Brad Treliving says Flames are 'not in a position of strength' to trade out of slump
Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving isn’t going to panic because of his team’s slow start.
He’s not going to trade everyone. This is because he understands he currently has little leverage.
“The easiest thing to suggest when you’re struggling is, ‘OK, go make a trade.’ When you’re at a situation like us, you’re not in a position of strength to go out and start making deals,” Treliving said in a phone interview with Puck Daddy. “Teams don’t get two weeks into the season and think, ‘OK, we have to make a whole bunch of changes now.’”
Recently a Sportsnet article said “Treliving is willing to talk about a very big deal if he can find one.” The story mentioned Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos as a possibility for Calgary.
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But Treliving doesn’t see one player, even one as talented as Stamkos, as a cure to Calgary’s 1-5-0 start. A year ago the Flames made the playoffs based off a team effort and not off the strength of one superstar.
“Do we look at every aspect every day? Sure. But that’s not to say we’re rushing out to do something or not do something. But ultimately there isn’t a White Knight that’s going to walk through the door tomorrow and save us,” Treliving said. “It has to be the group we’ve brought here finding a way to get back to playing – number one being much, much more competitive for 60 minutes than we have. Winning puck battles, defending the right way, managing the puck better, playing quicker, creating more in the offensive zone. Those are the types of things we have to get back to. Not necessarily wait around and say, ‘Let’s click our heels and hopefully somebody shows up tomorrow and saves us.’”
When asked if he could put his finger on the problem, Treliving listed broad ranging issues. So far this season, Calgary has been outscored 25-12 by their opponents. The team placed goaltender Karri Ramo on waivers. Center Sean Monahan who had 31 goals last season has two scores and three points in six games. He is a minus-7. Captain Mark Giordano has one goal and is a minus-6.
The Flames’ Corsi-for percentage 5-on-5 is 45.8 percent according to Puckalytics. Fourth-worst in the league.
“I think it’s far-reaching,” Treliving said. “In a general sense we haven’t created enough offense and we’ve given up far too many chances against and quality chances, so we haven’t been sound defensively. And vice-versa, we haven’t sustained anything offensively or created anything offensively on a regular basis. So we haven’t played well enough, long enough to give ourselves a chance.”
Does Treliving have confidence in coach Bob Hartley? Last season Hartley won the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach. But slow starts can sometimes doom even the most established of bench bosses.
“Of course I have confidence in Bob. Bob was the coach of the year last year,” Treliving said. “We’re six games into the season. He hasn’t forgot how to coach. To me this is a player thing throughout our lineup right now – and all of us. All of us need to be better. The manager needs to be better the players need to be better, the coaches need to be better. All of us need to take our part in this and find a way to get out of it.”
Part of the disappointment comes after a summer of activity where the Flames made moves to improve their roster. The biggest was a draft-day trade with the Boston Bruins for defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
The hulking blueliner has just one goal and is a minus-6 in six games.
When asked about Hamilton’s game, Treliving lumped him in with the rest of the team as a struggling player needing to figure out his path.
“I would say like the majority of our group, he’s better than what he’s shown at this point,” Treliving said. “He’ll tell you that. I think there’s a couple of things and an adjustment period that any new player goes through going to a new situation.”
Last season the Flames made the playoffs for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The team wasn’t expected to succeed until this season at the earliest. Is it possible Calgary took their success a year ago for granted? Treliving hopes that’s not the case.
“Is there subconsciously a, ‘Let off the gas?’ I don’t know. But if we did this certainly should be a kick in the (butt) to sort of say, ‘There’s no reason why we should have any of that mindset,’” Treliving said. "We’re a team that number one, needs to work for everything it gets. Whatever we’re going to create or whatever success we’re going to have is going to be based upon number one, how hard we play. And I want to see that relentlessness that has been missing here for part of the season. We have to become a more confident group.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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