Brad Treliving isn’t ready to declare his trade deadline work is done.
Nor is he willing to allow himself, or anyone else in the organization, to start celebrating the fact his club’s impressive ascent to the top of the Pacific Division demonstrates how his club is better poised for playoff success than past years.
“Our cap situation as is right now doesn’t allow us to do a whole lot more, but we’re going to look to be creative and find ways to improve the team,” said the Flames GM, whose acquisition of Tyler Toffoli last week means he’ll likely have room for no more than a depth defender.
“But you also want to be cognizant of just rushing around and trying to get this piece and that piece and upsetting team chemistry.
“It sounds like a motherhood statement, but if there are ways to help us and ways we can help the team, we’re certainly going to pursue every lead we can. We’re not hellbent on shipping in five, six or seven new bodies at the deadline.”
With a franchise-tying 10 wins in a row under its belt, this is not a team with a lot of holes.
The goaltending is sublime, scoring is plentiful and the group’s dedication to playing tight defensively has them four points up on Vegas for the division lead with two games in hand.
But much like coach Darryl Sutter insisting earlier this week that a 10-game streak would impress him only in the playoffs, Treliving is also doing his best to ensure his players don’t become complacent as they have in the past.
Completing the NHL’s very first sweep of a seven-game homestand with two tight, low-scoring affairs, the Flames have done well to prove they can grind out wins when the offence is largely held in check.
Those are the type of wins that have many believing this bulked-up bunch is better built for spring hockey than years past.
“We’ve got to get to the playoffs first,” said Treliving, once again refusing to let anyone get ahead of themselves.
“Certainly, the last little bit has been encouraging, and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot, but we’ve got a lot of hockey left to go here.
“Our schedule has been busy and it’s going to get busier, so we can’t lose focus on what’s really important, regardless of what is talked about in town and in the media.
“We’ve just got to stay on point here and worry about taking care of business, staying in the present and worrying about the next game. That’s our focus.”
That said, Treliving does admit the squad has a new look and approach.
“I do think our team is a different team,” said Treliving, who added size last summer with defencemen Erik Gudbranson and Nikita Zadorov, as well as a defensive conscience in Blake Coleman.
“With maturity, this group has skinned its knee a bunch.
“You learn through experiences. We’ve added some different people and ingredients to the team that I think are different than what we’ve had in the past. I think it’s immeasurable what Darryl has meant to this group.
“I said it the day I hired him, ‘This team needs what Darryl can bring.’ He’s brought not only a structure and a system of play but has continued to assist in guiding these guys along this path of becoming mentally tough and to handle the different obstacles you go through on the road to becoming a really good team. We’re still on the path to that yet.”
A path that has them the talk of the league with Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Jacob Markstrom forcing themselves into trophy talk for the Hart, Selke and Vezina respectively.
Yet, as this team has proven its last handful of playoffs, spring success is about so much more than just talent.
“Our guys have experienced some good and a lot of disappointment, and I think that’s strengthened their resolve, but we’re a long way away from worrying about playoff runs and all that,” said Treliving.
“You say it every year, ‘You’ve got to get in.’ Once you get in, the way the tournament is set up, anything can happen and you want to build your team up as strong as you can.
"We’re worried about Thursday (in Vancouver) and ultimately being one of the eight to make it in the West.”
Subject to plenty of criticism and questions in the off-season, is he allowing himself to enjoy the team’s run of late even a smidge?
“I guess the exciting part is there are a lot of good things going on in terms of our team game,” said Treliving.
“But it’s a fickle game, and I think one of the things that I’ve liked about our team the most is it’s a real business-like approach.
“Certainly, it’s better than the alternative.
“But we’re going to stay with our feet on the ground here and know that we’ve got lots of runway and lots of work ahead of us. We know there are lots of things we can clean up, and the encouraging thing, to me, is we can be better than we have been the last couple.”
