cross16

Well 3rd change sort of.. Would be his 3rd GM job I think a lot of his success was that he inherited a really good team. A few good picks and trades for sure but not a good enough GM to warrant the culture IMO. Plus like Sak said 67. Time to go a new direction if Treliving isn't the guy.

I get it really sucks but I don't think this guy is wrong. Last season was very much the accumulation of what Treliving had spent years building. He probably finally felt like he had it and I have a really hard time critiquing him for thinking that way.

I don't get the sense the owners meddle or don't trust BT, in fact I think it's the opposite. I also don't agree that structure of deals don't matter to the person who signs the cheques so I think it's very reasonable for an owner to want to know when they are paying a player and how. I don't get the sense that Edwards was that involved in the negotiation but he likely was getting regular updates and approving certain structure and deals but that's very typical for an owner to do. It's not atypical for an owner to need to give approval to big money contracts or big money trades. My gut/sense of how it works in Calgary is likely Owners set mandate for team in consultation with the GM (ie are we competing, spending, who we brining in etc). GM lays out plan but ownership has final say Treliving left to operate on the day to day so long as plan is followed. if plan needs to be changed (ie buyout a certain player, trade a certain player or change window of contention), that would be presented to ownership for an ok. I wouldn't call that meddling and a lot owners run it this way. The only thing that I think is ripe for criticism is the we need to win every year mandate that this organization appears to have. he shouldn't be. Guy ran a toxic culture in Anaheim.

I don't know if a buffer is what is needed. I mean i'm personally in favor of the hockey ops to GM model for great stability and consistency but King and Burke have both been here and things were generally the same. The only upgrade to Burke is we didn't wind up with a Jay Feaster hire. I'm not sure if it's toxic, if it's toxic I don't think good hockey people (Burke, Treliving, Conroy, Brad Pascall) would stay or work here. I think this is a very hands on ownership group and probably more hands on than the should be but I don't think it's at a toxic level no. I'm probably a lot to blame for this but I do think too much focus is being put on "ownership" and start to blame them for a lot of problems. I think they are probably more hands on than the should be and I don't agree with their mandate of be good every year but at the same time it's their cheque book not mine and they don't' act that differently than many other owners across the league. I wish they'd take a step back but I also don't think they are necessarily "bad" owners either. But I so wish they would go back to a President of hockey Ops model.

I mean he is a "lame duck" already given only 1 more year under contract but Im' pretty sure the Flames don't work that way. They don't seem too concerned about the lame duck idea. I still dont' think the decision changes for me. You can do a whole lot worse than Treliving IMO so if the Flames want to go in a different direction I still ask the same questions. Who is it and what are they going to do differently? I'm fine with a new leader but I don't personally think we are at the "anyone is better than Treliving" stage. If you are going to make a change it better be the right one and IMO the talent pool looks thin out there. I'm just skeptical a new GM is going to produce different results unless the process and or mandate changes.

Was asked earlier and I wasn't 100% but to confirm yes any new team would inherit his arbitration case. Which is why working a sign and trade is beneficial to all parties.

Unless the Flames hit a home run in the trade it's going to be awfully hard to picture this team in the playoffs. Signing an over 30 year old center just to maybe sneak into the playoffs is an awful strategy. I'm not even sure a "home run" would be enough.

Well to be fair locally this has been known for a while. Eric Francis, Boomer, Pat Steinberg they've all been hinting all week that Tkachuk wasn't coming back. They just can't be as direct. Just didn't get picked up but only so long you can keep that under wraps.

pretty hard to "pull the trigger" when the other side doesn't say ok.

Well and without any trade protection it is in his best interest to work with the Flames rather be sent somewhere he doesn't want to be. I know he holds the trump card of the 1 year deal but what if a GM got desperate and thought they could convince him. Tkachuks' wastes a year

Florida is probably the best fit just due to Anton Lundell. That's the type of return that would actually get me excited/optomistic. I don't think any of the other teams on that list have a prospect like at and definitely not a center prospect like that.

Been almost a 2 year long roller coaster. I thought this org was in trouble with poor fits, roster etc. The have a great off season, great season, look like they are finally putting it together for a promising looking 3-5 years and then this... Cancelled the arena deal in the middle of it too. Just... damn.... it's hard to put into words how crappy this is.

It's helpful but outside of St Louis those destinations leave a lot to be desired in terms of what the Flames can get back in return though. Florida - Have a hard time seeing them being involved due to the cap. Flames would have to take Bobrovsky i think. anton Lundell would be a must for me and would be a wicked piece to have but the cap feels very challenging here. Vegas - Similar to above cap makes this tough. Shea Theadore is really the only central piece that could make sense. Their young players and prospects suck. Nashville - They can pull this off but do they want to? This would be a big futures deal for Nashville Dallas - Makes a ton of sense but unless Jason Robertson or Ottinger are involved it really doesn't look good. This is lining up to be St Louis or bust I think.

Interesting theme here. Likely shows you what Tkachuks' motivation is here. also worth nothing there isn't 1 Canadian team on this list.

If he made his decision then yes it would be very reasonable to expect Gaudreau to let the Flames know earlier. I happen to also think it's perfectly reasonable to suggest that Gaudrau likely was torn on this, saw it as a tough decision and took his time to make it. I don't' blame him for that but I see no reason why we should assume he made the decision earlier and not assume that there was a large part of him that wanted to be in Calgary. And while I could be wrong I just don't see how the Flames knowing pre draft changes anything.

I don't think this is a surprise but this is the first writer/insider to voice this, out side of a few Calgary media members. Article is free to read. Says St Louis, Vegas, Florida, Nashville and Dallas are options for Tkachuk. Jersey and Rangers have inquired in the past.

There is a big difference between using tools available to you within the CBA and the organization choosing to have their own policy. The Flames are well within their right to set whatever deadlines and policy they want but it comes with risks. For example it was previously a policy of the Flames, early on in Treliving's tenure, that they would not grant NMCs. They since changed it because they were losing players. If the Flames want to put their own deadline in place then go ahead. What i'm pointing out though is you need to then be prepared for the potential risks that go along with that because after all the deadline is "fake". I also don't see why people think it would have changed where they sit today.

Personally i don't get this Flames should have put a deadline in place idea. There was a deadline in place so are we putting an artificial one in? What is the plan then if the agent blows past that deadline (which he should) and calls your bluff? Were you prepared to lose Gaudreau over an artificial deadline and then find out that had he been given a few more days he might have changed his mind?

Its a fair question and it's obviously what jumps out when you read that. It matches what Steinberg has been reporting that he thought they were close on a deal last summer. As I've said, I still view this as an organizational failure because if you were not trading Johnny that means you saw him as part of your core and you need to lock up your core, or trade him. They had time to better review this but I do wonder about that too. What were the trade offers? Was ownership ok with him being traded? At the same time I've heard rumors that Johnny was asking for 9 mill last summer. Now today that feels like a no brainer but if had had of signed for 8 X 9 last summer how would everyone have felt about that given it was 2 seasons in a row since he had been close to a PPG player. End of the day it sucks to lose him but with the way it played out I blame the Flames less and less, especially given they got a deal done and only had Gaudreau and his agent change their mind. But it's really hard for me to get mad or point fingers when there is so much to this we don't know.

Conundrumed is the Detroit guy so I feel bad answering before him... All i will says is I think the decision to rebuild or take your time is a little easier to make when you were gifted a fully taxpayer funded arena.

Everyone "knew" Gaudreau wanted to be closer to family but yet he: Engaged in extension talks last summer Publicly declared multiple times he wanted to stay Never asked to be traded Engaged in a long term deal this summer Reached a verbal deal with the Flames prior to FA this year Yes there was always a risk the pull out East would win out but at the same time acknowledge that there were plenty of signs that he wanted to stay too and if I were the Flames I totally get it. Yes they gambled, yes the took a risk and yes at the end of the day it didn't work out but I don't think we should pretend to act like they were fighting a losing battle all along.

Well the Dome ice isnt' that great so that's a problem first off. But a new arena is more than just the fan experience. There is the locker room, parking, player facilities/lounge, weight and training room etc all of which are not very good at the dome. I don't know if you've been in the Flames dressing room, but it is tiny and really tiny when you look at the more modern buildings. There is also basically nowhere nice that the players can just hang out in either (like a lounge area that again most modern buildings have). They've tried their best to keep the weight room up to par but there is only so much they can do there too. Not to mention, no practice ice facility or team facility either like some teams do. I can't imagine this is on the top 1 or 2 things a player needs but I absolutely think it matters when you are trying to figure out where you want to spend the bulk of your career. It also doesn't help, as Sak mentions, that 2 deals to get a new one have fallen apart.

Johnny Gaudreau with a letter to Calgary and Flames fans

I love the player but I wonder if the flames would even go down this path again. Whomever agent came up with the increased final year salary is a genius. Just gives tremendous leverage to the player. I'm not really sure why Barzal - Tkachuk would be on the table but I really wonder if the Flames would even go that route if it was. If it was on the table, the Islanders should add for sure.

It’s hard to see how this plays out because while it’s easy to say send him where ever Tkachuk has leverage here. If he doesn’t like the destination then he’s taking a one year deal and going UFA. Maybe you get a GM desperate enough not to care but I think to maximize the return you likely need to send him somewhere he wants to be and will extend with. hopefully that’s enough to credit a bidding war. Based solely on talent, age etc this should Be a massive deal where the flames receive 3-4 pieces at minimum but I could also see it going a different way and the return being a let down. Really depends on how much Tkachuk and his camp engage in the process