The Calgary Flames made huge waves last month acquiring Tyler Toffoli from the Montreal Canadiens a month ahead of the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline. And while Toffoli was many Flames fans’ dream acquisition for this team, Treliving might not yet be done making moves this season.
It’s been heavily reported that the Flames are still trying to acquire Ben Chiarot (which is not the best idea). One way we can try to to predict what the Flames might do this week is by looking at the types of deals that both Treliving and Sutter have made in the past.
Deadline deals under Treliving
While 2019 was really the only other all-in year that the organization has had since Treliving took over there are still some key patterns in the types of moves that the Flames have made the past few years.
2021
| To CGY | To FLA |
|---|---|
| Emil Heineman 2022 second-round pick | Sam Bennett 2022 sixth-round pick |
Last season, Treliving made one of his biggest deadline trades since joining the Flames by finally letting go of 2014 fourth overall pick Sam Bennett, in exchange for essentially two second-round picks. While Bennett has gone on to have a career year in Florida this season, this trade was still crucial to the Flames landing Toffoli as Emil Heneman was part of that trade.
2020
| To CGY | To LAK |
|---|---|
| Derek Forbort | 2021 conditional fourth-round pick (Jackson Blake) *CAR |
| To CGY | To CHI |
|---|---|
| Erik Gustafsson | 2020 third-round pick (Wyatt Kaiser) |
| To CGY | To SJS |
|---|---|
| Future considerations | Brandon Davidson |
Treliving was fairly active in 2020 trading away two future picks for depth defencemen Derek Forbort and Erik Gustafsson. Unfortunately both players were immediately gone following the Flames’ first round exit in the bubble against Dallas.
2019
| To CGY | To LAK |
|---|---|
| Oscar Fantenberg | 2020 conditional fourth-round pick (Juho Markkanen) |
Like in 2020, Treliving traded away a mid-round pick for a depth rental. Considering the the Flames finished as the top team in the Western Conference in the regular season, Treliving not really making a big all-in move can be looked at as one of the reasons that team faced the tragic end it did. This is espeically tragic when you consider how close he was to landing Mark Stone at the deadline that year.
2018
| To CGY | To OTT |
|---|---|
| Nick Shore | 2019 seventh-round pick (Tyler Angle) *CBJ |
While cheaper than the depth rentals previously mentioned above, Nick Shore only played nine games in Calgary and then spent a year in the KHL before playing parts of the 2019–20 season in Toronto and Winnipeg. Luckily he only cost the team a seventh-round pick.
2017
| To CGY | To OTT |
|---|---|
| Curtis Lazar Mike Kostka | Jyrki Jokipakka 2017 second-round pick (Alex Formenton) |
| To CGY | To ARI |
|---|---|
| Michael Stone | 2018 conditional fifth-round pick (Akira Schmid) 2017 third-round pick (Stuart Skinner) *EDM |
In three seasons with the organization, Curtis Lazar totalled 15 NHL points. Mike Kostka played 15 games in Stockton, and Michael Stone has spent the last few years primarily as a seventh defender. In 2019 Stone was also bought out by the organization and then shortly after was re-signed. All this to say that this was another one of Treliving’s more mediocre deadlines.
2016
| To CGY | To DAL |
|---|---|
| Jyrki Jokipakka Brett Pollock 2016 conditional second-round pick (Dillon Dube) | Kris Russell |
| To CGY | To MIN |
|---|---|
| Niklas Backstrom 2016 sixth-round pick (Matthew Phillips) | David Jones |
| To CGY | To FLA |
|---|---|
| 2016 second-round pick (Tyler Parsons) 2018 fourth-round pick (Demetrios Koumontzis) | Jiri Hudler |
| To CGY | To VAN |
|---|---|
| Hunter Shinkaruk | Markus Grandlund |
Luckily, the 2016 NHL Trade Deadline is probably the second best one that Treliving has had. He seems to do much better during deadlines where he is acting as a seller. As in this case he was able to turn three players who are no longer playing in the NHL into Matthew Phillips, Dillon Dube, and Tyler Parsons, who at the time was a very promising goalie prospect.
2015
| To CGY | To VAN |
|---|---|
| 2015 second-round pick (Rasmus Andersson) | Sven Baertschi |
| To CGY | To WAS |
|---|---|
| 2015 second-round pick (Jeremy Lauzon) 2015 third-round pick (Jens Looke) | Curtis Glencross |
The 2015 deadline is one that might actually be Treliving’s strongest. He was able to move out Curtis Glencross who would only play one more year for two early-round picks, and turned a struggling Sven Baertschi into Rasmus Andersson who has been a key to the Flames’ success this year.
It’s also worth noting that the second round pick that was part of the Glencross deal was then used to acquire Dougie Hamilton.
Treliving despite being always reportedly involved in the biggest deals of the year leading up the trade deadline has never really made any huge deadline acquisitions. His biggest trades have all come in the summer. When only looking at his deadline trades, he’s also done his best work as a seller. So if you’re expecting Treliving to make some huge deal this week you might want to start thinking otherwise.
Deadline deals under Darryl Sutter as GM
It’s worth also looking at the types of deadline deals that Daryl Sutter made as GM between 2003 to 2010. Especially since this last offseason made it very clear that Treliving is taking Sutter’s personnel recommendations very seriously.
Like Treliving, the majority of Sutter’s deadline trades were also for older depth rentals. His biggest deadline trade was the Olli Jokinen trade in 2009:
| To CGY | To ARI |
|---|---|
| Olli Jokinen 2009 third-round pick (Josh Birkholz) | Matthew Lombardi Brandon Prust 2009 or 2010 (Flames option) first-round pick (2010 – Brandon Gormley) |
Aside from the Jokinen trade, Sutter didn’t really make any big memorable splashes at the deadline, choosing to make his biggest trades at every other point of the year.
Many of Sutter’s biggest trades took place between the start of January and mid-February like the 2010 Dion Phaneuf, and Jokinen trades, as well as the 2007 Craig Conroy, and Chuck Kobasew trades. Sutte, like Treliving, also liked to make many of his other trades in the summer as opposed to at the deadline.
What should Flames fans expect from Treliving and Sutter
Given both of their deadline pasts, it’s pretty safe to say that Toffoli was their big swing this season. There is still a decent chance though that they do go after some cheap depth rental as they have many times in the past. You can also expect to see either one of the Flames 2022 second-round picks this year or their 2023 third and fourth round picks being part of any of those deals if they do end up happening.
