The forward, a pending unrestricted free agent, has an NHL career-high 105 points (36 goals, 69 assists) in 75 games for the Flames (46-20-9), who became the first team in the Pacific Division to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 on Saturday.
"We made a comment at the beginning of the year we weren't going to talk about his contract publicly," Treliving
told "Hockey Night in Canada After Hours"
following the Flames' 9-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday. "That by no means should be taken as any indication ... we want him back here. We're going to move heaven and earth and do everything we possibly can to get Johnny back here. You've seen it throughout the season. He's a top player, not only what he's done, productivity with the puck this year, but what he's done without it."
The Flames hadn't qualified for the playoffs since 2019-20, when they lost in six games to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference First Round. They're on pace for a 110-point season, which would be the second-most in Calgary/Atlanta Flames history (they had 117 points when they won the Stanley Cup in 1988-89).
Calgary has been powered by its top line of Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk (39 goals, 57 assists) and Elias Lindholm (39 goals, 39 assists). Each ranks in the top three in the NHL in plus/minus; Gaudreau leads at plus-59, Lindholm is second at plus-55 and Tkachuk is tied for third at plus-52.
Gaudreau become the ninth Flames player and first since Theo Fleury in 1992-93 to reach 100 points in a season with two assists in a 5-3 win against the Seattle Kraken on April 12.
"I remember when [Flames coach] Darryl [Sutter] came in last year and the screams were, 'Oh, Johnny can't play for Darryl.' I remember chuckling," Treliving said. "If anybody knows Johnny, he thrives under a coach that will push him. He has his whole career. Both those guys, him and Matthew and Andrew (Mangiapane), the list goes on. We've got a lot of work to do. Obviously Johnny being unrestricted, we're going to do everything we humanly possibly can to have him be back here and be a Flame for a long, long time."
Tkachuk and Mangiapane each can become a restricted free agent. Mangiapane has scored 32 goals this season, making the Flames the only team with four 30-goal scorers. Calgary is sixth in the NHL in goals per game this season (3.55).
"They're all deserving of the contracts they're going to get," Treliving said. "We're trying to keep our focus right now on everything that's on the ice.
"It's hard to make the playoffs in this league. I don't think people really understand how hard it is. It should be something they take a lot of pride in tonight, clinching. We've got a journey ahead of us that we're hopeful to do more and bigger things. We'll worry about all those other things contractually when the time's right. But certainly, we want to get them all signed."
