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Jakester · 12-13-2013, 09:18 PM

It's still too early to tell what Feaster's final legacy will be for this team. If Monahan continues to develop into and elite centre, if Jankowski ends up being the player the Flames thought they were getting when they went off board to draft him, if Baertschi and Gaudreau fulfill their potential as elite scoring wingers, if Gillies can make his goaltending success at the college level translate in the big leagues, and if some of the other young players drafted/traded for under Feaster develop into good supporting players or better yet, diamonds in the rough, then the Feaster era will be looked upon favourably. I think we'll need to check back two or three years from now to really get a sense of how good or bad Feaster really was as a GM for this team.

With Sutter, there's much to like, but there's also much to dislike. He took a floundering franchise and returned it to respectability, most notably with a cup run in 2004. His trades ranged from excellent (Kipper for a 2nd, Langkow for Gauthier and Saprykin) to okay (Tanguay for Leopold and two 2nds) to awful (the Phaneuf trade, Jokinen and Prust for Kotalik and Higgins). He also deserves credit for locking up Iginla, Kipper, and Regehr with long term deals at a reasonable cap hit.

On the downside, Sutter was always a coach at heart. While his drive to win now served him well behind the bench (and continues to serve him well in LA) it served him less well as a GM. He agreed to far too many no trade/no movement clauses, limiting future flexibility. He also was a little too willing to mortgage the future by trading draft picks for short term help. In the end, his desperation to win now in 2010 resulted in two very poor trades and ultimately cost him his job.

Sutter's lack of success at the draft also proved costly in the long run. He didn't do himself any favours by frequently trading picks and the most of the players he did pick never panned out. His habit of trading down was especially bad for the team. Consider the following:
2004: Moves down from 19th to 24th. Drafts Kris Chucko. Players picked between 19 and 23 included Travis Zajac, Wojtek Wolski, and Andrej Mezaros.
2007: Moves down from 18th to 24th. Drafts Mikael Backlund. Max Pacioretty picked at 22.
2008: Moves down from 17th to 25th. Drafts Greg Nemisz. Players picked between 17 and 24 included Jake Gardiner, Michael del Zotto, and Jordan Eberle.
2009: Moves down from 20th to 23rd. Drafts Tim Erixon. Players picked between 20 and 22 include John Moore and Jordan Schroeder.

The compensation the Flames received for trading down was also poor:
2004: received 2nd round pick (46th overall) from the Rangers. Drafted Adam Pineault (3 NHL games, 0 points)
2007: received 3rd round pick (70th overall) from the Blues. Drafted John Negrin (3 NHL, 0 goals, 1 assist)
2008: received 2nd round pick (48th overall) from LA. Drafted Mitch Wahl (0 NHL games). Acquired Michael Cammalleri. Gave up Alex Tanguay.
2009: received 3rd round pick (84th overall) from New Jersey. Traded it to LA for 3rd round pick(74th overall). Drafted Ryan Howse (0 NHL games).

Three players Sutter drafted are still with the team: Mikael Backlund, TJ Brodie, and Lance Bouma. Still in the NHL, but with other teams, are Dion Phaneuf, Brandon Prust and Adam Pardy; a handful of others have played a few games with other teams, but are not full time NHLers. There are still a handful of Sutter picks in the system who may yet make the NHL.

Overall, I'd give Sutter credit for a Stanley Cup finals appearance and five straight seasons in the playoffs after seven years out. Unfortunately, his questionable contract decisions and especially his poor drafting put the team in a pretty bad spot. Hopefully we're not in for another seven year drought.

12-13-2013, 09:18 PM	#69
Jakester Scoring Winger Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Vancouver, BC Exp:	It's still too early to tell what Feaster's final legacy will be for this team. If Monahan continues to develop into and elite centre, if Jankowski ends up being the player the Flames thought they were getting when they went off board to draft him, if Baertschi and Gaudreau fulfill their potential as elite scoring wingers, if Gillies can make his goaltending success at the college level translate in the big leagues, and if some of the other young players drafted/traded for under Feaster develop into good supporting players or better yet, diamonds in the rough, then the Feaster era will be looked upon favourably. I think we'll need to check back two or three years from now to really get a sense of how good or bad Feaster really was as a GM for this team. With Sutter, there's much to like, but there's also much to dislike. He took a floundering franchise and returned it to respectability, most notably with a cup run in 2004. His trades ranged from excellent (Kipper for a 2nd, Langkow for Gauthier and Saprykin) to okay (Tanguay for Leopold and two 2nds) to awful (the Phaneuf trade, Jokinen and Prust for Kotalik and Higgins). He also deserves credit for locking up Iginla, Kipper, and Regehr with long term deals at a reasonable cap hit. On the downside, Sutter was always a coach at heart. While his drive to win now served him well behind the bench (and continues to serve him well in LA) it served him less well as a GM. He agreed to far too many no trade/no movement clauses, limiting future flexibility. He also was a little too willing to mortgage the future by trading draft picks for short term help. In the end, his desperation to win now in 2010 resulted in two very poor trades and ultimately cost him his job. Sutter's lack of success at the draft also proved costly in the long run. He didn't do himself any favours by frequently trading picks and the most of the players he did pick never panned out. His habit of trading down was especially bad for the team. Consider the following: 2004: Moves down from 19th to 24th. Drafts Kris Chucko. Players picked between 19 and 23 included Travis Zajac, Wojtek Wolski, and Andrej Mezaros. 2007: Moves down from 18th to 24th. Drafts Mikael Backlund. Max Pacioretty picked at 22. 2008: Moves down from 17th to 25th. Drafts Greg Nemisz. Players picked between 17 and 24 included Jake Gardiner, Michael del Zotto, and Jordan Eberle. 2009: Moves down from 20th to 23rd. Drafts Tim Erixon. Players picked between 20 and 22 include John Moore and Jordan Schroeder. The compensation the Flames received for trading down was also poor: 2004: received 2nd round pick (46th overall) from the Rangers. Drafted Adam Pineault (3 NHL games, 0 points) 2007: received 3rd round pick (70th overall) from the Blues. Drafted John Negrin (3 NHL, 0 goals, 1 assist) 2008: received 2nd round pick (48th overall) from LA. Drafted Mitch Wahl (0 NHL games). Acquired Michael Cammalleri. Gave up Alex Tanguay. 2009: received 3rd round pick (84th overall) from New Jersey. Traded it to LA for 3rd round pick(74th overall). Drafted Ryan Howse (0 NHL games). Three players Sutter drafted are still with the team: Mikael Backlund, TJ Brodie, and Lance Bouma. Still in the NHL, but with other teams, are Dion Phaneuf, Brandon Prust and Adam Pardy; a handful of others have played a few games with other teams, but are not full time NHLers. There are still a handful of Sutter picks in the system who may yet make the NHL. Overall, I'd give Sutter credit for a Stanley Cup finals appearance and five straight seasons in the playoffs after seven years out. Unfortunately, his questionable contract decisions and especially his poor drafting put the team in a pretty bad spot. Hopefully we're not in for another seven year drought.