Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacks
To me there were two distinct parts to Feaster's tenure, "make the playoffs" Feaster and "rebuild" Feaster. We can argue about who's idea it was to keep trying to make the playoffs at all costs but it's clear that continuing with an aging core full of mid tier players, 2 franchise players near the end of their careers, a whole whack of NTC's, at the contract limit and cap troubles meant that he was doomed to failure to start with.
"Make the playoffs" Feaster made some good moves and some bad moves, this is of course where the majority of his mistakes happened. Mainly in his pursuit of players to play with Iginla, the quest for a #1 centre.
"Rebuild" Feaster made some good moves and some bad moves but it's hard to argue that he left the team in better shape. He got rid of a ton of bad salary, freed up contracts, brought in some good contracts and stocked the prospect cupboards. He was hardly a disaster.
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A tonne of bad salary? Who?
Regehr was not bad salary. Iginla and Bouwmeester were not. What bad salary are you talking about?
The only bad salary he had on the team from what I remember was:
Kotalik - but he paid a premium to remove it, only to watch Kotalik go to Europe and come off Buffalo's books for free.
Sarich - A bit overpaid, but a contract he himself signed. Returned back O'Brien which was far worse salary.
Tanguay - Again, a contract he himself signed, and traded away for even worse salary.
There were many good points and bad points about Feaster, but removing salary was not one of them IMO.
Rest is not directed at you:
I also think Feaster's draft selection was a bit overblown. The only thing he seemed to do was trust Button (which apparently Sutter started to do himself and laid the groundwork there), and then trusted the Weisbrod/Button tandem. He was sure to remove himself from any possible blame with regards to Jankowski by insisting it was Weisbrod's choice, so I don't think you can really credit him with anything regarding the draft with the exception of allowing Button to run it (which is definitely something very positive and shouldn't be brushed aside - but also something that shouldn't be overly praised as a strength for just stepping aside either).
My biggest argument with Feaster was him sitting on his hands watching his 'competitive' team dwindle without making major moves to shake it up (coaching, big trades, trading futures for present help) or decide to enter into a rebuild. What was the expectation?
Feaster's very best move was the hiring of Hartley. That (imo) was the single biggest mistake of Darryl Sutter's GM tenure.
He made some good moves (mostly by stepping out of the way, but some solid moves on his own). He made some bad moves. All in all, it was time for a change.