Treliving, Flames ownership talked GM extension before season: report

Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving is himself set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

That we know.

The ship-steerer, who joined the Flames back in 2014, did however have talks at signing an extension with the Calgary club’s ownership group back in the summer, according to a report from Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, around the time the team extended head coach Darryl Sutter on a two-year pact.

“My understanding is that Flames ownership also had extension talks with Treliving at around the same time, before the season, and for whatever reason those talks didn’t produce a deal,” LeBrun wrote. “I believe both sides mutually agreed to talk again at some point.”

The Predators and Flyers have made GM changes. Who’s next? A look at other potential situations around the league. My latest:

via @TheAthletic https://t.co/43bgg1K4HJ

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 10, 2023

Treliving initially replaced Jay Feaster when he was hired by Brian Burke on April 28, 2014, ending a five-month search.

The initial pact was a three-year deal, which saw the current Flames GM extended twice, from 2017 to 2020 and again from 2020 through the end of the 2023 season.

Calgary has qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs five times (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022), won the Pacific Division twice (2019, 2021), and advanced to the second round of the playoffs twice (2015, 2022) in eight years under Treliving’s guidance.

Since Treliving’s hiring, the Flames have a regular-season record of 353-262-69 in 684 games played — 15th-best in the NHL.

He’s orchestrated some of the biggest moves in franchise history, including this summer’s blockbuster when he traded star winger Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt, and a conditional first-round pick.

Treliving also moved defenceman Dougie Hamilton, as well as forward Micheal Ferland and prospect — and eventual Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox — to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for top-line centre Elias Lindholm and rearguard Noah Hanifin back in 2018.

The manager landed Hamilton in exchange for a first and two seconds prior to the draft in 2015.

He also parted with a first and two second-round picks to bring in Travis Hamonic from the New York Islanders, and moved struggling prospect Sven Baertschi to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for the draft pick used to select top defenceman Rasmus Andersson in 2015.

Treliving has also signed Nazem Kadri to a seven-year, $49 million contract this summer after all-star winger Johnny Gaudreau walked in free agency, and inked forward James Neal to a five-year, $28.5 million contract in 2018, before eventually flipping him to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Milan Lucic. He also added Troy Brouwer on a four-year, $18 million contract in 2016 before buying out the forward two seasons later.

You might also like: