How has Brad Treliving pulled this off? The Calgary Flames have completed their summer-long rebuild by signing former Colorado Avalanche center Nazeem Kadri to a 7-year deal.
What an offseason it has been for the Calgary Flames and their GM Brad Treliving. From potential losing their two franchise superstar players for nothing to now having an even deeper and more frightening team in the wake of the Tkachuk trade and Kadri signing is truly remarkable. And all the credit has to go to Brad Treliving.
He was on the brink of being fired once news broke that Matthew Tkachuk wanted out of the team only a few weeks after Johnny Gaudreau freely walked out of Calgary in free agency to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Calgary was looking at another long, painful rebuild while Treliving a long, painful time in the unemployment market.
That’s how bad this offseason nearly went for the Flames.
Remarkably, Treliving was able to correct his Gaudrau mistake (for losing him for free) by fleecing the Florida Panthers for 115-point scorer Jonathan Huberdeau (who laso led the NHL in assists with 75), breakout defensive star MacKenzie Weegar, forward prospect Cole Schwidt, and a lottery protected 2025 1st-round pick.
In other words, Florida traded their 115-point scorer and longtime alternate captain, a Top-4 defenseman, a promising young forward prospect, and a future 1st-round selection in either 2025 or 2026 (if Florida is in the lottery in 2025) for a 26-year-old 104-point scorer (mind you, last season was his first 100-point season). This may end up being as bad as the Matt Duchane deal.
Anyway, if the Flames offseason stopped there, I don’t think too many Calgary fans could have complained. If I was a Flames fan, I know I would be thrilled to get Huberdeau and Weegar back for Tkachuk.
Nevertheless, Treliving really wanted to secure his tenure as he not only signed Huberdeau to a 7-year extension, but also dumped the Sean Monahan contract in order to sign the biggest name left on the free agent market, Nazem Kadri.
Sean Monahan, the longtime center of this team, was so beaten up and injury prone that his body literally gave out on him last season as he put up career worsts in goals (8), assists (15), and points (23).
Even though he was the destined “future of the franchise” and alternate captain of the team, the Flames had to offload his $6.375M contract sooner rather than later. That’s why they supposedly (it’s not official yet) also gave up a 1st-round selection to the Habs for them to take Monahan.
Therefore, with a little over $7M in cap space available, Brad Treliving and the Flames snatched Nazem Kadri away from the Islanders and signed the 2022 Stanely Cup winner to 7-year, $7M deal that will keep him in Calgary until he’s 39.
Life must be tough as an Islanders fan right now. Not only has the team failed to sign its prized offseason target, but GM Lou Lamoriello has also not signed anyone else. For a team that missed the playoffs to not reshuffle their previous roster (well, aside from the Romanov trade which I’m not sure will help them too much) is bad. T
his will probably end up costing the Isles another year outside the playoffs.
Back to Kadri, will this deal age horribly? Probably. Did the Flames need to make this deal? Yes. Will Kadri propel the Flames back into the playoffs? That’s what Brad Treliving is banking on.
If these moves come together and Calgary has an outstanding year this upcoming season, then Brad Treliving should be up for the GM of the Year award. If these moves fail and the Flames fall out of the playoffs, then I guess Brad’s heading to the unemployment market after all. Only time will tell.
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