Flames Reportedly Denying Teams Permission To Speak To Brad Treliving

When the Flames and Brad Treliving parted ways at the end of the regular season, it seemed likely that his name would surface in the rumor mill before too long, especially with there being a vacancy in Pittsburgh while other teams have been looking to add to their front offices.  However, that hasn’t been the case.

That said, there appears to be a reason why Treliving’s name hasn’t come up as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that the Flames do not want to grant other organizations permission to speak to Treliving until his contract expires.  Even though the announcement that he wouldn’t be back with Calgary came in mid-April, his deal technically doesn’t come to an end until June 30th.

This is a technicality that comes up many times when executives or coaches are no longer with a team (either by firing or, as has come up more recently, mutually parted ways).  Any other team that wants to interview that person officially still has to get permission to speak to them from the organization they no longer work for.  That generally happens without a hitch but as Calgary is still paying Treliving, the Flames are within their rights to do this.

It’s possible that this has to do with the fact that the draft is coming up next month.  Having worked for the Flames throughout the season, Treliving would have been a part of scouting meetings and Calgary might not want to let any information about their strategy, scouting reports, or things they’ve learned about draft-eligible players get to another team this close to the draft.

While an inquiring team – Pittsburgh or otherwise – could make a request to interview with the caveat that Treliving wouldn’t begin in his new role until after the draft, that’s not necessarily the easiest promise to make with there being so little time between the end of the draft and the opening of the free agent market.  The draft finishes up on June 29th and the new league year begins less than 48 hours later which doesn’t leave much time for Treliving to join an organization and be ready to have an influential role when the free agent frenzy begins.  Similarly, another team could ask to interview Treliving with a promise that he won’t be involved in the draft but that’s quite difficult to enforce.

Accordingly, assuming that Flames ownership doesn’t have a change of heart in the coming weeks, Treliving won’t be able to pursue a new position until the 2023-24 league year opens up in July.  At that point, it’s fair to wonder if there will be a spot for him to pursue at that time.  Last month, his decision to leave Calgary raised some eyebrows.  Now, the delayed process of that actually happening is also drawing some attention.