Four big questions facing the Calgary Flames in crucial off-season

Calgary’s most pressing offseason question was answered earlier this week when Brad Treliving stepped away after nine seasons as general manager. Lacking a contract for next season, determining Treliving’s status was the first order of business for the Flames going into a crucial summer.

Of course, Treliving’s departure leaves the team with another significant issue to figure out. And, after one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, that new question is one of many facing Calgary over the next weeks and months.

Who will be the next general manager?

It’s the most obvious question and the one the Flames absolutely need to get right. We can debate Calgary’s on-ice performance during Treliving’s nine-year tenure, but you can’t deny how highly regarded he is around the league. Treliving’s replacement will have big shoes to fill.

With the search for a new general manager in its infancy, brand new president of hockey operations Don Maloney will serve as interim GM for the time being.

“I think we need a progressive thinker,” Maloney told Flames Talk earlier this week. “Just something different, some sharp person that’s on the cusp of getting his chance.

“It’s a matter of getting names and ideas from a lot of the people I know around the league. To say, who’s that next guy? Who’s the sharp mind that knows us, knows the organization, knows what we want in Calgary and need in Calgary?”

Assistant general manager Craig Conroy, more than 12 years into his executive career with the Flames, has been the name speculated on most. Fellow AGM Brad Pascall and a litany of external candidates will be in the mix as well. As far as timelines, though, it feels like we’re still a ways away from a resolution.

“There really is no urgency right now,” Maloney admitted. “We’re at mid-April, there’s really not much that happens right now. Now is the time you start planning your organization. Scouts are still scouting, we’ll have our meetings in May, the draft is in June.

“Whether we find somebody in two weeks or a month, or it could be August. Obviously, in a lot of ways … May/June is better than August/September simply because I do believe you need to hire a GM as early as possible just to get him up and running sooner rather than later. But we want the right guy.”

Maloney’s last sentence is the one that really matters.

What’s the fate of head coach Darryl Sutter?

Rumours and innuendo about Sutter’s relationship with Treliving and key players surrounded the Flames all season long. And, with Treliving now gone, it opens up all kinds of follow-ups to the initial question of Sutter’s future.

Is Sutter bulletproof with a two-year contract extension about to kick in? Does a new general manager have the power to make a coaching change? Will a new GM be targeted for an ability to work harmoniously with Sutter?

We don’t have definitive answer to those questions, at least not now. When asked Monday if Sutter is Calgary’s coach going forward, Maloney said he’s reviewing everything: management, coaching, players and scouting.

Some interpreted Maloney’s response as a non-vote of confidence for Sutter. We’ll find out how accurate that read is in the coming weeks.

What does the future hold for players entering the final years of contracts?

Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund, Tyler Toffoli, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, Noah Hanifin. That’s the list of high-profile players with only one year left on their contract, which puts some difficult decisions on the table for the Flames.

Making things more complicated were the non-committal answers we heard from a pair of those players at last week’s locker clean-out.

“We’ll see what happens,” said Backlund when asked about signing an extension with the team. “I love Calgary, I love this organization, but the year we had … I’m 34 years old. I want to win the Stanley Cup. I don’t know this summer what’s going to happen, even if they offer us anything. I might want to see what this group can do before I make a decision.”

Backlund is the longest-tenured current member of the Flames and one of three players to appear in 900 games with the organization. His potential desire to look for a championship elsewhere is understandable, but he also added winning a Stanley Cup in Calgary remains the ultimate goal.

Lindholm’s response left far more uncertainty about his future with the Flames.

“Yeah, I’ll see what happens,” Lindholm said. “I’ve got one more year and, you know, kind of look at it that way. I’ve got one more year and that’s all I can say.”

Signing 28-year-old Lindholm, the team’s No. 1 centre, to a long-term extension should be Calgary’s top player personnel priority. But if progress on a deal is slow or stunted this summer, exploring a trade has to be an option to avoid losing a key asset for nothing next summer.

The other four players in question offered more positive outlooks to their futures. Zadorov admitted he told his family he’d like to be “a Calgary Flame for life” while Toffoli, coming off a career season, said he’d like to open discussions this summer to “hopefully get something done."

How do they get more out of Jonathan Huberdeau?

Huberdeau saw his point totals drop historically from his last season in Florida to his first with the Flames. Huberdeau failed to record half of the 115 points he posted in his final year with the Panthers. In fact, 55 points is Huberdeau’s lowest total since 2016-17, when he posted 26 in 31 games played.

And, with a team-record $84-million contract about to kick in, getting Huberdeau back on track has to be a priority for the coming season. Can Calgary identify a player suited to play with Huberdeau via trade or free agency? And is there a way to repair the apparent rift between him and Sutter?

Catering to one player isn’t always a recipe for success. When that one player is set to count $10.5 million against the salary cap for the next eight years, however, it’s a different story.