The Team That Feaster Built

[ah123]

I think Feaster's biggest contribution was that he set the parameters of the rebuild. It wasn't the "get rid of everyone and bring in the high draft picks" approach that some other teams have taken. He (with the rest of the mgmt. team) identified the individuals who were going to be part of the rebuild and he set the expectations for the team (i.e. we need to compete and win, the goal is to make the playoffs)

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

As for Monahan, it's only a no brainer because he actually made the pick. He could have done something different.

He even tried to do something different.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

He even tried to do something different.

Indeed. All three first rounders for the #1 overall?

Nathan MacKinnon is a fantastic player, but we should be happy the Avs declined that.

Incidentally, Monahan has 30 goals to MacKinnon's 29. MacKinnon has many more assists though.

[DionTheDman]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

He even tried to do something different.

Didn't he offer all three firsts for Tyler Seguin or 1st overall?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

As Burke said when Feaster was let go: Someone had to come in and do the dirty work before you can start building a contending team. And someone has to be the scapegoat when it's time to take the next step. Feaster got us out of cap hell. He got the rebuilt started. Drafting was excellent. Not the best at the blockbuster trades he had to make, but I honestly think a couple years from now we'll look back see those parts as big contributors to the team. Feaster was stuck being the guy in charge when the owners still wanted to make the playoffs off an aging core. Then suddenly their minds changed and he was then in charge of leading the team to a rebuild. I think he did well as a result.

Yeah, I think a lot of knew that whoever was hired to trade Iginla would likely not be around for the whole rebuild. Feaster was hired to be a dismantler... it's a dirty job and fortunately Treliving doesn't need to carry that baggage.

Originally Posted by Vinny01

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.

Feaster is humble enough to know that he isn't a hockey genius down to the street level. He is a manager of people. It is a method that can work on many levels, but can have drawbacks. In a way, he was the opposite of Darryl Sutter when he was a manager and it seems obvious as to why he was brought in to be Darryl's yin to his yang.

Treliving and Burke on the other hand, seem to be more of a hybrid style GM management team.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

We can't know one way or the other. And he pulled the trigger, so pretty hard not to give him credit.

As for Monahan, it's only a no brainer because he actually made the pick. He could have done something different.

I don't watch junior hockey and get lost of my prospect feedback by watching videos, interviews and reading forums. I knew that they flames should pick whoever was available of Monahan or Lindholm and at the time I was really hoping it would be Monahan who we would get. It was the no brainier pick

[LChoy]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

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

Good post, I think I agree with most of the stuff you said

in addition to the perception thing:

Feaster's main impact, rightly or wrongly, was that he wanted to change the atmosphere of the Flames, and did that by becoming a total cheerleader for the team. He was very open with the media and was always promoting the team. Whether it was recruiting "The best goalie outside of the NHL (Ramo)" to "Jankowski will be the best player in the draft in 10 years." We also all loved his comments about the Oilers wandering the desert. Bringing up Sven on that emergency recall seem to support that he wanted to bring the excitement back to the Flames.

Unfortunately, Feaster's openness backfired on many occasions, and the Flames looked really bad many times during his term. For ex, the ROR situation, not counting it wasn't just the Flames that were caught by that obscure rule, it was the one job he should have expertise in, and he didn't catch it. However, if that rule wasn't there, it was actually a beautifully constructed offer sheet as the Flames put in the right price point and the signing dates prevented ROR from signing prior to UFA trade deadline (The poison pill clause). However, every misstepped from the Iggy Trade, trying to get Kipper to waive to another team, seem to expose Feaster as an incompetent GM. In other words, he was great when it comes to positive news, but could not control the message when there was a mistake.

Lastly, I tend to cut him a break for the trades of Iggy, Regehr, and Bouwmeester. In the history of all NHL trades involving star players, the team that trading the star almost always loses the trade. From other team recently, Seguin, Vanek, Nash, to name a few, were all a boon for the team receiving them, rather than the returns going the other way. History also shows that GMs are brought in to be the hatchet man, and dismissed once the hard part has been completed.

Ultimately, the perception of him as a mouthpiece cheerleader is what caused him to be released. I don't think other GMs took him seriously, and that hampered our trading potential. However, he accomplished the task of changing the Flames identity and culture, and Burke/Treliving are continuing to build upon it. The Dome is rocking again, and the Flames are gaining back their respectability in the NHL.

TL;DR - Feaster's main impact was to start the change in culture, but his cheerleading got too much, and there was too many times the Flames looked foolish under his watch.

Lchoy

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Why doesn't he get credit for Granlund and Wotherspoon? Didn't those picks come from him dumping Tom Erixon (another junk Sutter draft pick) on the Rangers?

Yes, you're right. Forgot about the trade.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by ah123

I think Feaster's biggest contribution was that he set the parameters of the rebuild. It wasn't the "get rid of everyone and bring in the high draft picks" approach that some other teams have taken. He (with the rest of the mgmt. team) identified the individuals who were going to be part of the rebuild and he set the expectations for the team (i.e. we need to compete and win, the goal is to make the playoffs)

Good point.

As for the drafting, I'm pretty sure there's a video buried somewhere in the Flames pages where someone mentions that Feaster/Weisbrod did bring a bit of a different emphasis on what is valued in scouting, although it was never mentioned what exactly that was.

My guess is that the Flames have given intelligence, character and off-ice work ethic a higher emphasis than before. It could of course be a coincidence or viewers bias, but it seems to me that post-Feaster our prospects tend to be constantly praised for their work ethic, their will and ability to learn, how they're humble, team players, easy to coach etc.

Not a lot of that me-first cockiness that especially high-scoring prospects sometimes have. (Which is not necessary a problem, the right amount of cockiness can be a very good thing for a player.)

There seems to be a type to what kind of personalities Flames prospects are these days.

But of course this could also be something that's simply a by-product of the increased scouting staff. Maybe it's simply that they now have more time to dig into this stuff.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Indeed. All three first rounders for the #1 overall?

Nathan MacKinnon is a fantastic player, but we should be happy the Avs declined that.

Incidentally, Monahan has 30 goals to MacKinnon's 29. MacKinnon has many more assists though.

If that trade had gone through, we would (mostly) all be pretty happy with McKinnon.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

If that trade had gone through, we would (mostly) all be pretty happy with McKinnon.

I agree. That was almost a no-lose deal. That said, while MacKinnon is easily the best player of the draft, Monahan is going to put up a credible argument for second best player (between he, Jones and Drouin, imo), and if either of Poirier or Klimchuk becomes a good NHL player, then we're laughing.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yes, you're right. Forgot about the trade.

Plus Horak who we turn into Smid, who plays more games and minutes than Erixon (think) and is a well liked guy and warrior. Let's call the minor league goalie swap even for now.

So Erixon for Granlund, Wotherspoon and Smid.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by gioforpm

plus horak who we turn into smid, who plays more games and minutes than erixon (think) and is a well liked guy and warrior. Let's call the minor league goalie swap even for now.

So erixon and brossoit for granlund, wotherspoon and smid.

fyp

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by DionTheDman

Didn't he offer all three firsts for Tyler Seguin or 1st overall?

3 firsts was for MacKinnon. Would've killed some of our depth, but that's probably a reasonable trade given who was at the top.

The Seguin trade offer was I believe Seguin for 6th overall and Gaudreau. He wisely put down the phone to that one.

[edslunch]

Are the Flames in a better place after him than before him? Not standings wise but future wise. The answer is a clear yes so give him credit for that. Never mind nit picking about who was really responsible - a manager gets credit and blame for everything that happens on their watch.

Could the Flames have done better? Sure, Burke said as much, and it's hard to see Feaster's trades as anything more than mediocre not to mention the near misses on Richards and O'Reilly. He was a middling GM, but he did some dirty work and left the team with a better future than he found it - let's thank him and move on

[djsFlames]

Hard to say right now whether Poirier/Monahan or MacKinnon will be better..

MacKinnon will probably be the highest producing player of them all, but Monahan is a solid all around player, at minimum a perennial 2nd line center, and Poirier looks like he could be a future 30 goal guy.

[Coach]

I give Feaster full credit for revamping the drafting (IE letting Button do his thing) and for clearing deadweight from the roster (both attitude and contract wise). He brought in some good UFAs and made a couple decent trades, but, as noted, also made some mistakes from a hockey perspective and when he did try to do things on his own, or think outside the box, it almost got him a couple times.

I appreciate what he did and if this team goes far without much tinkering, it reflects well on him. But I think it was time to move on and it required people with more of a hockey background to understand how to breed the young players that Feaster brought in. I give Treliving/Burke/Hartley (brought in by Feaster) full credit for the merit based system going on now. Not to say that Feaster couldn't have implemented it, but, as a guy who allowed his people to do what they do, could have been a downfall from this perspective and he tended to overtalk our young players. Treliving and Burke have been the hardasses we need to push the group that Feaster left forwards.

I think he was exactly the guy we needed at the time, he fell on the sword for what Darryl left behind really (amongst a few near miss mistakes and Janko), and we are left with exactly the guys we need now. It worked out pretty well for Flames fans and I wish Feaster all the best. He may not have a long hockey background, but you can tell he loves the game and appreciated the Calgary fanbase.

[Walter Reed]

Feaster was not without worts but the success the Flames are experiencing stems entirely with the Feaster management team. Burke is the beneficery of JF works.

[Hanna Sniper]

The only thing Feaster gets credit for was having the worst team in history, thankfully for us that shortcoming enabled use to be in a better drafting position and reap the rewards of that

Since Feaster acknowledged he was hands off at the draft table, he doesn't get crest for someone else work.

[Mister Yamoto]

I'm just happy that he is gone.