Flames GM Treliving unwilling to mortgage future at deadline

Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving didn't want to go all-in at the trade deadline and shave years off the team's championship window.

"I wasn't prepared to start firing off A assets … just for something short term,” Treliving told reporters on Monday, according to The Athletic's Scott Cruickshank. "There's no mourning. The hearse is not driving by and none of us are climbing in.

"I'm going to go have a cold beer right now and still have guys like (Juuso) Valimaki in our organization - that's a pretty good day."

The Flames tried to bolster their forward depth, but reportedly fell out of the mix for forwards Mark Stone and Jason Zucker.

“Our goal was to try to help our team, without taking off of our team,” said Treliving. "But that caveat was always there - that we weren’t prepared to remove Juuso Valimaki, we weren’t prepared to move Rasmus Andersson, we weren’t prepared to go deep into first-round picks."

Calgary added defenseman Oscar Fantenberg from the Los Angeles Kings. But the Flames stood pat otherwise while top Western Conference teams - the San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets - upgraded significantly.

Despite the added pressure, Treliving wasn't going to budge.

“You’re aware what’s going on around you - you don’t have blinders on,” he said. “But because your next-door neighbor buys a big car? If you can’t afford it, you don’t get the big car, right? That’s just the way it works."

The Flames lead the Western Conference heading into Tuesday's action, and they're on pace for their highest point total since 1988-89 - the last season Calgary won the Stanley Cup.