Sutter is a clear #2 here
The Flames were, frankly, not very good when he came in. Just think about how quickly he turned the team around. Obviously Kipper was a once in a lifetime trade. But there was more to it than that. They had a few pieces, with guys like Connie and Yelle.
Rhett Warrener was a tremendous add, on and off the ice, he had gone deep with Florida and did it again with Calgary. Steven Reinprecht brought a 180 foot game and a winning pedigree. Simon was among the toughest around, and had been a contributor when he got his ring. Adding Marcus Nilson and Ville Nieminen and playing them with Donovan - they were tenacious, a great third line.
He very quickly surrounded Iginla with a supporting cast that really gelled, made noise after sneaking in the playoffs. (And, of course, it was in!)
Then, as much as guys like Amonte and Friesen underachieved, he added a lot of other good pieces like Tanguay, Cammalleri, etc. The game changed post lockout and he had a team that was competing for the division every year. That last year with Keenan, it’s unfortunate they were so ravaged by injuries, as they were as good a contender as we saw. Sucked that ownership forced him to fire Keenan - not his choice - and then it all went downhill with Brent
Always exciting, he had some other trades that were steals - Huselius, Rene Bourque. Although JBo didn’t end up a favourite of mine, acquiring both him and Jokinen were big name players that filled needs, Olli hoped to be that #1C for Jarome
Phaneuf had to go due to internal issues but there at least was a silver lining in Matty Stajan with the series winner
As for Tre, he is fine so far, but you can’t help but admitting that Feaster added some of the core pieces and the team has really done little so far under Tre’s leadership. They still don’t have an identity, which has been lacking since Hartley’s “find a way Flames.”
I remember the excitement of the “In Sutter we trust” days. Took a team that hadn’t made the playoffs in 7 years and were a perennial playoff team, at of near the top of the division. Clear #2 IMO
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