Brad Treliving's 5 Best Trades as Flames GM – Hockey Writers – Flames History

Brad Treliving was less than a week away from reaching the nine-year mark as the Calgary Flames general manager (GM). He was hired in April 2014 after the team had missed the playoffs for five consecutive years. During his time as GM, the Flames made the postseason five times and finished with the second and third most points in franchise history. All that, and they won two playoff series.

It's true that Treliving could only be responsible for a lot, but he was responsible for how the team looked on the ice year after year. We'll take a look at all of his best and worst trades as GM in nine years and how they all worked out for the Flames.

Treliving's Best Trades with Flames

March 2, 2015

We'll start back at one of Treliving's first trades for the Flames, which turned out to be pretty good. Many of these business plans by the former general manager worked well in the long run, and his writing played a big role. The first good trade came in 2015 when the Flames traded Vancouver Canucks Sven Baertschi for a 2015 second round pick, which they got Rasmus Andersson.

Andersson's importance to the team goes without a doubt as he is the Flames' best defenseman, spending 24 minutes of ice per game and scoring six goals and 15 points in 26 games. He played 482 regular season games for Calgary, scoring 42 goals and 215 points. He is under contract for one year and $4.55 million. Where is Baertschi? He played only 225 games for the Canucks from 2015 to 2020, scoring 58 goals and 110 points. But he fell in 2019, playing most of the next three seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) before playing in the National League overseas.

June 26, 2015

The next big trade didn't come long after that as the Flames traded a 2015 first round pick (Zach Senyshyn) and two 2015 second round picks (Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson & Jeremy Lauzon) in exchange for Dougie Hamilton from the Boston Bruins. It looked like a big comeback for the Bruins at the time, but the trio played in just 119 games for Boston. Sonyshyn is the best AHler, Karlsson hasn't been in the NHL since 2018-19, and Lauzon moved on to a few teams since he last played for the Bruins.

Hamilton, on the other hand, played three solid seasons for the Flames as a 20-year-old, scoring at least 12 goals and 43 points in each season. He was a big part of the next trade we will discuss.

June 23, 2018

Jump forward three years, and the Flames traded for Hamilton but got an excellent return in the process. The trade with the Carolina Hurricanes included sending Micheal Ferland, Hamilton, and Adam Fox (signing rights) in exchange for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin. Ferland did as expected for the Hurricanes, but he only had one season with them. Hamilton had a slow start to his first season with the Hurricanes but returned to form. The team then lost him freely. The final piece of that trade, Fox, has never played a game for Carolina, and it looks like he has a specific team he wants to sign with.

On the Flames end, they got two very productive players who were with the team until the 2024 Trade Deadline. Lindholm came in right after the trade and in 418 games with the Flames, he scored 148 goals and 357 points. He also finished second in the Selke Trophy in 2021-22 while receiving votes in three more seasons with the Flames. The two-way player was the top center for the Flames. He was traded to the Canucks. Hanifin has gotten plenty of opportunities in Calgary and has become a solid linebacker over the last few seasons. He was also sold on the 2024 Deadline.

July 28, 2021

Jump forward three years again, and we come to just three years ago when the Flames made a great under-the-radar trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. In this trade, the Flames received Nikita Zadorov in exchange for their 2023 third round pick (Aidan Thompson). The Blackhawks draft prospect has yet to sign a contract but has been nearly a point-per-game player in the NCAA this season.

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In 177 games after being acquired by the Flames, Zadorov did his job very well. He played big and big, and took a big step forward in 2022-23 with 14 goals, more ice time and commitment, and more blocked shots. He was traded to the Canucks in Dec. 2023.

February 14, 2022

The fifth and final major trade Treliving made during his tenure as GM came before the 2023 Trade Deadline. The Flames, who eventually won the division and advanced to the second round of the playoffs, acquired Tyler Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens before the trade deadline and traded Tyler Pitlick, Emil Heineman, a 2022 first-round pick (Filip Mesar), and a fifth-round pick of 2023.

The Flames weren't just trading for a rental, as Toffoli still had two seasons left on his contract at the time. He performed as expected for the Flames after being acquired, scoring 11 goals and 23 points in 37 games but leading the team in goals and points this season and was one of the standout players throughout the season. Pitlick played 14 games for the Canadiens, Heineman only appeared in 28 NHL games, and while Mesar showed promise, it's too early to tell and he wouldn't be able to give the Flames anything close to what Toffoli has.

Treliving's Worst Trade With Flames

February 20, 2017

Treliving has had a good first couple of seasons without a fault that we can look back on and criticize. But his first was when the Flames acquired Michael Stone with two draft picks. The picks were 2017 third rounder (Stuart Skinner) and 2018 fifth rounder (Akira Schmid). Skinner was a Calder Trophy finalist in 2022-23, and Schmid could have been if he had played more games. Although the Flames don't need many goals right now, the value of each one is huge right now.

Stone was a productive and reliable defenseman for the Arizona Coyotes before the trade and it hasn't been the same since. He played one full season in Calgary the following year after the trade but played just 127 games in the five seasons after that, mostly as a seventh defenseman. He signed a couple of one-year deals, but it wasn't worth what came out of the two picks.

June 24, 2017

Just a few months after the first disastrous trade of Treliving's tenure as GM of the Flames, he made another one, to tackle the defense. This was also unsuccessful and it would have benefited the Flames a lot right now if it didn't succeed. Calgary received Travis Hamonic and a 2019 fourth-round pick (Lucas Feuk) for a 2018 first-round pick (Noah Dobson), a 2018 second-round pick (Ruslan Iskhakov), and a 2019 second-round pick (Samuel Bolduc). ) from the New York Islanders.

Hamonic was nothing special for the Flames, spending three seasons with the team, and the player they acquired in the fourth round was nothing. But for the Islanders, Dobson is a good young player and a big part of their team right now, while Bolduc is playing for New York in the playoffs in 2023. As for Iskhakov, he is still in the Islanders program.

April 12, 2021

Treliving was careful and didn't make any more mistakes like he did in 2017 until four years later. The Flames looked real last season and before a strong season, they started building a different roster. Sam Bennett, the former fourth overall pick, hasn't shown much in terms of playing up to his draft position, and the Flames have had enough. They sent Bennett and a 2022 sixth-round pick (Gustav Karlsson) to the Florida Panthers for Emil Heineman and a 2022 second-round pick (David Goyette).

Bennett immediately flipped the switch and turned his entire career around. He scored six goals and 15 points in the remaining 10 games of the 2020-21 season and has amassed 83 goals and 171 points in 240 games with the Panthers. He's been a solid contributor in Florida's top six since the trade, and Calgary still has one of their two possessions.

July 22, 2022

The first bad trade Treliving made in a few years somehow started a snowball effect. In the offseason of 2022, the Flames were facing a big problem. Johnny Gaudreau opted not to re-sign, and Matthew Tkachuk planned to play one final year with the Flames at most. This happened after the aforementioned division title and second round appearance. Tkachuk appeared to be forcing himself to leave town for the team he wanted to play for when Treliving made the move. The Flames traded Tkachuk and a 2025 fourth-round pick for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a 2025 first-round pick. The return of a star…or so we thought.

What looked like a great trade for the Flames if they could extend Huberdeau and Weegar, which they did, fell apart before the new contracts came into effect. There are no complaints for me about Weegar, unless he has established an impact role in the game as he has done for the Panthers in previous seasons. Huberdeau and Sutter did not get along well, and the winner had his worst season, recording the largest drop in points from one season to the next in NHL history. Tkachuk had an MVP-caliber season for the Panthers, and if it weren't for Connor McDavid, he had a good shot at winning the Hart Trophy in 2023. Schwindt also has a fair chance, but a first-round pick was used to throw away. contract, which we will come to next.

August 18, 2022

The disposal of Sean Monahan was not good for the Flames and it worked for the Canadiens. He had fallen behind in previous seasons as the team's middle infielder and may have been spending more time on the fourth line or on injured reserve (IR). Making more than $5 million in one last season, the Flames decided to free up his cap space by clearing it, and trading a first round pick for future consideration. While it may be a late first-round pick by the time 2025 rolls around, the Flames aren't quite sure how to make that happen.

Although Monahan has been injured for much of the season, the team has found a second-line center that has bounced back. The Canadiens fell off when he went on IR, so his absence made a big difference. He had a great 2023-24 follow-up season with 35 points in 49 games before the trade deadline. The Canadiens traded him to the Winnipeg Jets, giving Montreal a 2024 first-round pick. Calgary freed up money to acquire dwindling veterans.

Are there any tradeoffs you think should be made here, good or bad? Let me know in the comments.