"You're always confident. That's always the goal," Treliving said. "You stay focused on the deal. There is always noise around it. There are always questions. There's always the calendar of saying, 'with each day that goes by we're one day closer to the start of the regular season.'
"We wanted him here. He wanted to be here. You start looking at alternatives if he's not here. Obviously it would have a huge impact on the team, but what scenarios do you look at in terms of bridging it until he gets here. Thankfully we didn't have to get there, but there's some concern. Again, your focus is getting a deal. When you put your energies in the right place, you get to the right result."
Gaudreau missed all of training camp, but the signing came two days before the Flames open the regular season against the Oilers.
It'll allow Gaudreau to be back on center Sean Monahan's left wing on Wednesday.
Gaudreau and Monahan, who was a restricted free agent and signed a seven-year contract with a reported average annual value of $6.375 million on Aug. 19, have been linemates for the past two seasons. Together, they have combined for 112 goals and 267 points.
Monahan was positive he'd have Gaudreau back on his line by the start of the regular season.
"I never really had any doubt," Monahan said. "You guys know Johnny. He loves to play hockey. The way he plays out there is exciting. He just wanted to play. That's the business side of things. I was sure something was going to get done, and obviously it did. Mentally it was getting close to the season, so you've got to move forward and think he's not going to be here. But in my mind, I thought something was going to get done.
"I talked to Johnny almost every day throughout the whole process, and obviously I was on him to make sure he was going to be back here. When I found out the news, I was really excited. I talked to him and he was back on a plane and back in Calgary."
When he arrived, it was as though nothing happened.
"It felt like normal as soon as I got here," Gaudreau said. "I met some new faces and got right back to playing hockey. I'm excited to be back here. I'm excited to start this new journey and be in this great city of Calgary for the next six years."