Reasons the Flames should move on from Brad Treliving

Brad Treliving is without a contract, and according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, it’s not a sure thing the Flames re-sign their general manager. In lieu of this news, here are the reasons for not signing Treliving to an extension:

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And that’s about it. There are none. There is no logical reason to move away from Treliving. He had a bad draft in 2014, sure, but he was fresh on the job and has had two dynamite ones since then in 2015 and 2016. He hasn’t solved the goaltending situation yet but he sure tried by bringing in two established NHL goalies in both Jonas Hiller and Brian Elliott – having them both implode in front of his eyes. He’s signed some bad contracts – Engelland, Bouma and Brouwer namely – but every GM falls victim to such deals; Treliving isn’t alone and his replacement probably wouldn’t be any less prone to it.

He’s built a playoff team that’s on the verge of being a legitimate contender in three seasons, and is entering an offseason with cap space and flexibility to vault the Flames to that next level. He was brought in to successfully rebuild the Flames and it looks like he’s well on his way. They’ve made the playoffs in two of three years, and unlike 2015, the 2017 showing wasn’t a fluke (despite the sweep) and they’ll likely be right back there in 2018.

Letting Treliving walk would be the single stupidest thing this organization has done since… maybe ever. And they’ve done some stupid things. He has his warts, but who doesn’t. The positives overwhelm the negatives and if Brad Treliving isn’t the general manager of the Calgary Flames on July 1 (or whenever his contract expires), the organization would erode my trust to a point where I’m not really sure it could ever recover.