No Big Shakeup In Calgary
from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,
One week away from training camp, it appears the Calgary Flames will return to action without the shakeup they craved.
The shakeup they need.
Setting his sights as high as Jack Eichel, GM Brad Treliving scoured the trade landscape all summer long with an eye on altering a core that has repeatedly struggled to live up to expectations.
Alas, what he settled for was a handful of depth players brought in to fit the Darryl Sutter mold.
Outside of snagging top-six winger Blake Coleman via free agency, there weren’t many other options for the Flames’ seventh-year architect.
“I know everybody screams for change, and we talked about that, but we can only do things that are available to you,” said Treliving, whose challenging off-season included losing captain and top defenceman, Mark Giordano, via the expansion draft.
“I can’t click my heels and make things happen. You have to have a trade partner. Nobody is ever done in this business — you’re always looking for ways to improve. But it has got to make sense.
“It doesn’t make any sense for us to give a player away for 50 cents on the dollar. It’s great to say, 'go get this guy.' Problem is, this isn’t fantasy hockey. The idea that you can go pick ‘this player’ off the player tree ... it doesn’t happen that way.”
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