Flames GM Treliving looking to add scoring punch as trade deadline nears

Calgary Flames General Manager Brad Treliving appears ready to buy.

He’s poking around to see who might be selling. And he’s got his list in hand.

“If we can find a way to help our team we certainly want to. It probably dovetails into the next question, in what area?” Treliving said on Flames Talk on Sportsnet 960 on Tuesday.

“But certainly trying to add some more scoring to our team would be an area we’re looking at.

“That’s both internally… we’re starting to see some guys that hopefully they continue to trend the right way and find the back of the net, but if there’s an area we can help ourselves there bringing in some offence, and stick with our identity here, that’s certainly something we’re going to keep pounding the market on.”

It’s no secret the Flames boast one of the NHL’s top trios in Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm. Gaudreau owns a share of sixth in league scoring, with Tkachuk slotting in at 25th best. Lindholm, the anchor of the trio, is in a tie for the 57th spot.

But depth scoring has been an issue in Calgary.

Outside of Andrew Mangiapane’s share of the team lead with 20 tallies, only one other player on the roster has hit double-digits in twine denters. Blake Coleman has exactly 10.

It’s been why the Flames have been linked to the likes of Montreal Canadiens sniper Tyler Toffoli and all-round offensive threat J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks.

“You’re balancing everything,” Treliving said. “It’s taken time here, but I think we’ve built some organizational depth. You have to balance that with where those people could help you, but then also looking outside and looking into the marketplace, which we’ve been doing over the last little while to see if there’s a deal out there that can help us. We’ll continue to look at that.”

What type of player might Calgary go after at the trade deadline?

General manager Brad Treliving joined #Flames Talk with @Fan960Steinberg and @MattRoseYYC.

Subscribe to the pod for the entire interview!

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Both Toffoli and Miller have term remaining on their current contracts, and venturing into the pure rental market hasn’t necessarily been Treliving’s tone during his tenure.

It’s something he won’t rule out this time around, though.

“I haven’t necessarily been a big rental player, if you will, in years past,” Treliving said. “In a lot of cases, a lot of its price-dictated, giving up a lot of assets for players you feel could be very short term.

“I think we’d be open to, whether it be avenues of players with term depending on how the deal works, or the rental market. We’ve investigated and have been nibbling in both markets at this particular time.”

He should be.

The Flames sit second in the Pacific Division in terms of points percentage, and with a swath of expiring contracts set for this summer, it could be time for Treliving to go all-in.

“When he’s saying that he wants to add, that usually means you’re doing well,” Calgary forward Milan Lucic said Wednesday. “But what I’ve learned, you can’t control management decisions. You just have to go out there and keep playing, keep trying to help your team win.

“That’s up to the management to make the right decisions and as players we’ve got to play and we get to do the fun part.”

So far that plan has worked.

The Flames, of course, are in a position to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing the mark last year.

Additional scoring depth, by way of Toffoli, Miller, or another, could put them comfortably in the playoff picture.

And poised for some of that elusive postseason success.

“You take your cues from your team,” Treliving said. “We have a lot of work to do. We aren’t where we want to be yet. We’ve shown we have a really good team. Certainly if our team is trending the way I expect it to, we want to add to our team. We’re having those discussions now, and if we can find a fit, if we can find something to help move us along, we certainly want to do that.

“Certainly my preference and my goal is to add to this group and give us some support as we move forward here.”

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