Brad Treliving holds court with media prior to trade deadline

Just 48 hours prior to the National Hockey League trade deadline, Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving held court with local media in the cozy confines of the Scotiabank Saddledome. The availability didn’t contain many news bombshells and seemingly served to calm things down a bit.

Here’s a quick rundown of what Treliving had to say in his last media availability prior to the trade deadline.

Mike Smith (lower-body) is still day-to-day. The IR assignment is just to open a roster spot. Kris Versteeg (hip) is skating and they should have a more definitive timeline for him within the next few days. He’s currently week-to-week. Micheal Ferland’s injury is an upper-body issue, but not expected to be long-term.

Price tags are quite high in the trade market right now.

On looking to recoup the draft picks they’ve traded away: “We’re always looking at certain things.”

Treliving noted that the organization has several open contract spots on their 50-deal limit which should allow them to pursue college free agents (the team has a few identified) or to sign Adam Fox. They currently have 46 active contracts, so they can add four more without going over the limit.

Responding to a question about the team performance, Treliving noted that some individuals have performed below their potential. He expanded a bit on this on a subsequent question:

Treliving mentioned that the club will be upgrading an AHL-contracted player to an NHL contract. He joked that the player is in Pyeongchang rather than Stockton right now, which means it’s Olympic bronze medalist Cody Goloubef. He’s a 28-year-old right shot defender who has 17 points in 34 games with Stockton this season playing primarily in their top four behind Rasmus Andersson. He gives the team some veteran right-shot depth, along the same lines of Dalton Prout.