ScorchStack Issue #122 - It’s not goodbye or good riddance; it’s just smell ya later
He was Brad to the Bone
Who is we, Jim? Who is we?
https://twitter.com/JTreliving/status/1645828226042691592
How funny would it be if everyone spent all summer predicting where Brad was going to go (Pittsburgh) and instead he just pulled the ultimate nepo maneuver and realized he can just become the CEO of Boston Pizza and live that life forever.
What’s inside?
The official Treliving Eulogy as delivered by Mike.
Nathan decides to rank which ex-Flames absolutely don’t deserve the Cup the most.
Since last issue
Scorchstack #121 was honestly so good that we wouldn’t be upset if you decide to stop reading this issue right now and go read that one again. Go ahead. We’ll wait. This will still be here for you when you get back.
Nathan was going to write the Big Monday Thing and revive it but then Brad went and decided to quit as the biggest thing to happen on Monday and game respect game, we didn’t write anything.
A Eulogy of Sorts For Brad Treliving
Did you all know that Jim Treliving was a cop before he bought Boston Pizza? It all makes sense now.
by Mike (@mikeFAIL)
These days, the Calgary Flames are just aging soon-to-be free agents, impeded-but-hopeful youths chomping at the bit, and a farmer who moonlights as a past-his-prime NHL head coach. Anything and everything you held dear or sacred about this team? Eroded, turned to dust. They both will be and have already been left behind. All that’s left is to become just another clapboard house in the NHL; leaning, bones knocked out, a hole in every wall, paint peeling until they collapse. Nothing can thrive here anymore, even if you think nothing is enough.
Phew, glad I got that out of my system.
It’s not as simple as some armchair critics want you to believe: that solving the problems impacting the Flames starts with firing Darryl Sutter, or moving on from general manager Brad Treliving. Well, fans got one of their wishes: Brad Treliving and the Flames parted ways. One down, hopefully, one to go. Unless you’re a sicko Darryl-pilled mind.
We should properly eulogize Brad Treliving now that he is deceased of a job. How do we sum up a man who had nine years and found ways to consistently shoot himself in the foot nearly once a year and still manage to maintain a level of job security that the most mediocre of humanity aspires for daily? Let’s give it a shot here.
I don’t think that any general manager in this market has skated by on good graces, bad luck, and poor decision-making more than Brad Treliving. This is a man maligned by his own repeated poor-decision making, the people he surrounded himself with in that front office, his apparent learning from mistakes, and subsequent additional bad decisions that compounded problem after problem to get the Calgary Flames to this point. It wasn’t all bad, but enough of the good had been demonstrably offset by that aforementioned haphazard decision-making that has obstructed organization growth to remain legitimately competitive in, well, a competitive league.
He’s now unemployed - making the choice to be free of having to make said choices - and that’s probably for the best. He is human and we all make mistakes, but nine years of compounding mistakes leads to a breaking point for many.
Over his nine-year tenure with the Flames, Brad Treliving:
Spent over $1.1B in salary for players - which on the surface is not alarming given nine years in the role but it’s worth exploring further at a later date.
Got by on “the guy who did the Dougie Hamilton trade”, multiple times.
Burnt through five coaches - a luxury every general manager gainfully employed or painfully unemployed wished they had and still managed to find ways to woefully disappoint the market: Bob Hartley (good riddance; eat shit, bozo), Glen Gulutzan, Bill Peters, Geoff Ward, and Darryl Sutter.
This includes doing zero background work or investigating into Bill Peters before hiring him purely off his World Championship experience with Team Canada
Did not fire Bill Peters after the results of the Flames’ internal investigation on his abuse (both racial and physical) in previous roles. Brad elected to allow Peters to resign, in disgrace. Pathetic.
Struggled for season after season to find acceptable goaltending that would keep the team competitive, in the playoff hunt as a contender, and generally capable of winning games.
Goalies like: Cam Talbot (deserved better), Jon Gillies (once labeled the goalie of the future), the husk of Niklas Bäckström, Chad Johnson, Brian Elliott, Eddie Lack, Mike Smith, Joni Ortio, Karri Ramo, David Rittich, and Jonas Hiller were stop-gaps for two-thirds of Treliving’s tenure.
According to the public data available from Evolving-Hockey: Of those 11 goalies over their Flames’ tenure, one had a positive GSAA (Talbot); two had a positive GSAx (Smith, Johnson). Every season prior to Jakob Markström constantly had goaltending questions. It was relentless and incessant, to the point where calls for Treliving’s firing should have started at his inability to solve goaltending long-term.
Markström’s signing was supposed to stop that (and it did, for a year); and now we’re right back to where we were for much of Treliving’s tenure.
93.4 points / season average in nine seasons, two second-round trips in the post-season (three if you include the play-in round during COVID but only losers include that), and generally no clear direction for the franchise now. He was simply the devil you know, albeit an extremely average devil.
When it came to salaries, contracts, and negotiating Treliving has been regarded as shrewd or difficult. He nickel-and-dimed RFA players with and without arbitration rights to win in the margins, and then he would spend poorly with the remaining cap space he clawed back. This behavior of rigorously grinding down these players and their right to earn a salary equal to their value was a blight on the franchise, albeit one he was praised for by the traditional hockey media. You hope whoever steps into the role of GM next avoids this behavior but let’s face it: it’ll probably happen again, just more quietly.
In free agency, Brad burnt money that he didn’t need to burn. Perhaps that’s why he was so hellbent on chipping away at RFA players. You can look through Treliving’s UFA signing history and find countless duds or missteps:
Troy Brouwer (bought out after two years; $18M over four years)
James Neal (traded after one season; $5.75M per season; $28.750M total)
The deal in hindsight and at the time could have been bought out. Instead, he traded him for Milan Lucic, a deal completely buyout proof. Lucic’s contract was a poison pill that did irreversible harm during his tenure.
Michael Stone who was worth buying with one season left of his three-year extension at $3.5M but was then re-signed a month later for league minimum, all to squeeze that value out of then-RFAs Andrew Mangiapane and Matthew Tkachuk, which definitely would not leave a sour taste.
Despite how useful Blake Coleman is - and trust me, I love the player - he has added $1.4M in value against $9.8M in cap hits so far, per the Evolving Hockey WAR model.
The Twins’ model in concert with CapFriendly accounts for SPAR (standing-points-above-replacement) added by the player vs. the cost per SPAR.
This past season it was $2.66M/SPAR; Coleman added 0.2 SPAR this season which equates to $0.2M in value. Last season was $2.41M/SPAR and Coleman added 0.4 SPAR equating to $1.2M in value.
The problem isn’t Coleman, but the perceived belief that paying a premium for proven winners is a necessity when it often leads to salary cap problems. Is it going to age well? Outlook not so good, even two years later.
Nothing about the current state of the franchise is enjoyable. Brad is gone, seemingly after he felt pushed out because of the working relationship with Darryl. With a market that is so incredibly entrenched in nepotism hiring, dated approaches, and enabling a power struggle to take place is not going to be enticing for many candidates; especially if Darryl is still coaching.
So how did Brad keep his job for nine seasons? He just had to break even enough to stay above the tide. The team saw relative success with actual graduations from drafting and development, predominately from 2015 and 2016. With Rasmus Andersson, Andrew Mangiapane, Oliver Kylington, and the now-gone Matthew Tkachuk as graduates you’re able to mask a fizzling prospect pool easily. It’s an incredible distinction that if anyone points to draft success with this franchise under Treliving it predominately from those two years.
Since then here there is very little to be excited about beyond a few names:
2017
Juuso Välimäki - waived after injuries/false-starts/stagnation; has since shown promise of NHL value in Arizona in his first full NHL season
Adam Ružička - very limited glimpses of NHL value and impact; likely a depth forward at best despite the sicko in Kent Wilson’s discord server claiming he was Joe Thornton Jr.
2018
Nothing has actualized at this point, with all picks being from the fourth-round onward. Why, you may ask? For the services of Mike Smith and Travis Hamonic. You can judge those trades as you will.
2019
Jakob Pelletier saw 24 games this season after being handcuffed by Darryl. Nothing screams a pursuit of player development like intentionally adding start-stop stunting.
Dustin Wolf looks to be the goalie of the future. Can we get some awooos in the comments?
2020
Nothing has been actualized here, yet. Connor Zary, Jérémie Poirier, and to a lesser extent Yan Kuznetsov all stand out as potential graduates in seasons to come.
Nothing else stands out from a draft class of eight picks.
2021
Matt Coronato is going to make the jump after leaving Harvard otherwise I’m relatively apprehensive on the remaining seven picks the Flames made in this draft. Nothing significant stands out in these picks.
2022
Three picks, all unanimously panned immediately. Great job.
Treliving’s tenure has a number of trades that have highlighted his run as GM. It started with the Dougie Hamilton trade, which was a coup. The relationship soured, it led to a trade with the Hurricanes where Treliving parted ways with more than he should have. Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin have been great adds, including career years during their tenures. Still, parting ways with Adam Fox (who the Canes then flipped for a second-round pick) could have been a tidier bit of business given Fox’s public-at-the-time love for being a Ranger eventually.
James Neal for Milan Lucic will and should be marred as poison pill that hamstrung this team to this day. Anyone who believes adamantly that Lucic has added value is a fool and a charlatan given his cap hit has led to pushing the Flames closer to the cap ceiling than they needed to be. Treliving’s pursuit of adding a culture shock, functional physicality, and winning experience here was harmful on all levels; and when pressed to move out dead salary this past summer, he moved out constantly-injured Sean Monahan for a first-round pick instead of Lucic, because the team willingly chose to honour Lucic’s previous NMC, except for the expansion draft.
On top of these poor decisions, Treliving was hamstrung multiple times by ownership. This included the failed Michael Frolik for Jason Zucker trade, the failed Ben Bishop trade, and potentially more. Fans gave him a pass when he refused to surrender Juuso Välimäki as part of the Mark Stone trade — those are moments when you need to swing for the fences, not because of what could have been in hindsight, but because it’s a clear commitment to doing what is needed to reach the end goal.
Still, he was handcuffed at times by himself and by ownership. What Treliving’s true vision of this team under his direction is something to wonder about, and hopefully at some point in the future more can trickle out about what could have been. Not so we can live in a world of “what ifs” but so we can hopefully get an understanding of what lessons can be taken to heart for the sake of bettering this franchise.
It’s not goodbye or good riddance; it’s just smell ya later, Brad. An extremely average goodbye for an extremely average general manager.
Ranking The List Of Teams With Ex-Flames It Would Be The Most Egregious To See Win A Cup…Again
The ol’ content mill just keeps churning
by Nathan (@ram)
Way back in glorious ScorchStack Issue #38, at the start of the last playoffs the Flames didn’t qualify for, I wrote an article called Ranking The List Of Teams With Ex-Flames It Would Be The Most Egregious To See Win A Cup. The premise was simple: if Jarome Iginla never got a Stanley Cup even after leaving Calgary to increase his odds, then none of those shmucks should either.
Last I checked, Jarome still doesn’t have a Cup, so here we go again.
Before we begin, it’s worth looking back at which ex-Flame did win from that list. It was backup goalie Curtis McElhinney who had already won a Cup at that point, but that doesn’t mean he gets to rub it in. Fuck to you, Curtis McElhinney.
So here are my rankings of which teams to hate in case these ex-Flames win a Stanley Cup. This is not a list of teams to bandwagon for, I shall be cheering for none of these teams to win, only for teams and specific players to lose.
(tie) Colorado, Carolina, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York Islanders, Seattle, Winnipeg - zero ex-Flames.
When I last wrote this in 2021, only three teams did not have any ex-Flames. At the time, I wrote, “These teams have also been watching the same team I have over the past while and said thanks, but no thanks.” Seems like that lesson has been catching on here. Half of the teams who made the playoffs are here!
I think out of all the teams here, Colorado gets the edge because they went out and acquired actual Calgarians and then won the Cup, which is a strategy the Flames should employ, starting immediately.
Vegas - Laurent Broissoit
Even though Broissoit never played a game for Calgary, him being a prospect is enough for me. Vegas is obsessed with Calgary in the net for some reason. They have Broissoit, and then actual Calgarians Logan Thompson and Adin Hill. No wonder they’re losing their series already.
New York Rangers - Adam Fox
Much like Broissoit, Fox famously never played in Calgary. As far as they all go, Fox is actually fine because more players should utilize the few rights they are granted under the CBA, and also he was a guest on Overtime 2 which counts for something. Still, rules are rules so on the list he goes.
Tampa Bay - Brian Elliott
Credit to Scorchie Floob who has been constantly beating the drum that Brian Elliott was actually much better in Calgary than people give him credit for, which is true. Elliot was one the major reasons the team actually made the playoffs in 2017, his one season here. Plus, if Elliott wins the Cup, it’ll mean defeating at least two of the Top 5 teams on this list, so that’s a plus.
But also Brian Elliott over Jarome Iginla? Absolutely not.
New Jersey Devils - Dougie Hamilton
I can’t say it better than I did in 2021: “Dougie deserved better, and frankly, if he wins a Cup it’ll show Calgary they were stupid not to treat him like the king he is. The most acceptable ex-Flame to win.” So why is he so high?
Because quite frankly, I hate the New Jersey Devils for dumb, personal reasons that do not diminish my hatred for them whatsoever. Dougie deserves the world, he just deserves it in a place like Seattle or some other inoffensive city. Sorry you’re stuck in America’s armpit until 2028.
Boston Bruins - Derek Forbort, Garnet Hathaway
Garnet Hathaway was a guy that I got tired of hearing about in Calgary through no fault of his own, and then when he left and was replaced with Joakim Nordström, I never thought about him again. If you had told me that Washington had signed him the year they won the Cup, I would believe you, but he was signed the following offseason so I guess he’s still gunning for his first Cup. Quite frankly he doesn’t deserve it and that’s as much thought as I care to give him. This rocked though.
https://twitter.com/mikeFAIL/status/1489060861062758400
Derek Forbort has already been named by Scorchstack before as a guy you should specifically boo and you bet your ass that carries over to playoffs.
Florida Panthers - Sam Bennett, Ryan Lomberg, Matthew Tkachuk
There’s going to be a lot of idiots out here who want Tkachuk to suffer forever for requesting a trade away from Calgary, but he was legitimately one of the best players we’ve had on the team since the start of the millennium and it’s not his fault we shit the bed with him. We still love you Matthew and are just sad it couldn’t have happened here.
Even the extremely relatable Sam Bennett as a beloved disappointment isn’t what propels Florida this high, although having three ex-Flames certainly doesn’t hurt.
No it is most definitely the cowardous, traitorous, rat fink that goes by the name of Ryan Lomberg. Boooooooooooo Ryan Lomberg.
https://youtube.com/shorts/4McEKspuf0M?feature=share
Edmonton Oilers - Brett Kulak, Derek Ryan
If this were just based on teams that would quite frankly suck ass to see win it all, it’s very likely they would be #1. Nothing can be more satisfying than to think about how they’ll blow it perpetually until Connor McDavid gets traded to a real team like Minnesota or something.
Even thinking about Kulak and Ryan, there are two guys who did a lot more than what was asked of them and then were unceremoniously jettisoned for whatever reason. I’m having trouble remembering why I even ranked them this high? I need to go back and check their roster.
Oh.
Oh right.
I don’t care if this is just a husk of the man who ruined Jarome Iginla night, he deserves nothing. See you in hell, where I know for a fact that I will defeat you because I know you can’t stop anything from happening.
Toronto Maple Leafs - T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Calle Järnkrok
T.J. Brodie you were and still are great, this isn’t about you.
Okay first off, where do you get off Calle Järnkrok, being absolutely deplorable for the Flames playing with your cousin and your childhood friends all on a team that openly Sweden? Just nothing happening for the Iron Hook, which made it disgusting to see him run tail between his legs to go join the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But the real disdain here is for noted heel Mark Giordano, who abandoned all love of Calgary in his heart during his brief time in Seattle - taking clownish runs at his former teammates - only to be the next guy to drink the disgusting Toronto Kool-Aid and further cement himself as a villain now. Congrats on deciding in your career that you never want to win a playoff round. I have no love left in my heart for you Mark. It’s like the anti-Jarome, in how a captain can leave a team in every wrong way possible.
Also it’s the Leafs, congrats on pandering to the worse fanbase. You two deserve each other.
Up Next Week
We reached out to w i l d to talk one year of “Win The Cup” but he declined and said maybe we could speak again “if the stars align” so we’re learning how to manipulate physics.
Mike interviews a person who bought not one, or two, or three, or four, but FIVE James Neal jerseys.
This is not a joke.