Flames GM Treliving won’t return next season after 2nd missed playoffs in 3 seasons | CBC Sports

Brad Treliving has left the Calgary Flames after nine seasons as general manager, the team announced Monday.

The Flames, in a release posted to the team’s website, said the two sides agreed to mutually part ways.

The 53-year-old from Penticton, B.C., was in the final year of his contract with the Flames.

Don Maloney, who served five seasons as vice president of hockey operations, has been promoted to president of hockey operations and will serve as interim general manager. The team says the search for a new GM will begin immediately.

“It’s a difficult day when you must part ways with a quality colleague and friend,” Flames president John Bean said in a statement. “We are grateful of Brad’s contributions over the past nine years and wish him every success in his future, both personally and professionally. But for our fans and our business, we need to move forward, and we are confident with Don’s experience that we will find the right general manger to build on Brad’s work and lead our team to the Stanley Cup.”

Calgary made the playoffs five times during Treliving’s tenure, and reached the second round in 2015 and 2022. The Flames fell short of the playoffs this season, however, with a 38-27-17 record.

The Flames went 324-238-58 under Treliving and twice topped the Pacific Division with 50-win seasons (2019, 2022).

Treliving inherited Bob Hartley as a head coach and hired four: Glen Gulutzan, Bill Peters, Geoff Ward and Darryl Sutter.

Unafraid to make big trade

Sutter previously coached the Flames from 2002 to 2006 and was GM from 2003 to 2010. The Flames hired him again in March of 2021 when Ward was fired.

Treliving wasn’t afraid of chasing big fish with large cheques, or making blockbuster trades.

His most recent headliner was dealing Matthew Tkachuk to Florida for Jonathan Huberdeau and signing free agent Nazem Kadri last summer.

The Flames invested a combined $133 million US and 15 contract years in Huberdeau and Kadri.

Treliving also got goaltender Jacob Markstrom under contract in 2020 for six years and $36 million.

Among his other notable moves was signing forward Johnny Gaudreau out of college in 2014, and trading Calgary’s first-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft to Montreal to get Tyler Toffoli.

Treliving, the son of Boston Pizza chain owner and “Dragon’s Den” regular Jim Treliving, was vice-president of hockey operations and assistant GM with the Phoenix Coyotes for seven seasons before arriving in Calgary.

Calgary looked like a contending team on paper this season.

The acquisition of Huberdeau and Kadri was anticipated to fill the void when Gaudreau departed in free agency and Tkachuk wanted out.

But forwards Huberdeau and Kadri were well off their career-high points of last season. Sutter demoted Kadri to his bottom-six forwards late in the season.

Calgary’s goaltending was average at times, which wasn’t anticipated with Markstrom and backup Dan Vladar projected to be among the better NHL tandems, and Markstrom given more rest this season.