Brad Treliving has been general manager of the Calgary Flames since the spring of 2014. He came into the job with a reputation for being a tough negotiator – a reputation he built during his time as assistant general manager in Arizona, where he had to make the most of limited resources. He’s taken that shrewd approach to building the Flames.
How Treliving has behaved in past negotiations, and how he both exploits and responds to leverage, can tell us a lot about how the negotiations for Mikael Backlund’s new contract are going to go.
Thinking about leverage
Looking at past contract situations and speaking to agents, leverage for a player generally increases during the life cycle of their pro career.