Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brad Treliving

Latest On Pittsburgh Penguins Front Office Search

at CDT | by 12 Comments

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in for a busy offseason, replacing key front-office fixtures after missing the playoffs for the first time in almost two decades. In addition to yesterday’s reporting on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ intention to hire two separate people for the roles of general manager and president of hockey operations, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun expanded in detail today on the current status of Pittsburgh’s search to fill their vacant roles.

LeBrun relayed previously corroborated reports from league sources that the Penguins have conducted initial Zoom interviews with potential candidates for the general manager role, with this number set at around a dozen. From this group, Pittsburgh has begun the process of narrowing down individuals for in-person second-round interviews for the job.

LeBrun has now confirmed seven individuals who were part of that complement of about 12. Among them is Los Angeles Kings senior advisor Marc Bergevin, Carolina Hurricanes assistant general manager Eric Tulsky, St. Louis Blues VP of hockey operations Peter Chiarelli, Buffalo Sabres associate general manager Jason Karmanos, and three members of the New Jersey Devils organization: senior vice president and assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon, assistant general manager Kate Madigan, and director of player development Meghan Duggan. There are two other likely candidates that LeBrun could not confirm, Tampa Bay Lightning assistant general manager Mathieu Darche and Seattle Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill, who previously held the same role with Pittsburgh.

Some candidates from the first round of interviews were informed today that they are no longer being considered for the positions, LeBrun said.

Also in line with previous reporting, LeBrun mentioned the Penguins expressed interest in including Brad Treliving, the former general manager of the Calgary Flames, in their first round of interviews. However, the Flames denied permission, given Treliving’s expiring contract with the team legally expires on June 30.

As for a president of hockey operations, LeBrun also linked the Penguins to former Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka. Chayka held his post with the Coyotes from May 2016 to July 2020, when he abruptly resigned before the start of the delayed Stanley Cup Playoffs. The NHL later suspended Chayka from working in the league for the entire 2021 calendar year after he pursued other league opportunities while still under contract with Arizona. It also later came to light that, under Chayka, the Coyotes had held an illegal private scouting combine for eligible draft prospects in direct violation of league rules, resulting in multiple pick forfeitures for Arizona.

Surprisingly, the reason for the uncertainty about Chayka’s potential involvement with the Penguins isn’t due to his concerning NHL history – rather, LeBrun reports Chayka could have additional NHL opportunities available to him outside of Pittsburgh.

Flames Reportedly Denying Teams Permission To Speak To Brad Treliving

at CDT | by 4 Comments

When the Flames and Brad Treliving parted ways at the end of the regular season, it seemed likely that his name would surface in the rumor mill before too long, especially with there being a vacancy in Pittsburgh while other teams have been looking to add to their front offices.  However, that hasn’t been the case.

That said, there appears to be a reason why Treliving’s name hasn’t come up as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that the Flames do not want to grant other organizations permission to speak to Treliving until his contract expires.  Even though the announcement that he wouldn’t be back with Calgary came in mid-April, his deal technically doesn’t come to an end until June 30th.

This is a technicality that comes up many times when executives or coaches are no longer with a team (either by firing or, as has come up more recently, mutually parted ways).  Any other team that wants to interview that person officially still has to get permission to speak to them from the organization they no longer work for.  That generally happens without a hitch but as Calgary is still paying Treliving, the Flames are within their rights to do this.

It’s possible that this has to do with the fact that the draft is coming up next month.  Having worked for the Flames throughout the season, Treliving would have been a part of scouting meetings and Calgary might not want to let any information about their strategy, scouting reports, or things they’ve learned about draft-eligible players get to another team this close to the draft.

While an inquiring team – Pittsburgh or otherwise – could make a request to interview with the caveat that Treliving wouldn’t begin in his new role until after the draft, that’s not necessarily the easiest promise to make with there being so little time between the end of the draft and the opening of the free agent market.  The draft finishes up on June 29th and the new league year begins less than 48 hours later which doesn’t leave much time for Treliving to join an organization and be ready to have an influential role when the free agent frenzy begins.  Similarly, another team could ask to interview Treliving with a promise that he won’t be involved in the draft but that’s quite difficult to enforce.

Accordingly, assuming that Flames ownership doesn’t have a change of heart in the coming weeks, Treliving won’t be able to pursue a new position until the 2023-24 league year opens up in July.  At that point, it’s fair to wonder if there will be a spot for him to pursue at that time.  Last month, his decision to leave Calgary raised some eyebrows.  Now, the delayed process of that actually happening is also drawing some attention.

Oliver Kylington Expected To Re-Join Flames Next Season

at CDT | by 2 Comments

TSN is reporting that Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney stated Monday that defenseman Oliver Kylington will re-join the team next season. Maloney made the announcement this afternoon at a Flames press conference and stated that he was excited to see the Swede coming back to Alberta. The former second round pick didn’t play in Calgary this season and wasn’t with the team as he was dealing with a personal matter.

Kylington was very effective for the Flames in 2021-22 as he set career highs with nine goals and 31 points in 73 games playing alongside defensive defenseman Chris Tanev on the second pairing. His breakout season led the Flames to re-sign the Stockholm native to a two year $5MM contract extension in August 2022.

With Kylington returning it could make for an interesting shuffling of the deck chairs on the Flames back end. Calgary is just $1.25MM under the 2023-24 salary cap without accounting for Kylington’s cap hit. His return will most certainly put the Flames over the salary cap and require them to move out a player or two.

Calgary might already be interested in moving out some players given the year the team just had missing the playoffs. The Flames made huge moves last summer and was expected to compete for the Stanley Cup, but instead ending up parting ways with general manager Brad Treliving and firing head coach Darryl Sutter. The Flames have no shortage of tradeable assets and could move a couple of their pending unrestricted free agents this summer should they decide to rebuild or retool their roster.

Calgary Flames, Brad Treliving Agree To Part Ways

at CDT | by 25 Comments

The Calgary Flames and general manager Brad Treliving have mutually agreed to part ways upon the conclusion of his contract this season, the team announced Monday. Calgary has promoted Don Maloney to president of hockey operations, and he will serve as the interim general manager.

Interestingly enough, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that Darryl Sutter’s job as head coach appears to be safe. Seravalli said it’s “fair to say” that Sutter’s continuation in his role influenced whether Calgary would re-sign Treliving.

Treliving had been with the Flames for nine years, during which he led the team to five playoff appearances. With the team massively underachieving this season after a transformational offseason, though, it was decided mutually that a new direction for both Treliving and the Flames was the right choice.

Maloney has been serving as senior vice president of hockey operations with the Flames for the past five seasons. He has previous GM experience in the NHL with the Coyotes, serving in that role from 2007 to 2016.

Calgary says Maloney’s appointment to the role is not permanent, and the interviewing process to find a new general manager will begin immediately.

For the Flames, it’s a chance to start a whole new regime on and off the ice, save for Sutter momentarily. With former core pieces Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, and others gone by the wayside, along with noncommital answers on their future from Mikael Backlund and Elias Lindholm, there’s a chance for even more significant roster turnover in the near future.

Treliving is a very well-respected person in NHL front office circles, and, despite a disappointing end to his lengthy tenure in Calgary, should have no trouble finding another NHL role soon. Calgary Sports and Entertainment CEO and president John Bean gave a statement on Treliving’s departure:

It’s a difficult day when you must part ways with a quality colleague and friend. 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 Manager to build on Brad’s work and lead our team to the Stanley Cup.

Latest On The Calgary Flames

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Calgary Flames were a team with plenty of potential after perhaps the busiest offseason of any team, replacing their dynamic duo of Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk with well-rounded additions that included Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and Stanley Cup winner Nazem Kadri.

However, the team has struggled with consistency this season. Currently sitting in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, questions are swirling around what moves the Flames will make to improve their roster before the March 3 trade deadline. Today, TSN’s Chris Johnston talked about what he’s heard about Calgary’s deadline plans.

According to Johnston, Flames general manager Brad Treliving has been looking to bolster the team’s forward group “throughout much of the season.” Johnston says that could come with a top-six forward in mind, unlike the team’s depth additions at the deadline last year.

It’s a thought process likely sparked by the disappointing offensive output of Huberdeau, who’s scored just 10 goals and is well south of a point-per-game pace with 36 in 51 appearances.

There have been some positives among Calgary’s current group of top-six forwards. 24-year-old Dillon Dube is seeing an increased role alongside Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli, and he’s responded with a career-high 33 points in just 54 games.

Jakob Pelletier has also been elevated alongside Kadri and Huberdeau at times. However, he has just one assist in eight NHL games as his minutes remain limited under head coach Darryl Sutter.

He also notes that Treliving could also explore adding a defenseman to shore up their blue line. They could use a more well-rounded partner for Nikita Zadorov on the third pair, as veteran Michael Stone is averaging just 13:07 of ice time per game and has posted poor advanced defensive numbers.

Johnston said he thinks the front office is “as perplexed as the rest of the hockey world” about Calgary’s ups and downs this season. The team has had hot stretches, but they’ve largely been immediately wiped out by losing streaks. As a result, they’ve sat on the fringes of a playoff spot after finishing first in the Western Conference last season.

Given their somewhat uncertain standing in a tight Western Conference wild card race, it makes sense that Calgary would take a wait-and-see approach with eight games left to play before deadline day.

Johnston does believe the team will ultimately make a move. Still, spending assets on an addition could be premature if the team can’t string together wins to solidify a playoff position.

Snapshots: Flames, Cicek, Brickley

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Calgary Flames had one of the wildest offseasons we’ve seen in quite some time, watching two 100-point players go elsewhere and bringing in three All-Star-level talents to try and replace them. It hasn’t gone perfectly, with Jonathan Huberdeau especially looking a little uncomfortable with his new team, but things are starting to move in the right direction.

At least, that’s what general manager Brad Treliving explained to Sportsnet’s Eric Francis in a long Q&A. Treliving also admitted that the team is still on the lookout for a top-nine forward to add to the group, though hinted that it could be an internal candidate. Jakob Pelletier, the 21-year-old first-round pick from 2019 continues to score at a high rate in the minor leagues but has yet to receive an opportunity in the NHL.

  • The yo-yo session continues for Nick Cicek, who was recalled again by the San Jose Sharks today. That’s already three transactions since the month began for the young defenseman, who is getting his first chance at the NHL level and has four points in ten games so far.
  • Daniel Brickley, once a hyped college free agent signing by the Los Angeles Kings, will continue his career with the famous MODO Hockey in Sweden’s second league after a move from Vasterviks IK today. Brickley, now 27, played five games for the Kings in the years following his excellent career at Minnesota State-Mankato but quickly found himself falling down depth charts and toiling in the ECHL. He left for Sweden this season and has scored 28 points in 31 games so far.

West Notes: Flames, Blues, Pettersson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Flames have had a busy summer up front with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri coming in to help replace Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk.  Even with that type of turnover at the top of their roster, GM Brad Treliving told Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link) that the team is still looking to add to their forward group for next season.  Calgary is one of the few teams that still has a bit of salary cap flexibility with a little over $2MM in space, per CapFriendly with RFA center Adam Ruzicka still to re-sign and Cody Eakin already in on a tryout.  While Treliving won’t be able to add an impact forward with what space he has left, an upgrade to their bottom six should be on the table.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Blues GM Doug Armstrong has acted quickly to extend Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou but don’t expect that to be the case for any other of their pending free agents. As NHL.com’s Lou Korac relays (Twitter link), the current plan is to let the season play out and then see what they can do on the extension front.  Veterans Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko highlight their list of pending unrestricted free agents but with the raises for Thomas and Kyrou a year away from coming into effect, they’re going to have a hard team keeping their veteran core intact.
  • The Canucks are leaning towards using Elias Pettersson back at center this season instead of keeping him on the left wing, notes Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. Head coach Bruce Boudreau feels that Vancouver’s additions up front – including wingers Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko – give them the potential for three scoring lines.  If Pettersson does indeed shift back down the middle, that will only boost his value heading into extension talks next summer as centers often cost a premium to sign long-term.

Calgary Flames Re-Sign Trevor Lewis

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Calgary Flames have re-signed a forward but it isn’t the one that fans want. General manager Brad Treliving confirmed to Salim Nadim Valji of TSN that Trevor Lewis will be back next season. Treliving added that the team is signing goaltender Oscar Dansk and re-signing Nick DeSimone. Chris Johnston of TSN reports that Dansk will be signing a one-year, two-way deal worth $750K at the NHL level and $300K in the minor leagues.

Lewis spent his first season in Calgary last year, notching six goals, 10 assists, and 16 points in 80 games. Although limited to a fourth-line role, the veteran of 810 NHL games is a favorite of head coach Darryl Sutter from his time in Los Angeles. He’ll likely reprise the same role as a fourth-line center/right wing as the Flames try to navigate post-Johnny Gaudreau life. At this point in his career, he’s purely a defensive specialist, but he does provide legitimate value in that regard.

Dansk, of Vegas Golden Knights lore, joins the Flames after a solid season in the KHL with Spartak Moscow, where he managed a .910 save percentage and 6-6-1 record. With a long track record of AHL success prior to that with the Chicago Wolves, Dansk gives the new AHL team in Calgary a strong one-two punch in net with top prospect Dustin Wolf.

DeSimone, while maybe not high on the organization’s list of potential call-ups, was a minute-muncher for Stockton last season. He’ll move with the organization up to Calgary and continue to play an important role in developing younger Calgary defensemen in the organization.

Latest on Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk

at CDT | by 17 Comments

There’s a significant sense around the league that teams are rushing to get their salary cap situations cleared up before the start of free agency next week. Moves like the Tampa Bay Lightning trading Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for spare change and the Minnesota Wild moving early on a Kevin Fiala deal are evidence of that.

Now, another team is joining that list of really trying to make headlines in the near future. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the Calgary Flames are making “every effort” now not only to re-sign top pending unrestricted free agent forward Johnny Gaudreau but also restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk.

While most of the public talk has centered around Gaudreau’s status, it makes sense that general manager Brad Treliving would want to get these deals done in a short window. Playing on the same line, Gaudreau and Tkachuk helped propel each other to career seasons. The Flames are likely hoping that keeping the two together will keep their level of play from declining after this season.

Finances are also a huge part of this equation too, though. Gaudreau and Tkachuk are surely bound to take up a gigantic chunk of Calgary’s offseason spending limit, likely at least $16MM of it. With a long list of other players to re-sign and/or spots to fill via free agency, Calgary needs a clear picture of how much cash they’ll be able to devote to players like Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington while still fielding a cap-compliant squad.

With Tkachuk’s value through the roof after his 40-goal, 100-point season and Gaudreau likely able to net eight figures on the open market, Treliving faces his toughest challenge yet as GM in Calgary in order to keep this year’s Pacific Division champions at the top of the Western Conference.

Snapshots: Flames Negotiations, Wright, Brossoit

at CDT | by 15 Comments

The Flames’ season may be over, but the work for their front office is only just beginning. Not only is the beating heart of their franchise, Johnny Gaudreau, a pending unrestricted free agent, but they also have potential future captain Matthew Tkachuk as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent who is inching closer to his own unrestricted free agency. The next month is set to be one full of crucial negotiations for the Flames, and according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the team would like to begin those as soon as possible.

Friedman reports that the Flames will move “aggressively” to extend those two players, in order to have a quick understanding of “what the landscape is” in terms of their futures. The Flames can hardly be blamed for their urgency, given the importance of both Gaudreau and Tkachuk to everything they have been building. Flames GM Brad Treliving has previously said that he would “move heaven and earth” to retain Gaudreau, and one has to assume he will carry that same attitude towards retaining Tkachuk. But as is the case with most contract negotiations in the NHL, Treliving’s “heaven and earth” will likely take a backseat to the most important factor: dollars and cents.

Now, for some other bits of news from across the NHL:

  • Before free agency can begin, there is another major event on the NHL’s calendar that will need to be completed: the entry draft. We previously covered how it’s not a guarantee that Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright will go first overall to the Montreal Canadiens, and there is now another development regarding that connection. Friedman reported yesterday that the Canadiens’ brass led by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes will meet face-to-face with Wright at the NHL combine. Just as making the first overall selection comes with a lot of opportunity so comes a lot of responsibility, and the interactions between the Canadiens and Wright could go a long way towards making the team feel more comfortable in his projection if he does end up the number-one pick.
  • Injuries proved fatal for the Golden Knights this past season, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in their franchise’s history. One of the Golden Knights still dealing with an injury is goaltender Laurent Brossoit. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Brossoit had hip surgery and that the team is “hoping” that he will be available for the start of next season. With starter Robin Lehner already recovering from his own surgery and the late-season breakout of Logan Thompson in mind, it’s clear that Vegas’ future in net is anything but settled.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top