Anyone questioning this team’s leadership/management?

[super6646]

Now maybe it’s just the anger from the loss that finally put me over the top or whatever, but I’m starting to question whether this room has the fortitude to actually get anything done.

One that in particular that ticks me is the coaching thing. Now this team had already run gulutzan and Hartley out of town in the span of 3 f***ing seasons for entirely different reasons. One was a hardass who hurt peoples feelings, and then the other was too soft who couldn’t “push the right buttons”. Ok, fine. Team brings in peters who isn’t a total psycho but not a softy either, has a great season and a bad playoff run, whatever. However, the team was already tuning him out in YEAR 2 (was reported by Friedman)!!! Coming off a 50 win season and now it’s getting “too hard” to deal with it. So Peters resigns for being a racist and the team and brad gets a mulligan, whatever. Now the team has issues starting on time again... they’ve shown they can have good games, but this most road trip was a goddamn disgrace. They just snapped 2 losing streaks for other teams like it was nothing...

Seriously, what the hell is the delio? Are the guys in the room honestly not able to show up consistently? And yeah, that f***ing includes gio at this point. Even excluding his disappearing act in the most 2 recent postseason appearances, it’s really not a good look on the captain when the team has so much internal turmoil. I definitely question some of his “leadership” when the team can’t bother to show up, when the team runs coaches out of town like nothing, when the team wilts when any expectations are placed on them. It’s been 7 years and running now, when are the results going to show? I’m heading into my 4th decade on this planet knowing the Vegas golden knights have done as much in 2 seasons as a team I’ve cheered for my entire life. It’s a goddamn disgrace...

And if the team just isn’t good enough and or the coaches are really this bad, fingers after to point at the man who build this team and made the decisions. The fact our rw depth is so atrocious after 6 years of being at the helm is more than a little concerning. Only in a city like Calgary can a team like this be considering a contender... woof.

Click to read more...

 

[Mobiandi]

The answer is that Gio and Gaudreau have been duds. Much as people like to say that hockey is a team sport unlike basketball, good luck winning anything without a star forward and Dman.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

This team's "leadership" is fine. Over an 82 game season there will be nights where focus or execution or effort will be lacking. Overreactions about it are cringey.

The issue is entirely usage. When your best players in a game are guys like Kylington or Bennett... they need ice time to make an impact. That's true for anyone. How many times have we seen Monahan or Hanifin have a game with a half dozen chances, but they do not finally break the dam until 19, 20 minutes of ice time? Recognizing the hot hand, or more importantly, recognizing who's going in a given night is a coaching skill.

Hartley had it.
Gulutzan did not.
Peters had it when he first came in, then he abandoned it for "consistency" (which coincided with a sharp dip in play). He wanted consistent lines/pairs but it wasn't what got the team to the top of the standings, his attention to who was going was. Was it any shock the Fantenberg trade was a bust? Kylington was one of our best D last year but got arbitrarily pushed out of the lineup because of a trade, even though he was better than Hanifin for all but a few weeks (and is again this year)
Ward does not have it.

As for management? They waived Paul Byron. They're dead to me.

 

[super6646]

This team's "leadership" is fine. Over an 82 game season there will be nights were focus or execution or effort will be lacking.

The issue is entirely usage. When your best players in a game are guys like Kylington or Bennett... they need ice time to make an impact. That's true for anyone. How many times have we seen Monahan or Hanifin have a game with a half dozen chances, but they do not finally break the dam until 19, 20 minutes of ice time? Recognizing the hot hand, or more importantly, recognizing who's going in a given night is a coaching skill.

Hartley had it.
Gulutzan did not.
Peters had it when he first came in, then he abandoned it for "consistency" (which coincided with a sharp dip in play)
Ward does not have it.

As for management? They waived Paul Byron. They're dead to me.

That goes to my point, who brought in the dud coaches constantly? Brad is the guy who makes those choices at the end of the day...

I'll never see what you see with Bennett, but Kylington's treatment (until recently) was a joke. Guy is by far and away better than Stone and was treated equally... brutal.

 

[Calculon]

Maybe the sky is falling; maybe it isn't. Sometimes good players and organizations have off years and rebound the year after.

Although I will say that continuing to build around wingers is pure folly and the Flames should go hard after Byfield or an equivalent level talent. It's really hard to to go anywhere in this league without at least one premier centreman.

 

[super6646]

Maybe the sky is falling; maybe it isn't. Sometimes good players and organizations have off years and rebound the year after.

Although I will say that continuing to build around wingers is pure folly and the Flames should go hard after Byfield or an equivalent level talent. It's really hard to to go anywhere in this league without at least one premier centreman.

2/3 years have been "off years". The Hammer trade was supposed to be a 3 year window, and outside of 4 months of play it looks like a total dud imo.

I think Lindy-Monahan-Backlund-Ryan is fine down the middle, but we are missing an entire right side. I'd think we have the worst RW depth and top end in the entire NHL. NONE of our goddamn wingers are rhs this year either... woof.

 

[herashak]

i think they just dont have that many smart hockey players, even guys like gio and backlund are killing plays with really questionable decision making. Hanifin, brodie, hamonic, bennett are at best average iq hockey players, gaudreau deserves a mention with how many awful giveaways he has.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I think Lindy-Monahan-Backlund-Ryan is fine down the middle

Why do you think that? Other than Ryan when sheltered against soft comp, none of those guys create in transition. Now Backlund has been adequate in a middle six, 200 foot capacity, but neither Lindholm nor Monahan have shown any ability to center a line in the classical sense of the position, driving transition through all three zones. Nearly every team in our division has playmaking centers who can actually control the game - Pettersson, McDavid, Kopitar, Karlson, Stastny. Over a division, you have guys like Toews, ROR, MacKinnon, Kadri, Seguin.

Lindholm and Monahan have hands to finish players... but neither is someone who can take the puck out of Gaudreau or Tkachuk's hands. And that causes a problem in transition because wingers start breakouts along the walls - they don't have the space in open ice necessary to surgically create. In Tkachuk's case he doesn't have the speed either.

We used to have a center who could do these things. We've seen him do these things. And then we made him a grinding winger like idiots. And watched as his confidence disappeared.

Center's definitely this team's weak point. It makes perfectly adequate wingers like Mangiapane struggle, or worse, we put centers like Backlund or Bennett on wing out of sheer idiocy. Watch how many times a game Mangiapane has to chip and chase in transition because his center, Lindholm, isn't there to make the entry through the middle. Lindholm and Monahan are the RWs you claim we're missing. The problem is that we square peg them into the round hole that is centre ice.

And that, at its core, is the fundamental issue with this team. Everything is along the walls. We're a donut team.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Coaching:
- Hartley was never going to be "Brad's guy" the only reason he got to stick around was taking that team to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
- Gulutzan was an enigma at best but lots of stories coming from the room seemed odd (not talking to the team during intermissions, things like that)
- Peters got a lot out of his guys last season, and seemed like a smart hockey guy. Too bad he is/was a massive dickwad.
- I don't see anything overly inspiring about how Ward has gotten them to play, or utilizing the players effectively. He wants to roll four lines and that's great, but you can't be doing that late in a game down a goal. Or with a one goal lead.

Not sure what this team needs, but I'm starting to feel like they need someone that they respect, and are maybe challenged to be more accountable. One thing that Hartley did was he suspended the three guys who were late for practice - and when you see your coach sit two of your best three players you know there's accountability for your actions.

Players
- Giordano peaked last season and his play will fall off quickly as he ages. That's just nature at work. It's going to continue to get worse, and at some point (maybe already) he's no longer the #1 guy.
- Gaudreau has exactly two moves. Take the puck along the boards and button hook, to look for the trailing guy (doesn't go deep enough into the zone every time) or tries to shoot from the goal line. Neither works and the book is out. He needs someone that can help him with that.
- Hamonic that we got is not the same Hamonic that played on Long Island. He's gone from just over 2.25 hits/game to under 0.9 hits/game. When mom says "We have Hamonic at home" that's the one we have, not the one in the store window.
- The current coaching staff's inability to read performance and adjust is mind bottling. If you must staple Hamonic and Hanifin together, then switch it up and realize that Giordano-Andersson and Kylington-Brodie would be a nice way to change up the pairings. Put one of your top 5v5 scorers (Dad) in the top six where you're clearly lacking right handed shots. Move Mangiapane off the top line if he's struggling for a long stretch. I'm not even sure what to do with Lucic - he shows flashes of ability then completely misreads the play or just disappears. Stapling him to Ryan because "he's better with a RHS" doesn't matter if he's playing like a blind man drives a garbage truck.

Lack of "give a shit" is what plagues this team, not sure if that's on the players, the coaches, or both.

Management
Signing Neal was a decent idea, had it worked. On paper, filled a massive need. Sadly it didn't. Trading Neal for Lucic improved the Flames on-ice, and I continue stand by this sentiment. It was still a stupid trade, cripples the cap situation (contract is buyout proof) for the next 3 years, but at least we get the extra draft pick I guess? If they had sent Neal to the minors at the start of this season, he'd have f***ed off to the KHL by now and be off the books.

The only bad thing about the Hamonic trade is that hindsight is a bitch.

Acquiring Lindholm & Hanifin was a good trade.

Acquiring Hamilton in the first place was a good trade.

Signing Brouwer was stupid, and a rookie mistake.

Buying out Stone to re-sign him at a lower total cap hit was smart.

I think most of his RFA contract extensions have been fairly decent.

Treliving's not been as awful as some of you may think. He's neither been outstanding. Capable is how I'd describe him.

 

[super6646]

Why do you think that? Other than Ryan when sheltered against soft comp, none of those guys create in transition. Now Backlund has been adequate in a middle six, 200 foot capacity, but neither Lindholm nor Monahan have shown any ability to center a line in the classical sense of the position, driving transition through all three zones. Nearly every team in our division has playmaking centers who can actually control the game - Pettersson, McDavid, Kopitar, Karlson, Stastny. Over a division, you have guys like Toews, ROR, MacKinnon, Kadri, Seguin.

Lindholm and Monahan have hands to finish players... but neither is someone who can take the puck out of Gaudreau or Tkachuk's hands. And that causes a problem in transition because wingers start breakouts along the walls - they don't have the space in open ice necessary to surgically create. In Tkachuk's case he doesn't have the speed either.

We used to have a center who could do these things. We've seen him do these things. And then we made him a grinding winger like idiots. And watched as his confidence disappeared.

Center's definitely this team's weak point. It makes perfectly adequate wingers like Mangiapane struggle, or worse, we put centers like Backlund or Bennett on wing out of sheer idiocy. Watch how many times a game Mangiapane has to chip and chase in transition because his center, Lindholm, isn't there to make the entry through the middle. Lindholm and Monahan are the RWs you claim we're missing. The problem is that we square peg them into the round hole that is centre ice.

And that, at its core, is the fundamental issue with this team. Everything is along the walls. We're a donut team.

Haven't particularily focused on Lindy in regards to his ability driving the middle with the puck at ES, but I'll take note of that going forward. He is most certainly capable of it as he is an option on our PP... but I could be wrong. Production was there (until recently) and he had good fancies while also being tasked with other top lines.

Monahan is what he is at this point. Poor mans version of Tavares or Stamkos. I'm not convinced his "2-way game" is better when Lindy (and Backs before) takes harder matchups than him, but those are the cards dealt (also his fancies have been pretty poor as well?). Bennett is way too far gone to be seen as any sort of viable option as a top 6 centre, and imo he is closer to being a reclaimation project for another team than breaking out here. I won't deny him being horribly misused in the past, but the team frankly can't cater opportunities to him when he is pacing for a 15 pt season.

Either way, the team is pretty much screwed if what you say holds up. And while I'd like to say you are just on another mad rant, your record is better than I'd like to believe lol.

 

[super6646]

Coaching:
- Hartley was never going to be "Brad's guy" the only reason he got to stick around was taking that team to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
- Gulutzan was an enigma at best but lots of stories coming from the room seemed odd (not talking to the team during intermissions, things like that)
- Peters got a lot out of his guys last season, and seemed like a smart hockey guy. Too bad he is/was a massive dickwad.
- I don't see anything overly inspiring about how Ward has gotten them to play, or utilizing the players effectively. He wants to roll four lines and that's great, but you can't be doing that late in a game down a goal. Or with a one goal lead.

Not sure what this team needs, but I'm starting to feel like they need someone that they respect, and are maybe challenged to be more accountable. One thing that Hartley did was he suspended the three guys who were late for practice - and when you see your coach sit two of your best three players you know there's accountability for your actions.

Players
- Giordano peaked last season and his play will fall off quickly as he ages. That's just nature at work. It's going to continue to get worse, and at some point (maybe already) he's no longer the #1 guy.
- Gaudreau has exactly two moves. Take the puck along the boards and button hook, to look for the trailing guy (doesn't go deep enough into the zone every time) or tries to shoot from the goal line. Neither works and the book is out. He needs someone that can help him with that.
- Hamonic that we got is not the same Hamonic that played on Long Island. He's gone from just over 2.25 hits/game to under 0.9 hits/game. When mom says "We have Hamonic at home" that's the one we have, not the one in the store window.
- The current coaching staff's inability to read performance and adjust is mind bottling. If you must staple Hamonic and Hanifin together, then switch it up and realize that Giordano-Andersson and Kylington-Brodie would be a nice way to change up the pairings. Put one of your top 5v5 scorers (Dad) in the top six where you're clearly lacking right handed shots. Move Mangiapane off the top line if he's struggling for a long stretch. I'm not even sure what to do with Lucic - he shows flashes of ability then completely misreads the play or just disappears. Stapling him to Ryan because "he's better with a RHS" doesn't matter if he's playing like a blind man drives a garbage truck.

Lack of "give a ****" is what plagues this team, not sure if that's on the players, the coaches, or both.

Management
Signing Neal was a decent idea, had it worked. On paper, filled a massive need. Sadly it didn't. Trading Neal for Lucic improved the Flames on-ice, and I continue stand by this sentiment. It was still a stupid trade, cripples the cap situation (contract is buyout proof) for the next 3 years, but at least we get the extra draft pick I guess? If they had sent Neal to the minors at the start of this season, he'd have ****ed off to the KHL by now and be off the books.

The only bad thing about the Hamonic trade is that hindsight is a *****.

Acquiring Lindholm & Hanifin was a good trade.

Acquiring Hamilton in the first place was a good trade.

Signing Brouwer was stupid, and a rookie mistake.

Buying out Stone to re-sign him at a lower total cap hit was smart.

I think most of his RFA contract extensions have been fairly decent.

Treliving's not been as awful as some of you may think. He's neither been outstanding. Capable is how I'd describe him.

My issue with Tre is that he is potrayed as some sort of pragmatic guru who can read the team and knows the path forward (and the top 5 GM memes only came as a result of fans constantly parading that narrative). 6 years later and I haven't seen it. Lot of guys would get canned at this point with the "success" achieved in this time period. He's had success with the Hamilton trades, but he's also wasted valuable assets on the Lazars and Hamonics of the world that aren't difference makers and destroy prospect pools. Now we are in the mushy middle of mediocrity with little excitement for the future. I'd give him one more season to right the ship, but my patience with him is beyond tested at this point.

 

[DFF]

BT gets a lot of credit around town like he built a big contender. Fact is he built a very mediorce team with very little depth and upside due to tons of mistakes.

Neal, Brouwer, Stone were all massive screwups

Coach choices have been horrible. I dont think he knows what a good coach looks like

Same with choice of goaltending. He may have fluked out with Rittch to save his ass but jury is still out.

Hamonic and Lucic cancelled out some earlier good trades (Hamilton), Maybe Lindholm/Hanifin but that may be a wash in the long run.

Basically an an average GM with tons of mistakes. No hero to me.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Haven't particularily focused on Lindy in regards to his ability driving the middle with the puck at ES, but I'll take note of that going forward. He is most certainly capable of it as he is an option on our PP... but I could be wrong. Production was there (until recently) and he had good fancies while also being tasked with other top lines.

Lindholm is great in the defensive zone, and the Tkachuk/ Mangiapane pair is as good as you could hope for in that role without having two superstars on either wing (which no team has). Unfortunately the issue is that Lindholm isn't anything special with the puck in that area from the defensive hashmarks to the offensive hashmarks. But then from the offensive hashmarks in, he's again really good because he protects the puck well and has a nice wrister. I could see us winning with him if he's the Ryan Kesler to someone else's Henrik Sedin or Ryan Gefzlaf (not that Kesler ever won). But he's not the dynamic missing piece down the middle. His scoring is also misleading because he's tipped his share of point shots or sniped some wristers... these aren't the kind of plays that repeatably making a team dangerous. Go watch Kadri play, probably the most underrated center in the NHL. He makes something happen nearly every shift.

 

[super6646]

Lindholm is great in the defensive zone, and the Tkachuk/ Mangiapane pair is as good as you could hope for in that role. Unfortunately the issue is that Lindholm isn't anythind special with the puck in that area from the defensive hashmarks to the offensive hashmarks. But then from the offensive hashmarks in, he's really good because he protects the puck well and has a nice wrister. I could see us winning with him if he's the Ryan Kesler to someone else's Henrik Sedin or Ryan Gefzlaf (not that Kesler ever won). But he's not the dynamic missing piece down the middle.

Wonderful. Just have to shit another #1C out of our ass. I'm sure we'll get it right eventually... only been 30 years after all

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Wonderful. Just have to **** another #1C out of our ass. I'm sure we'll get it right eventually... only been 30 years after all

And that is why Calculon is in favour of acquiring a player like Byfield (it's not out of the question - we're not that high up the standings in reality). I don't necessarily disagree - if you're gonna be bad... be bad enough to be good.

Personally, I see Sam Bennett, I see the kid who exuded high end skill as a rookie(albeit without a real role on the powerplay), developed outstanding awareness at the center position as a sophomore(albeit glued to the likes of Brouwer or Chiasson instead of the Blake Wheelers or Johnny Gaudreaus that peers of his such as Scheifele and Monahan have had the benefit of), learned how to generate endless scoring chances as a third year player (albeit with an artificially low shooting percentage which was simply a down year)... and I just know that confidence and icetime, and their causation to each other - are the only things preventing him from being that piece. Everything is there but needs to be put together with delicate care.

But people can talk about point totals ad nauseum. Look at the Senators' roster. A year ago who would have thought Anthony Duclair or Connor Brown were capable of lighting it up as they have (two players with not half the upside of Bennett)? Well, people who can see the influence of context, is who.

 

[Mazatt]

This is a topic I thought about last year down the stretch, and it seems fitting to be brought up now. I have always heard about how great of a leader Giordano is but I question it sometimes. The team never seems to get up and play apart from some big games against the Oilers. I also have to question Backlund having a letter. They both feel like guys who have letters because of having tenure, but I don't know the innerworkings of the room so I digress. Either way, this core has gone through so many coaches that at this point I think the onus is on the players for not being able to play for a players coach, a hard ass, and anything in between. This team has a motivational issue and it's very apparent.

One thing that stuck out to me when Treliving was talking about Tkachuk was when he mentioned how often Tkachuk pulls the team into games. That makes me feel... well it sends a bad message to me that we need to be pulled into games so often. A professional sports team shouldn't need to be reminded that giving max effort and playing smart is needed in the sport.

In the talk of the centres of this team above I can't help but agree that the very structure of our top 6 is just... flawed. Ryan plays like a centre and is smart, can move the puck and is put with players who compliment him, but who he also makes better. Lindholm and Monahan are benefactors of who they play with, and even with his poor play as of late, Backlund has silky mitts and that at least forces team to play him like he's dangerous, but he is being put on the wing and is put on the boards when I really don't think he's that strong of a player. He is a defense first player and we shouldn't be putting him on the wing. Put Ryan there or someone else but not Backlund. Beyond that, I've seen more dangles from Jankowski this year than I have Monahan and that is not good.

There have been a lot of plays recently where the Flames get into the offensive zone and are static. The first line looked dangerous today with great chances because there are moving pieces and the defense can't move into one spot and cover someone cleanly. Compared that to when the second line is on and Gaudreau gets the puck, stops on the halfwall, waiting for Monahan or Backlund to catch up as he is pressured by the D. Once they're all in, the other teams defense covers Backlund or Monahan and Gaudreau dances around waiting for them to get open but they almost never do, and then it gets turned over because there were no options. Or, we finally get that line on with time and space and they decide to rim it around the boards even though everyone on the line cannot play effectively on the boards. It's like they're afraid to play in the middle of the ice and it's silly that they won't

 

[DFF]

i think they just dont have that many smart hockey players, even guys like gio and backlund are killing plays with really questionable decision making. Hanifin, brodie, hamonic, bennett are at best average iq hockey players, gaudreau deserves a mention with how many awful giveaways he has.

That could be due to lack of good coaching.

But I agree, good luck making smart players out of Hamonic, Hanifin, and Bennett

Gio just hit grandfather time ...not sure with Backlund, he was smart a player before ...just a huge disappointment now. Brodie has brain farts but in general he is a relatively smart player

 

[Mobiandi]

The biggest mistake this team has made is bungling Bennett's development and not challenging Monahan to be a better player until his 7th season

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

As an addendum to my comments on the center ice position, I'll add that one of the reasons I find Kylington and Brodie so crucial to this team's success is because they in particular have the rare ability to be pseudo-centers with their puck skills, vision, and skating. Often our wingers will hit the outlet man on the breakout and it's not Monahan or Lindholm - it's Brodie or Kylington because they are just so damn mobile when confident. I don't see Hanifin as necessarily possessing this elite trait - he's remarkably vanilla - and I think doesn't have Valimaki's hockey sense - so I am in favour of letting Hanifin be bait for help at forward.

 

[super6646]

As an addendum to my comments on the center ice position, I'll add that one of the reasons I find Kylington and Brodie so crucial to this team's success is because they in particular have the rare ability to be pseudo-centers with their puck skills, vision, and skating. Often our wingers will hit the outlet man on the breakout and it's not Monahan or Lindholm - it's Brodie or Kylington because they are just so damn mobile when confident. I don't see Hanifin as necessarily possessing this elite trait - he's remarkably vanilla - and I think doesn't have Valimaki's hockey sense - so I am in favour of letting Hanifin be bait for help at forward.

I wouldn't be opposed to letting Hanifin go at this point. Idk if other teams are going to take the bait on him at this point though...

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Wonderful. Just have to **** another #1C out of our ass. I'm sure we'll get it right eventually... only been 30 years after all

Trade Gaudreau for a bonafide elite #1 centre and sign Hall in the offseason.

 

[Mobiandi]

- Gaudreau has exactly two moves. Take the puck along the boards and button hook, to look for the trailing guy (doesn't go deep enough into the zone every time) or tries to shoot from the goal line. Neither works and the book is out. He needs someone that can help him with that.

My biggest problem with him is that he is remarkably slow for a player that diminutive

 

[Fig]

My issue with Tre is that he is potrayed as some sort of pragmatic guru who can read the team and knows the path forward (and the top 5 GM memes only came as a result of fans constantly parading that narrative). 6 years later and I haven't seen it. Lot of guys would get canned at this point with the "success" achieved in this time period. He's had success with the Hamilton trades, but he's also wasted valuable assets on the Lazars and Hamonics of the world that aren't difference makers and destroy prospect pools. Now we are in the mushy middle of mediocrity with little excitement for the future. I'd give him one more season to right the ship, but my patience with him is beyond tested at this point.

Who says this? Treliving definitely has weaknesses understanding the team. He's always trying to take steps forwards though which is great, but the Neal vs Brouwer end results speak for themselves.

 

[Anglesmith]

Who says this? Treliving definitely has weaknesses understanding the team. He's always trying to take steps forwards though which is great, but the Neal vs Brouwer end results speak for themselves.

I do not think those show an issue with Treliving understanding the team. Treliving, historically, has always made moves that really speak to what everyone thinks the team needs at a particular time. Dougie Hamilton was a free add out of nowhere. When the Flames were playing Engelland in the top 4 due to a lack of options on defence, he went out and got a guy who could fit into that spot in the lineup in Michael Stone. Stone was a UFA, and with that need still outstanding in the subsequent off-season, he pulled the trigger to go get Hamonic. When the team needed a goal-scorer with some sandpaper in the top-6, he went out and got Troy Brouwer. The big Hamilton/Hanifin/Lindholm trade dealt with a locker-room issue that had gathered smoke towards the end of that season. When the Brouwer acquisition had failed and we were still hurting for that top-six scorer, he made a buy-out, then went out and got Neal.

There has never been a moment where Treliving hasn't looked like a man with a plan. What I think he and his team do well is identifying team needs, compiling a list of guys who fit the profile and might be available, and kicking tires until they get something done. What I think they do poorly based on results is essentially pro scouting. You want the guy in charge of bringing in players to know more about those players than simply their stats and their league-wide reputation. Before bringing in Neal, someone should have chimed in that his skating is lacking and he is a mess when he isn't in the vicinity of the opponents' net, even if they couldn't predict that he would forget how to shoot the puck. Before bringing in Brouwer, someone in our management team should have been made aware of exactly how much of his offensive success in the past had come from Washington's PP and nothing else.

But in terms of understanding the actual team he has on the ice, I think he does a good job.

 

[Fig]

I do not think those show an issue with Treliving understanding the team. Treliving, historically, has always made moves that really speak to what everyone thinks the team needs at a particular time. Dougie Hamilton was a free add out of nowhere. When the Flames were playing Engelland in the top 4 due to a lack of options on defence, he went out and got a guy who could fit into that spot in the lineup in Michael Stone. Stone was a UFA, and with that need still outstanding in the subsequent off-season, he pulled the trigger to go get Hamonic. When the team needed a goal-scorer with some sandpaper in the top-6, he went out and got Troy Brouwer. The big Hamilton/Hanifin/Lindholm trade dealt with a locker-room issue that had gathered smoke towards the end of that season. When the Brouwer acquisition had failed and we were still hurting for that top-six scorer, he made a buy-out, then went out and got Neal.

There has never been a moment where Treliving hasn't looked like a man with a plan. What I think he and his team do well is identifying team needs, compiling a list of guys who fit the profile and might be available, and kicking tires until they get something done. What I think they do poorly based on results is essentially pro scouting. You want the guy in charge of bringing in players to know more about those players than simply their stats and their league-wide reputation. Before bringing in Neal, someone should have chimed in that his skating is lacking and he is a mess when he isn't in the vicinity of the opponents' net, even if they couldn't predict that he would forget how to shoot the puck. Before bringing in Brouwer, someone in our management team should have been made aware of exactly how much of his offensive success in the past had come from Washington's PP and nothing else.

But in terms of understanding the actual team he has on the ice, I think he does a good job.

Agree, but I believe the bolded is also contrary to what super is saying.