The other "hindsight" complicating this is how Bouwmeester has played since the trade. For most of his contract in Calgary, Bouwmeester was a huge target on CP as a potential buy-out candidate.
Feaster said all along that the first rounder was a must in any deal. He would have been highly criticized at the time had a first round pick not been part of the package.
I'm not sure how many "better" deals could have been available. Even the one rumoured here from Detroint, at the time the deal was made, isn't substantively better than what Feaster got.
Agree with all the comments made about the criticisms Feaster would have been subject to had he traded this key piece for more small left-wingers.
I also have a hard time with the "wait for something better" thinking as well because trade deadline day has consistently (except for perhaps this year) brought the best returns.
I think in the full context of where the team was, where the player was, the premium being placed on 2013 first-rounders, etc., etc., that Feaster did okay on this one. I'm not saying this was a slam-dunk win for the Flames at all, just that the return seemed pretty reasonable at the time, and I'm actually not all that concerned about it now, to be honest.
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