Brad Treliving Is Unexpected, but Viable Option for Penguins GM
Does Brad Treliving have a chance to be the next general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins?
The next couple of months will be a busy time behind the scenes of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization as Fenway Sports Group searches for a new front office staff.
FSG fired the likes of Ron Hextall, Brian Burke, and Chris Pryor from their respective positions, and are set to cast a wide net in looking for the Penguins next management group.
While names like Kyle Dubas, Eric Tulsky, and Sam Ventura will look the most attractive (and rightfully so), there’s another name that could be seen as a viable option.
Brad Treliving and the Calgary Flames recently agreed to part ways making one of the longest tenured GMs in the NHL a free agent.
The Flames hired Treliving in 2014 and were regularly one of the best teams in the Western Conference, including five trips to the postseason.
Their postseason success wasn’t much to write home about, but the Flames have been dealing with a tumultuous locker room, an unclear team culture, and a battle for a new arena pretty much all of Treliving’s tenure.
Despite the downsides of the organization, Treliving did everything he could to build a winning team and had quite a few homeruns in terms of team construction.
After losing the sweepstakes for Johnny Gaudreau, the direction of the Flames wasn’t certain, but Treliving made it clear they weren’t hurdling to a rebuild.
Sure, they lost Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Matthew Tkachuk, but Treliving brought back Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar via trade.
Treliving wasn’t done with just trades, though, as he managed to pen one of the biggest free agents of the 2022 offseason.
Fresh off of a Stanley Cup victory, Nazim Kadri signed a seven-year contract worth $7 million annually.
The Flames season ended in very similar fashion to the Penguins’ in that they just barely missed out on the postseason despite having solid talent in the top half of the lineup.
A lot of the Flames’ issues this year boiled down to their head coach, Darryl Sutter, who doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
He may not follow the analytical approach FSG might be aiming for, but Treliving knows how to build a good hockey team.
A team built by Treliving but coached by Mike Sullivan has the chance to be a much bigger success than what was seen in Calgary.
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