'HE LOVES THE STAGE'

Five weeks ago, Brad Treliving made his intentions clear:
"You can crawl into the fetal position and suck your thumb," he said, describing the loss of Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. "Or…
"You can deal with it."
While the NHL's General Manager of the Year Award is another 10 months from being announced, Treliving has been putting on a masterclass. He was initially dealt a 2-7 off-suit - a pair of stars leaving to play elsewhere.
WAY back when.
And sometimes, a freshly shuffled deck can yield a new fortune.

Here we are, though - one month on, and Treliving has played the check-raise with impeccable precision.
"One thing that sticks out is he likes the big stage," Treliving said of his latest get, Stanley Cup star Nazem Kadri. "There are some people that embrace it. Maybe some people shy away, but this guy? He loves the stage. He's the ultimate competitor.
"The thing that he said to me is that he'd been chasing that Cup for a long time. He got it this year, and now it gives him even more of a hunger. You feel like it's yours and you don't want to let it go. He's eager to get back at it.
"The bright lights and the big stage, he relishes that. Some cower, others embrace it.
"And he fully embraces it."
In Kadri, the Flames are truly getting one of the most unique talents in the NHL. His combination of raw skill, grit and that terrifically fierce inner drive pushed him to a career season with the Colorado Avalanche. He scored 28 goals and had a career high in points (87) last year, while notching a playoff hat-trick and the OT winner in Game 4 of the championship series.

But so much of what the 31-year-old brings cannot be declared on the score sheet. His underlying metrics are that of a play-driver - second only among forwards to Valeri Nichushkin with a 56.98% possession rate. He plays with an edge, brings energy on the forecheck, and is one of the league's best at drawing penalties.
(Which is great, because he's an extremely effective powerplay finisher.)
In the span of only a few weeks, the Flames went from having Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan in the fold, to Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau up front, and MacKenzie Weegar on the backend.
"He's got a unique combination of skill and snarl and he plays a premier position at centre ice," Treliving said, noting the Flames' depth down the middle. "Watching him over the course of his career, he's really developed the ability to play in all situations. As guys do over their careers, they mature. But I think that blend is unique.
"He can play on a powerplay. He can play heavy. He's highly, highly competitive, and is a highly skilled, smart player.
"He's our kind of player.
"When we were doing our homework on him, the thing that kept coming back is that he's a winner. He's got that attitude and he's got that aura around him that he's here to play for keeps, and I think he's going to fit in great with our group."

While there were a number of suitors courting the highly sought-after free agent over the past month, the Flames came to the table with the right mix of money, term, and the promise of playing a key role in a championship pursuit.
Certainly, with Kadri, they're one step closer to that goal.
"When John (Gaudreau) decided to go to free agency, it's difficult, but you deal with it," Treliving said of the roller-coaster of an off-season. "It's our staff. We've dug in and said, 'OK, now we get to work here and how do we do this? How do you make our team better?
"That's always been the model. This last month has probably been a little bit more dramatic. But as I said, you can either curl up and play woe is me, dust yourself off and you get after it.
"And that's what we've tried to do."