Down the Frozen River

In 2018, the Boston Bruins had a 3-1 series lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then they lost Game 5. Then Game 6.

A then-first-year NHLer, Jake DeBrusk, put on one of his most clutch performances of his young career as the Bruins went on to win Game 7 on home ice, 7-4.

In 2023, Boston had a 3-1 series lead over the Florida Panthers. Then they lost Game 5. Then Game 6.

But this year it feels different. This year everything is on the line. This is the last dance.

Whether Patrice Bergeron and/or David Krejčí waltz into the sunset in the offseason or not— there’s too many expiring contracts and not enough salary cap space to retain the services of every single player that contributed to an NHL record-setting regular season in wins (65) and points (135).

The 2023-24 Boston Bruins won’t be engaging in a full-on rebuild, but they sure as hell won’t be anything near as dominant as they were this year.

David Pastrňák, Charlie McAvoy, Pavel Zacha, DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm, Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman would be your new core moving forward for the time being (with respect to Brad Marchand as the bridge from the old core Bergeron and Krejčí Era to the post-Bergeron and Krejčí Era B’s and, no, there’s no goaltending controversy as long as Swayman is a restricted free agent that’s destined to take over the full-time starting role in the near future).

They could still amass good numbers as individuals next season and roll on as a team in a more competitive Atlantic Division than ever before as the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators are on the rise as designed by nature of league parity, the draft and talent development.

They could falter a bit— or a lot— and miss the playoffs entirely, which would undoubtedly set an NHL record for “most points lost from one season to the next”.

This year, blowing a 3-1 series lead is worse than blowing the 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010.

The demons of 2010, were exorcized by the triumphs of 2011.

And, sure, technically you could say Boston blew a 3-1 series lead in 2010, too, if you want to argue the semantics of what, exactly, constitutes “blowing a 3-1 series lead” (does it matter if it was 3-0 before Game 4, asking for a friend).

In 2010, Boston had last won the Cup in 1972.

38 years of history separated the 2009-10 roster from legends named Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk, Gerry Cheevers and more.

After being bumped by the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games courtesy of a game-winning overtime goal by Scott Walker in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Bruins were looking to shed the notion that they weren’t serious Cup contenders.

Boston’s unexpected turnaround from missing the postseason in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons to making the playoffs for the first time since 2004, in the 2007-08 season— where they went on to take the Montréal Canadiens to seven games before losing, 5-0, at Bell Centre— culminated (up to that point in time before 2010-11) in a 116-point season in 2008-09— finishing first in the Eastern Conference, but one point shy of the 117-point Presidents’ Trophy-winning San Jose Sharks as the league’s best team overall heading into the playoffs.

The 2009-10 season featured Boston’s first glimpse of outdoor hockey and the magic atmosphere that Fenway Park brings for whatever game is held within its walls as the Bruins beat the Flyers, 2-1, in overtime thanks to Marco Sturm’s game-winning goal on a simple redirection of a shot pass from Bergeron.

If Game 6 against Montréal in 2008, resurrected Boston as a hockey town, the 2010 Winter Classic gave the creators behind Fever Pitch (2005) enough fodder for another romantic comedy centered on Boston sports lore.

January 1, 2010, was supposed to turnover a new leaf, but the month didn’t go the way the Bruins had hoped as they amassed a 3-9-2 record.

Then Boston began to surge on the coattails of a hot, young, goaltender in Tuukka Rask as the calendar flipped through February, March and the first couple of weeks of April before the playoffs start.

Bruins fans praised Šatan— that’s Miroslav Šatan, mind you— as his goal in double overtime in Game 4 capped off three-straight wins and gave Boston a 3-1 series lead over Buffalo before the B’s closed out the series on home ice in Game 6 with a, 4-3, win.

Marc Savard cemented his legacy in his return from a devastating concussion and scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 1 against Philadelphia to begin the next round.

Krejčí suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Game 3 and the rest is history.

The Bruins would seek to avenge their series loss by approaching the 2010-11 season with a scorched earth approach, though they would finish third in the Eastern Conference behind the Washington Capitals and, you guessed it, Philadelphia.

Tim Thomas put up his second Vezina Trophy-winning season, besting his 36-11-7 record in 54 games (54 starts) with a 2.10 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and five shutouts in that span in 2008-09, with a 35-11-9 performance in 57 games (55 starts) to go with a 2.00 GAA, a .938 SV% and nine shutouts before the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs began.

The Bruins met their biggest rival in the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, whereby Nathan Horton scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 7 on home ice to topple the Canadiens and punch Boston’s ticket to a rematch with the Flyers in the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

This time, the B’s made sure to finish the job and sweep Philadelphia despite the Flyers holding home ice advantage for the series.

Of course, Horton further cemented his legacy with the only goal in Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a penalty-free game of the century at TD Garden as both goaltenders, Thomas and Dwayne Roloson, put on a masterclass in the art of goaltending before the sellout crowd of 17,565 fans in attendance that night.

The Bruins fell behind 2-0 in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final to the heavily favored Vancouver Canucks and returned to home ice for Game 3 on the 67^th anniversary of D-Day.

Boston routed Vancouver, 8-1, for their first victory in the Final and made their home arena hell on Earth for Roberto Luongo (and Cory Schneider) as the B’s took Games 3, 4 and 6 by a combined score of, 17-3.

The Bruins won Game 7 at Rogers Arena, 4-0, and with that, Zdeno Chára, raised the Cup higher than it had ever been before due to his 6-foot-9 stature as the team’s captain knocked his own “2011 Stanley Cup champions” official hat off his head with the 35-pound rose bowl— cementing his legacy in pictures that would be plastered all over newspapers across New England the next morning.

The Capitals bounced Boston out in seven games with a, 2-1, overtime defeat— this time at the hands of Joel Ward— in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

In 2013, Boston experienced a miracle less than a month after the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Bergeron scored a pair of goals— tying Game 7 against Toronto in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and winning it, 5-4, in overtime on home ice as the Bruins capped a comeback after trailing, 4-1, with less than 11 minutes left in the third period.

As if winning one Stanley Cup wasn’t enough, Bergeron further cemented his legacy as one of the all-time Bruins greats in the process.

Boston rode the momentum of their historic victory over the Maple Leafs with a five-game series win against the New York Rangers in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and a four-game sweep against the heavily favored— and Jarome Iginla wielding— Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final.

Just as they had done in 2011, the series clinching game in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final required just one goal— this time by defender, Adam McQuaid, cementing No. 54’s legacy in the spoked-B.

Then Boston lost to Chicago in a grueling six-game series in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final.

The 2013-14 season brought the Bruins their second Presidents’ Trophy title since the award began in 1986, but Boston couldn’t beat Montréal in the 2014 Second Round— losing Game 7 on home ice and further signifying the end of one era of hockey and the start of another as the game shifted from that where the role of the enforcer played a significance on your fourth line to that of the contemporary “roll four lines of speed and skill” era of hockey.

The “Merlot Line” of Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille would be slowly broken up— first as Thornton left for the Panthers in the 2014 offseason before Campbell and Paille would leave via free agency as well in 2015, after Boston missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

In 2017, the Bruins returned to postseason form with a First Round series against the Ottawa Senators after barely beating Toronto for the third spot in the Atlantic Division with 95 points and three more regulation plus overtime wins (42) than the Maple Leafs (39).

Boston was ousted in six games on home ice as Pastrňák and McAvoy experienced their first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, in part, due to numerous injuries.

In 2018, the B’s beat the Leafs, but lost in the Second Round in five games on the road in Tampa.

An aging core of Chára, Bergeron, Krejčí and Rask were left to wonder if they’d ever truly see one more Stanley Cup Final appearance in a Bruins uniform.

Then the run in 2019, happened.

Boston beat Toronto again in seven games in the First Round after forcing a Game 7 having trailed in the series 3-2 entering Game 6.

They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games in the Second Round and swept the Hurricanes in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final— clinching both series on the road— before hosting the St. Louis Blues— the team Orr scored against with his famous “flying goal” to win the Cup in 1970, that’s immortalized in bronze outside TD Garden.

A broken jaw wouldn’t stop Chára from playing in Game 5 on home ice before a standing ovation as the players were introduced for television. His legacy was only further cemented as a result.

Then Noel Acciari was tripped.

Then Boston won Game 6 in St. Louis and forced the first Game 7 on home ice in the Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. The Bruins lost, 4-1.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2019-20 regular season short— handing the Bruins their third Presidents’ Trophy title in the process, but delivering a five-month waiting period before the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs would be held in Toronto and Edmonton as the world dealt with immense sickness and grief.

The B’s beat Carolina in five games, then lost to Tampa in five games in the 2020 Second Round— closing Chára’s chapter as captain as the defender left via free agency before the 2020-21 season.

After playing a 56-game regular season solely against temporarily realigned divisional opponents, Boston faced Washington in the 2021 First Round and beat the Capitals in five games with four-straight wins after losing Game 1, 3-2, in overtime on the road.

Then the Bruins couldn’t get past the New York Islanders in a six-game series loss in the 2021 Second Round as the net began to transition from Rask to Swayman and whoever would come next.

In 2022, Ullmark and Swayman backstopped Boston to the first wild card in the Eastern Conference while Rask made a brief appearance in January before retiring in February due to the limitations that injuries imposed on his body.

The Hurricanes got their revenge for 2019 and 2020, by virtue of a seven-game series victory at PNC Arena in the 2022 First Round.

19 years ago this month, Bergeron scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal in a, 2-1, overtime win against Montréal in Game 2 of their 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals matchup as an 18-year-old first-year NHLer.

Krejčí was later drafted that summer.

The pinnacle of the Bergeron-Krejčí Era Bruins was not reached in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

The legacy that No. 37 and No. 46 will eventually leave behind was built over the 2,326 regular season games and more than 300 postseason appearances that they made and the accomplishments that they earned as a team.

Legendary Bruins like Eddie Shore, Milt Schmidt, Esposito, Bucyk and Orr won two Stanley Cup rings as players with Boston. Lionel Hitchman won one (his other was with the original Ottawa Senators in 1923). Dit Clapper won three.

Ray Bourque never won any— his ring came courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche in 2001.

Cam Neely, Rick Middleton, Willie O’Ree and Terry O’Reilly never won in their playing days in Boston either, but their jersey numbers still hang from the rafters.

Ullmark’s 2022-23 regular season was the kind of year not seen since the days of Thomas, but he did something Thomas didn’t do— nor any Bruins goaltender, for that matter— Ullmark scored a goal. The first goalie goal in franchise history. That’s etched in stone as he contributed 40 wins in the team’s 65-win season.

Swayman had 24 wins of his own and— combined with Ullmark— joined the likes of Reggie Lemelin, Andy Moog, Thomas, Manny Fernandez, Rask and Jaroslav Halák as the only Bruins goaltenders to win the William M. Jennings Trophy in club history before the centennial season begins next year.

Whether it’s Ullmark or Swayman in net for Game 7, this team will cement their legacy as one.

The views expressed above are not indicative of my employer(s). I’m simply just writing some hockey historian stuff these days.

Well, you wanted a rebuild.

The Calgary Flames restructured their core this offseason after a disappointing Second Round series loss to the Edmonton Oilers in five games left General Manager, Brad Treliving, with a few options— stay the course, blow things up or swing for the fences.

Stanley Cup contenders aren’t built in a day, but they are improved upon over the course of an offseason or an entire year.

No General Manager in the National Hockey League walks into their office on their first day with the organization looking at the roster assembled before them saying “yep, this team is going to win it all this season”.

There was a reason why the last GM was fired or not extended, after all.

Even Julien BriseBois didn’t walk into his role as General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 11, 2018, completely convinced the team he inherited from Steve Yzerman could get it done after Yzerman resigned.

BriseBois made two acquisitions during the 2018-19 season with a minor move involving the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 18^th in which the Lightning gave the Ducks future considerations for a minor league prospect that never made it to the NHL, then a somewhat major tweak to the eventual 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup champion Bolts rosters by sending Slater Koekkoek and a 2019 5^th round pick (151^st overall, later flipped to Arizona via Pittsburgh) to Chicago for defender, Jan Rutta, and a 2019 7^th round pick (198^th overall, Mikhail Shalagin) on Jan. 11^th.

After the Columbus Blue Jackets shocked the hockey world and swept the regular season record tying 62-win, Presidents’ Trophy clinching Lightning in the 2019 First Round, BriseBois sent goaltending prospect, Connor Ingram, to the Nashville Predators for a 2021 7^th round pick (211st overall, Robert Flinton) on June 14^th and later acquired Marek Mazanec, a 2019 3^rd round pick (71^st overall, Hugo Alnefelt) and a conditional 2020 1^st round pick (20^th overall) from the Vancouver Canucks for J.T. Miller on June 22^nd.

Vancouver’s 2020 1^st round pick came in handy when Tampa later added leading up to the 2020 trade deadline by flipping the pick as well as left wing, Nolan Foote, to the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 16^th for Blake Coleman.

At the 2020 trade deadline itself on Feb. 24th, BriseBois sent the San Jose Sharks Tampa’s own 2020 1^st round pick (31^st overall, Ozzy Wiesblatt) and Anthony Greco for Barclay Goodrow and a 2020 3^rd round pick (originally belonging to Philadelphia, 85^th overall, Maxim Groshev).

And thus, the 2020 Stanley Cup champion Lightning were fully assembled.

The following season, BriseBois kept most of the band together— trading Braydon Coburn, Cédric Paquette and a 2022 2^nd round pick (64^th overall, Filip Nordberg) to the Ottawa Senators to clear cap space by acquiring the contracts of Marián Gáborik and Anders Nilsson that were destined for the long term injured reserve upon training camp.

BriseBois’ biggest move occurred in the buildup to the 2021 trade deadline on April 10th, when the Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings helped piece together a three-team trade that saw Columbus acquire a 2021 1^st round pick (32^nd overall, later flipped to Chicago) and a 2022 3^rd round pick (96^th overall, Jordan Dumais) from the Lightning, while the Red Wings brokered even more salary cap retention on David Savard’s contract and added a 2021 4^th round pick (128^th overall, later flipped to Vegas).

Tampa, meanwhile, acquired Savard and Brian Lashoff from Detroit in the deal.

Savard was a pending-unrestricted free agent with a significant cap hit that was made manageable for the Lightning to add after the Blue Jackets retained 50% of Savard’s salary in the deal with Detroit before the Red Wings retained an additional 50% of Savard’s new cap hit with Detroit before sending him to Tampa.

In simple terms Savard had a $4.250 million cap hit with Columbus, which became a $2.125 million cap hit with Detroit and finally landed on a $1.0625 million cap hit for the Lightning.

And thus, the 2021 Stanley Cup champion roster for Tampa was fully assembled.

Prior to the 2021-22 season, BriseBois lost Coleman via free agency to the Flames, traded the rights to Goodrow to the New York Rangers for a 2022 7^th round pick (223^rd overall, Dyllan Gill), flipped Tyler Johnson to Chicago with a 2023 2^nd round pick for Brent Seabrook’s LTIR-destined contract, sent Mitchell Stephens to the Red Wings for a 2022 6^th round pick (169^th overall, later flipped to Los Angeles) and more to keep the Lightning cap compliant and able to re-sign Brayden Point to a massive eight-year contract extension worth $9.500 million per season— thereby continuing Tampa’s Cup-winning core into the future.

As it is, Erik Cernak, Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev all received eight-year extensions this summer that don’t even go into effect until next season (2023-24).

Of course, the Lightning went on to the 2022 Stanley Cup Final where they lost in six games to the Colorado Avalanche after acquiring Brandon Hagel from Chicago on March 18, 2022, for Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, a conditional 2023 1^st round pick and a conditional 2024 1^st round pick and adding Nick Paul from the Ottawa Senators two days later for Mathieu Joseph and a 2024 4^th round pick.

BriseBois also acquired Riley Nash from the Arizona Coyotes for future considerations and made one more minor move at the 2022 trade deadline itself on March 21^st.

The Lightning have made the Stanley Cup Final in the last three seasons, while the Avalanche are the current defending Stanley Cup champions.

The NHL is a copycat league and if you don’t think other playoff teams are clamoring for pieces of the Tampa and Colorado rosters from 2020-present or equivalent players then you must be part of a rebuilding organization that’s focusing on other endeavors like tanking for Connor Bedard right now.

We haven’t even touched on what BriseBois added in free agency during Tampa’s recent success and we aren’t even talking about the masterclass Joe Sakic put on as General Manager of the Avs prior to winning it all this year and being promoted to President of Hockey Operations, while Chris MacFarland takes the reins as General Manager.

But in way more words that you probably wanted to read, Treliving is well aware of how to make a playoff team turn into a Cup contender.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Treliving signed Coleman to a six-year deal worth $4.900 million per season and Trevor Lewis to a one-year, $800,000 on July 28, 2021— the same day he acquired the rights to Nikita Zadorov from Chicago for a 2022 3^rd round pick (originally belonging to Toronto, 90^th overall, Aidan Thompson) and Dan Vladar from the Boston Bruins for a 2022 3^rd round pick (91^st overall, later flipped to Seattle).

Coleman is quite literally one of the former pieces to Tampa’s back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021, while Lewis brought his two-time Stanley Cup champion winning experience with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014, to Calgary’s bottom-six forwards.

Both Lewis and Zadorov were re-signed this summer with Lewis signing up for another season and Zadorov earning a two-year deal (both players were signed at the same cap hit they had in 2021-22).

Last season, Treliving added a major component to his roster well in advance of the 2022 trade deadline when he acquired Tyler Toffoli from the Montréal Canadiens in exchange for Tyler Pitlick, Emil Heineman, a conditional 2022 1^st round pick (26^th overall, Filip Mesar), a 2023 5^th round pick and a conditional 2024 4^th round pick (the condition was not met).

For added depth, Calgary acquired Calle Järnkrok from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2022 2^nd round pick (originally belonging to Florida, 61^st overall, David Goyette), a 2023 3^rd round pick and a 2024 7^th round pick on March 16^th and added Ryan Carpenter from Chicago for a 2024 5^th round pick at the deadline on March 21^st.

Järnkrok and Carpenter were rental pieces that were not re-signed this offseason with the former ending up in Toronto and the latter joining the New York Rangers.

The additions of Coleman (2020 and 2021 with Tampa), Lewis (2012 and 2014 with Los Angeles) and Toffoli (2014 with Los Angeles) brought in more of a Cup-winning pedigree to the Flames locker room while Milan Lucic (2011 with Boston) and head coach, Darryl Sutter (2012 and 2014 with Los Angeles), already have experience in what it takes to win it all and can provide a touch of wisdom for the rest of the team.

Sometimes it takes a shift in the faces of the franchise to stabilize the foundation of a legitimate Cup contender.

Flames fans have been through it all this offseason with the departure of Johnny Gaudreau in free agency to the Blue Jackets and subsequent aftermath in the NHL’s first ever sign and trade event whereby Matthew Tkachuk inked an eight-year extension with Calgary before immediately being dealt to the Florida Panthers.

Gaudreau left on a seven-year deal with the Blue Jackets worth less than what Calgary was offering— agreeing to a $9.750 million cap hit with Columbus through 2028-29.

Erik Gudbranson would leave the Flames for the Blue Jackets via free agency as well on a four-year contract worth $4.000 million per season— well above the cool $1.950 million cap hit he carried with Calgary last season and matching his career-high $4.000 million cap hit that he once had on a three-year extension that he originally signed with the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 20, 2018.

Tkachuk, meanwhile, was packaged with a conditional 2025 4^th round pick to Florida in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a conditional 2025 1^st round pick.

Losing Gaudreau after a career season in goals (40), assists (75) and points (115) hurts, but replacing him with Huberdeau— who also set career-highs in assists (85) and points (115) while matching his previous high in goals (30)— certainly takes the sting of watching a fan favorite leave for nothing.

Adding Weegar on the heels of a career-year in goals (eight), assists (36) and points (44) as a bonus for trading Tkachuk to the Panthers is the icing on the cake (with the conditional 2025 1^st round pick being like its own “baker’s dozen” bonus 13^th doughnut from Tim Horton’s or something).

Gudbranson, who, despite reaching highs in all three scoring categories with 6-11—17 totals had *checks notes* 27 points fewer than the versatile Weegar.

As for Tkachuk, the 24-year-old broke into the league in 2016-17 with 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists) in 76 games with the Flames after being drafted 6^th overall in 2016.

Injuries kept him to 49 points in 68 games in 2017-18, and if it weren’t for Mark Giordano’s existence, Brian Burke, then President of Hockey Operations for Calgary (who would leave upon season’s end) while Treliving was in his fourth full season as General Manager, was ready to name Tkachuk captain based on his work ethic alone.

In 2018-19, he had 77 points in 80 games, then he dipped to 61 points in 69 games followed by 43 points in 56 games in 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively. Both seasons were altered due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Last season, he exploded for career-highs in goals (42), assists (62) and points (104) in 82 games, but will he hit it off with Aleksander Barkov like how Florida’s captain used to play with Huberdeau?

There’s no question Tkachuk will be a prominent NHL player, but he didn’t want to stay in Calgary forever and that’s fine.

Treliving maximized the return— and then some— in what he got for Tkachuk like how the Bruins fleeced Burke for a 2010 1^st round pick (2^nd overall, Tyler Seguin), a 2010 2^nd round pick (32^nd overall, Jared Knight) and a 2011 1^st round pick (9^th overall, Dougie Hamilton) in the Phil Kessel trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs back on Sept. 18, 2009.

It pays to learn lessons from Mr. Burke.

Don’t ask what Boston did with all three players afterwards. They still won the Cup (with Seguin) in 2011, at least.

But that’s not all that Treliving got done this summer as he notably signed Huberdeau to an eight-year extension already worth $10.500 million per season that’ll begin in 2023-24, making Huberdeau the highest paid player in Flames history in the salary cap era in the process.

Gaudreau could’ve been a member of Calgary for most (if not all) of his career and at 29-years-old he had every right to seek a change of scenery and make it easier on him and the family that he is planning for to hop on a flight back to New Jersey or invite his friends and relatives out to Columbus to see a game.

Huberdeau is also 29, so there’s no loss in maximizing the potential considering both players are already within their prime years.

In 671 career games with the Panthers, Huberdeau had 198-415—613 totals or about .914 points per game, while Gaudreau recorded 210-399—609 totals (1.01 points per game) in 602 games with the Flames.

There’s a slight offensive advantage for Gaudreau, but Huberdeau has been more of a two-way player in his career and could receive more Selke Trophy attention in the years to come as five-time Selke winner, Patrice Bergeron, enters the twilight years of his storied NHL career with the Bruins.

Huberdeau’s playing style could benefit Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane if Sutter wanted to create a “super” line to overpower his opponent in a particular shift.

Though Gaudreau had ten more goals than Huberdeau last season, Huberdeau had ten more assists than Gaudreau and you know that either type of point (a goal or an assist) counts as a goal for someone on your team, right?

Huberdeau’s playmaking ability might keep Lindholm’s 42 goals in 2021-22 from being a one-off fluke and Mangiapane’s 35 goals last season as just the beginning.

Lindholm is 27, while Mangiapane is 26. Both players are part of the core moving forward with the former under contract through 2023-24, and the latter signed through 2024-25. They should each remain a priority long-term.

If Treliving stopped there, he would’ve made his point clear— that the Flames aren’t going to rebuild anytime soon under his watch— but then he signed Nazem Kadri to a seven-year, $49 million ($7.000 million per season) deal on Thursday.

Kadri brings one more Cup ring to the dressing room, having won with Colorado in June.

In 739 career NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Avalanche, he has 219-293—512 totals as a two-time 30-goal scorer and one of the better second line centers in the league.

He solidifies Calgary’s lineup down the middle, had a career-high 87 points (28 goals, 59 assists) last season and adds a significant chunk to the Flames’ payroll since he’ll carry the highest cap hit on the roster for 2022-23, but at 31-years-old, he’s in his prime and will help beg the question that remains to be answered— can you win another one?

To afford Kadri, Treliving made what is perhaps his only bad trade of the summer by sending Sean Monahan and a conditional 2025 1^st round pick to the Canadiens on Thursday.

Injuries limited Monahan to 8-15—23 totals in 65 games last season after recording 28 points in 50 games in the 56-game 2020-21 season, as well as 48 points in 70 games in the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season.

His production peaked in 2018-19, when he set career-highs in all scoring categories including goals (34), assists (48) and points (82) in 78 games, but now at 27-years-old there’s a chance his ceiling potential has been lowered despite being healthy for the first time in a while.

With one-year remaining on his current contract and a $6.375 million cap hit, Monahan gets the chance to have a fresh start in Montréal and can either stick around for the emergence of something new and exciting within the Canadiens organization or skip out on a rebuild.

In any case, he’ll get his best chance to prove himself given Montréal had an opening for a second line center.

At worst, he’ll be the next Mike Cammalleri and spend parts of a few seasons in a Canadiens jersey while sputtering out into a bottom-six/third line forward role.

The addition of Kadri and subtraction of Monahan leaves the Flames with about $2.137 million in cap space that they’ll surely want to try to add a little more wiggle room to.

Despite Lucic’s veteran presence and experience having won a Cup before 11 years ago, his $5.250 million cap hit on an expiring contract at season’s end could be used to bait a team in taking him while upgrading Calgary’s fourth line.

Perhaps this is where a reunion with the Bruins comes into play if the Flames are a destination on, say, Nick Foligno’s modified no-trade clause?

Lucic’s size would bolster Boston’s fourth line with some added size and bring more to the table than Foligno’s offensive output last season (Lucic had 10-11—21 totals in 82 games to Foligno’s 2-11—13 totals in 64 games).

Of course, Lucic would have to approve of a trade in compliance with his modified no-trade clause as well, but it’s well known that he still has a place in his heart for Boston.

Both players are 34-years-old and Lucic— though he may want to win another Cup— has already won it before. He wouldn’t be going back to the Bruins just for a reunion with fellow 2011 Stanley Cup champions in Bergeron, David Krejčí and Brad Marchand, but he would join a team that’s in a fight of their own to reclaim some former glory.

Lucic has also evolved since the days of his, at times, undisciplined style.

Foligno, on the other hand, has yet to even appear in a Stanley Cup Final since making his league debut in the 2007-08 season.

Every good Cup contender has that one veteran that has never sniffed an appearance in the Final and Foligno could be very well be someone to rally around in the “C of Red”.

So, after a few years of staying the course while developing along the way and experiencing crushing heartbreak after heartbreak from one season to the next, Treliving made a choice.

He’s going all in and his actions are clear to his players— are you ready and willing to go all in too?

Calgary’s average age might be nearing 30, but many veterans on the roster have already won at least one Cup ring. What would you be willing to do to win another?

Entering the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Flames were one of the hottest teams in the NHL all season long (both in name and given their stature as not only the regular season Pacific Division winners, but the leaders of the entire Western Conference with a 50-25-7 record and 107 points on the season).

Calgary thumped Colorado in a, 4-0, shutout on home ice for Game 1 of their 2019 First Round matchup.

Then the Flames lost four straight games and were handed an embarrassing five-game series exit.

They took the lessons they learned and made it through the Qualifying Round in 2020, defeating the Winnipeg Jets in a best-of-five series 3-1 before losing to the Dallas Stars in the 2020 First Round in six games.

After missing the playoffs in 2020-21, the Flames and Stars had a rematch in the 2022 First Round— only this time, Gaudreau sent Calgary onto the Second Round where they were crushed by their Alberta rival, the Edmonton Oilers in five soul-sucking games.

They have not been back to the Western Conference Final since 2004— the same year they went on to the Stanley Cup Final and lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.

Currently, only Lewis and Lucic were alive the last time Calgary won the Cup in 1989. Lewis was 2, while Lucic was 1.

Surely the Avalanche are going to be as dominant as they were on their way to the Cup. They’ll likely have to face the Flames at one point or another in the 2023 postseason.

What better chance to go for it all then to sign the guy that was playing center on the second line of the defending champions (Kadri) that once made a mockery of your rise to power in the Western Conference (2019) than by throwing them off the top of the mountain in the process?