Quote:
Originally Posted by Dagger
Drafts Feaster has been apart of since his first full season
AGM:
1999: Traded out of first round when having first pick(Clouth
2000: Nikita Alexeev(8th) 6'6-230, Ruslain Zainulin(34th) - 6'2-218
2001: Alexander Svitov(3rd) - 6'3-245
GM:
2002: Traded for Fedotenko and 2 2nds
2003: Mike Egener(34th) - 6'4-216 - (traded back for 2nds and a 6th)
2004: Andy Rogers(30th) - 6'5-206
2005: Vladimir Mihalik(30th) - 6'7-240
2006: Riku Helenius(15th) - he's a goalie but was a huge reach/project
2007: traded pick for Shane O'Brien
2008: Stamkos(1st) - chosen by ownership/can't miss(if you do it's Doughty)
AGM(Flames):
2010: Traded(Jokinen deal)
GM(Flames)
2011: Baertschi(13th) 5'11-187
2012: Jankowski(21st) 6'2-172(and projects to grow more)
So in all of his tenure as GM or assistant GM, he's taken one player who was sub 6'2(Baertschi) inside the top 35. Now you say "maybe he's learned, look at him taking Baertschi instead of Armia." Well, he went ahead and grabbed Jankowski last year which is exactly the demographic Feaster usually drafts(big and is a project). He recently reacquired Zainulin's rights too, which can be interpreted any way you like.
I honestly don't see how Nichushkin isn't Feaster's guy if he's there. He took Jankowski early(I know all about the PHX/NJ stuff) because "he could be the best player from the draft 10 years from now." Nichushkin has that same potential, only should he hit his you've got a top 5-10 player in the league.
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The game has changed. In the clutch and grab days you needed size and power. Now many of the top forwards are smaller. Top notch forwards who are sub 5'10 are plentiful in the NHL.
GMs, as a whole, have adjusted their drafting strategies accordingly. All things being equal, the bigger player is still desirable. But being small isn't nearly as prohibative as it was, and GMs are far more likely to choose a small player in the top 60 than they were even 2-3 years ago.