
Naturally, the GM takes the credit for a good (and bad) drafting record, but
really that credit should go to the scouts and director of amateur scouting. So
for the sake of this article, we are not going to dissect the draft record of
this general manager. The bottom line is, the Flames core is no better or no
worse than the 29 other teams in the NHL; it's maybe in the middle of the pack.
It's the supporting cast that can make you or break you as a top 10 manager.
The Calgary Flames had
an amazing first year under Treliving. They made the playoffs and actually won
a playoff round, losing to the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. Flames fever
was on fire and the first year general manager could do no wrong. He would have
beaten Naheed Nenshi for mayor. Heading into 2017, I don't think Nenshi has to
be concerned.
Year two was the exact
opposite. The Flames floundered with poor goaltending. They missed the playoffs,
finishing 12th in the Western Conference and 26th overall. Coach of the year
Bob Hartley was thrown under the bus and fired for a kinder, gentler, nicer
Glen Gulutzan.
What's the old saying? Nice guys finish
last?
Maybe it's not fair to judge Gulutzan and
his assistant Dave Cameron two months into the season, but the record speaks
for itself. Bad power play, bad penalty killing and a fragile team. This is all
a direct result of coaching, if you believe the team is good enough to win. Herein
lies the problem.
The Flames are not good enough to win. This
falls on the general manager and this is why Brad Treliving receives a failing
grade.
In the off season, Treliving addressed the
Flames’ awful goaltending situation. While Brain Elliott has not lived up to
expectations, we can all agree Elliot and Chad Johnson were an upgrade. But who
created the mess in the first place? It was Treliving who signed Jonas Hiller
and then re-signed Karri Ramo.
Treliving was given huge props for
acquiring Dougie Hamilton from the Boston Bruins for a first and two second
round draft picks. Is it just me or does Hamilton remind you of Dion Phaneuf? At
least Phaneuf had a good shot because both players are mentally and physically
lazy. At times this season, Hamilton has been demoted to the third pairing and
that's not a good bang for the buck when he's making $5.75 million a season.
I also find it curious that Freddie
Hamilton was acquired by Treliving a few months after the Boston trade and this
past year was rewarded with a 2 year, one way contract. Makes you wonder if the
brothers were part of a package deal for Dougie to sign in Calgary? Not a lot
of people in Boston were shedding a tear when Hamilton was traded and maybe now
we know why?
Would Treliving have the confidence (or the
stones) to trade the 23 year old defenseman now? It certainly is a hot topic on
the rumour mill.
Treliving has made some good trades. Sending
defenseman Kris Russell to Dallas for Jyrki Jokipakka, prospect Brent Pollock
and a 2nd round pick was a solid move for a player on an expiring contract. Sending
Jiri Hudler to the Florida Panthers for a 2nd and 4th round pick was also value
at the time. The unfortunate thing with Hudler under Treliving's watch, is that
he allowed Bob Hartley to take away his "A" and leadership role less
than a year after winning the Selke trophy. Hudler was never the same player
after that and you have to wonder if it had to do with some lost respect for
the organization?
Brandon Bollig goes into the bad trade
category. A salary dump by Chicago and Calgary was stuck with a slow 4th line
player who is now being paid 1.25 million dollars to play in the minors.
The jury is still out on the Markus
Granlund trade to Vancouver. Hunter Shinkaruk may be a Calgary kid, but for me
Granlund gave the team more substance, speed and skill. He wanted to be a
difference maker.
It's also curious the organization gave up
on players like Paul Byron, Josh Jooris and Joe Colborne. Michael Frolik and
Troy Brouwer may be sexier names, but they're still role players (not top 6
forwards) making way too much money. After working so hard to get out of salary
cap jail, the Flames are once again up against it.
Every general manager in the NHL has made
his share of mistakes. We all make mistakes. The good GM's are able to limit theirs.
Let's not kid anyone - Mason Raymond, Devin Setoguchi, Brandon Bollig, Jonas
Hiller, Paul Byron and Nik Grossman have been mistakes.
Are the Flames really better off with a
supporting cast of Freddie Hamilton, Alex Chiasson, Kris Versteeg, Linden Vey
and Hunter Shinkaruk?
Personally, I believe Brad Treliving
requires more time to show his true ability as GM. As we all know, there is no
such thing as a quick rebuild in the NHL and the Flames are finding that out. A
general manager should be allowed 5 years to execute his plan.
Right now, the Calgary Flames are an
average team. They are not trending in the right direction. Obviously it's not
all Brad Treliving's fault but it is happening under his watch. If I was
grading on a curve, I might be kind and give him a C minus. Nope, he gets a big
fat "D"!
Let's see what he does in the next 2 and a
half years!
About Jock Wilson:
Jock has been involved in the Calgary sport media scene for over 30 years. He hosts the
Calgary Stampeder football broadcasts on Newstalk 770 and is the host of
Sportstalk from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
Email: jock@am770chqr.com
Twitter: @sportson770
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