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Originally Posted by Textcritic
That is an enormously presumptuous statement. How do you know what he does and does not do behind closed doors comparatively speaking to other NHL GMs and would be GMs? What exact unique qualities do Jim Benning? Brad Treliving? Tim Murray? "bring to the table" that other GM candidates did not when they were hired last year?
I'm not suggesting that any of these people were poor choices, nor that Feaster is a better choice, only that your assessment of Feaster is practically vacuous. And I would argue further that the ability to manage effectively IS a skill that not everyone holds in equal measure—a very important skill that Feaster arguably DOES possess in spades, possibly well beyond many of his peers.
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Maybe that was a little bit unfair to him, and delegating is an important task of any job. He was seemingly good at not interfering in areas he knew he was out of his depth at. However as a GM, he doesn't bring a scouting background and leaves pro and amateur scouting exclusively to others. Do other GMs do this? Yes, of course. However from what it sounds, Feaster wasn't a guy who could make the definitive call with his own eyes, he needed Weisbrod to do it for him. He was a seemingly poor when it came to trade negotiations, as the Iginla, Regehr point to(albeit his hands were tied). His strength should be his legal background, but the ROR fiasco doesn't really do him any favours.
Tim Murray was an excellent drafter with Ottawa, Benning was well regarded within the Boston front office, and Treliving spent years cutting his teeth to reach where he was. I think it speaks volumes about how Feaster is regarded amongst the league that after he was let go in Tampa he couldn't find work for a few years, and after being let go here he's working outside of hockey operations in Tampa Bay.
Perhaps the best role for him is as Director of Hockey Operations. It sounds weird, as it would be a promotion on the role of a GM, but it's about hiring the right hockey people, and establishing an organizational philosophy. He did both of these things well in Calgary, and he can leave the hockey decisions to others, which he has no problem doing.