On Smyth, he was a backup plan to Tanguay. As it turned out I would have preferred Smyth to Tanguay and his sulking and whining.
Back to the performance of the GM, I always try to judge their performance on which way the organization is trending when they leave. I think Feaster left the organization in a much better position that what he had when he took over. Sutter left him with a NHL team trending downward and a minor league system bereft of prospects. The minor league team wasn't trending because there was nothing there. Under Feaster the NHL roster continued to trend down and then hit bottom. Fortunately the minor league system is filled with quality prospects and trending way up. Feaster did nothing great with the NHL squad, and some of his decisions could have been disastrous, but he left the team with a future, something Sutter didn't. My, remember the heady days of in-Sutter-we-trust?
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