Flames' Treliving does his part to address major hole with Jarnkrok trade

The coach and players have done what they can to position the Calgary Flames high atop a division when no one thought they could win.

On Wednesday the GM did his part.

Again.

For the second time in a month, Brad Treliving stepped up with a significant acquisition that addressed the glaring hole in the middle of the Calgary Flames’ third line.

Seattle utilityman Calle Jarnkrok will replace rookie Adam Ruzicka between Andrew Mangiapane and Tyler Toffoli, giving the team the sort of depth, versatility and added experience needed if the surging Flames are to prove they are indeed Cup contenders.

There’s momentum on the ice, there’s a buzz in the rink and the city has designs on a much-needed morale boost that will undoubtedly see the resurrection of the Red Mile.

Riding a high that saw them win their 19th game in their last 24 outings Wednesday night, the Flames sure have given the locals plenty of reasons to believe this team is capable of the sort of magic that resurrected this franchise in 2004.

How symbolic that the move comes amidst a trio of significant trades made by two even deeper teams – Colorado and Florida - that have a fair shot at standing in Calgary’s way if they are to piece together a run to the final.

By giving up five draft picks and a prospect to acquire Jarnkork and Toffoli, many will say the Flames are “all-in.”

"I've heard that before - I don't like that,” said Treliving, who gave up a second-rounder (from the Sam Bennett trade), a third next year and a seventh in 2024, while the Kraken will pay half of Jarnkrok’s $2 million salary to make it fit.

“We're trying to make our team better. To get a player you have to give up something. We've traded some draft capital. It's hard to do that. We've looked at the performance of some recent prospects, performance of our American League team. It's taken us a while to build that reserve list up. We have. But you can't suck and blow. If you're looking to add players you're going to have to give something up. I felt we wanted to give this team as much opportunity to be as deep as possible. It doesn't guarantee anything. We haven't clinched a playoff spot yet. But we thought this was an opportunity to make us better, to add a good player, and it comes at a cost.”

Given how many teams pursued Jarnkrok and Toffoli, it says plenty about a GM who was able to come out on top once again, as he did with Blake Coleman in the summer and Jacob Markstrom a year before that.

Armed with the best line in hockey this season, a Vezina-calibre goalie, a top-notch shutdown line and a blue line brigade that has helped Calgary become one of the league’s stingiest bunches, these two additions position the Flames as one of the biggest deadline winners regardless of what happens Monday.

They did it without subtracting a single body in a tight-knit room, nor did they give up any of their blue-chip prospects. What’s more, the familiarity in the room that has helped Toffoli pick up eight goals and 14 points in 15 outings could help Jarnkrok fit in just as well.

After all, he’s from the same small Swedish town of 75,000, Gavle, as Markstrom and Elias Lindholm, who just so happens to be his cousin.

"We're not trying to put together the rat pack…the wolf pack…the wolf gang…from the movie there,” chuckled Treliving, who now has six Swedes in his lineup.

“We're not just looking for everybody's best friend. But what I say to that is you can get a little more information when you're doing your homework, but you feel more comfortable. You walk into a new office tomorrow, you feel a lot better when you know someone in the cubicle there versus walking in and you've got the 'Hi, my name is' sign on. I think it makes the transition easier. He's cousins with Lindy. He's probably closer friends with Marky. I think it helps."

Jarnkrok agrees, admitting the trio has indeed dreamed of a day they’d be reunited on this side of the pond.

“We’ve said that to each other for the last eight or nine years, to be honest with you, but we never really thought it was going to happen,” said the 30-year-old jackknife, who one scout said would become a fan favourite for being a “pain in the ass to play against.”

“But it’s really cool that it’s going to happen now. I think, yeah, it makes it a little easier for me, for sure. They’re two of my best friends so that makes the transition easier. Other than that, I’m just going to come in and be myself and do what I can to help this team be better.”

He’ll do that with an intensity and a compete level the coach will love and his teammates will appreciate.

“Excited to get the player, a player we've had a lot of interest in for a long time,” said Treliving, who joked he’ll still go to the draft in Montreal this summer for “smoked meat and some picks,” despite having just a second, fifth and seventh-rounder left.

“I've always considered him kind of a fixer defensively. You can put him with any line and he fixes it. He plays the game the right way. You hear about two-position player… I think he's a three-position player. He's comfortable in all three. He's played center growing up for the most part, lot of wing at the pro level. Touches both sides of specialty teams. He can go up and down the lineup. We think we got better today. He's a real good player. We love how competitive he is, how versatile he is, and I think he's going to fit with us real good."

And even though the Flames have no cap space left, you still get the feeling Treliving might pull another rabbit out of his hat to acquire a seventh defenceman before Monday’s deadline.

"We'll just keep looking,” he smiled, nodding to the yeoman’s work of assistant GM Chris Snow as they fought to squeeze Jarnkrok’s salary in.

“Snowy's calculator was smokin' today, so we'll see if we can get him back on it tomorrow. We'll keep looking. Obviously, we had to finagle this. We're tight with space, but we'll keep knocking on doors the next couple of days to see where we get to."