Flames GM Brad Treliving defends Calgary with some strong words
The Calgary Flames may have been beaten and bruised since the start of free agency, but GM Brad Treliving says he never even considered giving up. Treliving lost star Johnny Gaudreau in free agency, while fellow Star Matthew Tkachuk made it clear he had no intentions of signing a long term deal with the team. It left Treliving on the wrong end of trade negotiations, but he scored big, picking up Johnathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar and other assets in a trade with Florida. Throughout the process, the city of Calgary took a beating as it seemed no star players wanted to stay there. Treliving is not at all happy about that.
"The city has taken some body shots. Quite frankly it pisses me off," Treliving told reporters Saturday. "It's a wonderful community. We've got a top team in the league. People have the right to pick and choose where they want to go but as a community and org we do not have to apologize for anything."
As for the shock of losing two star players in succession, Treliving said he's doing what he can.
"You can crawl into the fetal position and suck your thumb. Or you can deal with it. We're going to deal with it."
When questioned by reporters, Treliving insisted Tkachuk's decision to leave Calgary had nothing to do with Gaudreau signing elsewhere. He said they aren't tied together at all. Tkachuk is expected to address the media in Florida on Monday.
Treliving also said at the news conference that this was the first sign-and-trade in NHL history. Calgary, Florida and Tkachuk's camp negotiated a new deal together, which Tkachuk signed and was then moved to the Panthers.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Samuel Girard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Oliver Kylington | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||