The Calgary Flames announced that the organization and general manager Brad Treliving mutually agreed to part ways.
The #Flames and Brad Treliving have mutually agreed to part ways.
Don Maloney has been promoted to President of Hockey Operations and will also hold the position of Interim General Manager.
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) April 17, 2023
Trevlings’s contract was set to expire on June 30th. The Flames also announced that Don Maloney will be promoted to the President of Hockey Operations. In addition, Maloney will serve as the interim general manager until a new general manager is found.
Flames Press Release: “It’s a difficult day when you must part ways with a quality colleague and friend,” said CSEC President and CEO John Bean. “We are grateful for 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.”
The move comes a week after the Flames finished a disappointing season by missing the playoffs with a record of 37-28-17 record. This is the fifth time over the past 10 years the Flames have missed the playoffs.
Many felt the Flames had a chance to win their second straight Pacific Division title. Treliving had a busy off-season following the Flames second-round loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After Johnny Gaudreau left via free agency and Matthew Tkachuk wanting to be traded, Brad Treliving had to rewrite a narrative that players did not want to play in Calgary. Thus Treliving traded Tkachuk to Florida in exchange he got Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar in return.
Treliving also signed Nazem Kadri to a seven-year, $49 million deal in free agency. Not to mention he extended Huberdeau to an eight-year $84 million deal and Weegar to an eight-year, $50 million deal.
NHL Rumors: Will the Flames bring back GM Brad Treliving and coach Darryl Sutter?
Both players had disappointing seasons compared to their previous ones as they found new roles under head coach Darryl Sutter. But like the rest of the team, they were too inconsistent for the Flames to have a chance to make the playoffs.
All eyes turn to the head coach. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, all indications are that Darryl Sutter will return as head coach of the Flames next season. Sutter has a new extension that kicks in.
Treliving took over from Brian Burke in 2014 and spent eight full seasons as the general manager in Calgary. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Flames ownership was trying to extend Treliving during the same period of signing Sutter to an extension as well.
“My understanding is that Flames ownership also had extension talks with Treliving at around the same time, before the season, and for whatever reason those talks didn’t produce a deal. I believe both sides mutually agreed to talk again at some point.”
This is just the first move in what could be another busy off-season for the Calgary Flames