Feaster deserves credit for a few solid moves he made. The top of the list is hiring his good buddy Bob Hartley. Feaster made this move but I remember the sorry of Bob having to win the approval of Conroy and Weisbroad. Also not sure if it was King or Feaster but getting Conroy to move up to the front office was very smart.
Letting his scouts draft the BPA. He didn't scout Gaudreau but he did give Button permission to draft him. The 2011 draft looks like we might have 4 NHLers on our hands. 2013 he took the obvious pick in Monahan but the sportier pick over perhaps the more natural pick in Shinkaurak was wise. Again letting the scouts do their work and staying hands off was very smart.
He had some hits and misses with free agents. The Hudler signing is likely his best and even though the Wideman contract is brutal he is filling a very nice role on the team. Jooris looks like a great pickup as well.
He also cleared the books and got this team out of cap hell and left a nice canvass for Butke and Treliving to build this team with. Brad inherited a great situation with prospects, and cap space at his disposal. The table was cleared for him.
There is plenty of bad in there though which we have all harped on in the past. The handling of the Igy trade, and the RoR offer sheet looked brutal from an optics perspective and the offer sheet could have set the team back a few years. The Jankowski pick and moreso the hype he built up was a bad move. Jay was pretty bad for hyping prospects and it is part of the reason Sven is where he is right now. the trades of Bouwmeester, Regehr, and Tangauy were all pretty awful as well.
Jay deserves credit for much of the teams success but I really didn't like the perception of the team from the outside when he was here. With Burke and Treliving in place it seems like the team is gaining more respect amongst the spectators and pundits alike. So thanks to Jay for his contributions but I am very happy he no longer runs this team
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