Jay Feaster update (Stan Fischler interview)

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I think getting Horak+two 2nd's was pretty good, as was Kris Russell.

Also, Jiri Hudler was a very astute pickup, a very perfect fit.

But I agree that the best thing Feaster did was that he did such a bad job he forced the team into a proper rebuild... a semi-competant GM may have kept delaying the rebuild. And it helped show ownership we need a hockey guy at the top (Burke) and I have a lot of hope for Treliving & co, so I guess all's well that end's well.

Well I guess I'm biased I haven't been happy with Feaster since he got cornered with the Erixon deal. This was my call on the Regehr trade.

Anyone want to argue with my call that the Erixon snafu was strike one. This is strike two and three. Just fataing terrible.

In case anyone doesn't remember that trade and our reaction.

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ne#post3181423

Kris Russel was St. Louis saying, we took your best defencemen and now we don't have room for our 7th defenceman, so you can have him cheap.

Hudler is decent but again another small forward.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I think getting Horak+two 2nd's was pretty good, as was Kris Russell.

The Erixon trade was either a bad deal or a fair deal. Hate aside, at the time, Erixon was a 1st round picked that developed well. He was worth more than where we drafted him. So it was a bad deal because Feaster believed or was led to believe that he could have signed Erixon until it was too late. This wasn't a situation where Feaster didn't know what was going on. He should have gauged Erixon's willingness to sign and acted accordingly.

It was a fair deal if you think Feaster simply made the best out of a bad situation. Two 2nds for a late 1st is actually a standard price. Considering how Horak's NHL career turned out, he's nothing. And we actually gave up a 5th in that deal. How Erixon turned out and how we used the draft picks is a hindsight thing since there's no indication that Feaster targeted some 2nd round picks because there were guys he really wanted to draft.

As for Russell. Good pickup. But he was on waivers 3 days before Feaster traded for him.

[Steve Bozek]

I'm not a big Feaster supporter, but I don't think Feaster (or Sutter) should be blamed for not getting Erixon signed or otherwise disposed of (by trade) until just before the deadline. I think it's generally agreed that the Erixon camp misled the Flames management right up to the end. The trade to the Rangers, under the circumstances, looked very advantagious to the Flames, and it wouldn't surprise me if Sather made the deal a little sweeter in order to avoid the Flames making a case that the Rangers were guilty of tampering. The request for 2nd round picks addressed a deficit left over from the Sutter era that Feaster and others had clearly identified as a problem that needed to be corrected, and the trade addressed that problem. This was one of the (few?) Feaster actions that deserved some praise, both at the time, and in retrospect.

[Hackey]

No one is debating whether they should have got him signed. The two 2nds is pretty standard price for a first. Nothing special there. What makes the trade look potentially good is our scouts were able to turn the picks into two decent prospects. As of now the jury is still out on all players involved so we need to wait and see. Erixon looks like he will be given a shot at a full time NHL role this year. Wotherspoon and Granlund will likely have to wait for some injuries. Still a lot of time before we truly know who won. As for the return though we got about market value.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by Hackey

No one is debating whether they should have got him signed. The two 2nds is pretty standard price for a first. Nothing special there. What makes the trade look potentially good is our scouts were able to turn the picks into two decent prospects. As of now the jury is still out on all players involved so we need to wait and see. Erixon looks like he will be given a shot at a full time NHL role this year. Wotherspoon and Granlund will likely have to wait for some injuries. Still a lot of time before we truly know who won. As for the return though we got about market value.

Given the deadlines and the Flames' imminent potential loss of the player for near zero return, this wasn't a "standard" trade of a 1st round pick.

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Everyone keeps harping on the same crap. Lets try to look at them objectively.

- He didn't try to get Ryan Smyth, it is all rumours based on Smyth saying he wanted to come back to Alberta. So the press jumps on that Calgary and Edmonton are looking at Smyth which was false and has no basis in facts.

I stopped reading your post right here. Feaster himself admitted he tried to get Smith from LA. Smith also stated that the Flames tried to get him.

Nice try though.

[Phanuthier]

Quick google proves Cs to be true & Beatles to be wrong

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle4261797/

Feaster acknowledged that he had interest in acquiring Ryan Smyth from the Los Angeles Kings, but implied it was a fallback position "depending upon how things were going to go with Alex and how things went on the trade front - that was one of the options."

[MolsonInBothHands]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Quick google proves Cs to be true & Beatles to be wrong

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle4261797/

That proves nothing. It simply states he saw it as an alternative plan. They did not execute it.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Steve Bozek

Given the deadlines and the Flames' imminent potential loss of the player for near zero return, this wasn't a "standard" trade of a 1st round pick.

The Flames were capable of trading him to any of the 30 teams. If he would have re-entered the draft he was projected to be a top 10 pick. I'd say majority of teams would have liked to add a prospect like this to their organization. Because of the high demand teams knew they would have to pay to land him. Erixon wanted to go to NY but by no means were the Flames obligated to trade him there. New York knew they would have to pay a fair price to get him.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Hackey

The Flames were capable of trading him to any of the 30 teams. If he would have re-entered the draft he was projected to be a top 10 pick. I'd say majority of teams would have liked to add a prospect like this to their organization. Because of the high demand teams knew they would have to pay to land him. Erixon wanted to go to NY but by no means were the Flames obligated to trade him there. New York knew they would have to pay a fair price to get him.

Why would a team trade for Erixon when they know he will only sign in NY?

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Why would a team trade for Erixon when they know he will only sign in NY?

He would have had to wait an entire complete prospect rights cycle if he went back into the draft and another team took him.

[Chill Cosby]

Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands

That proves nothing. It simply states he saw it as an alternative plan. They did not execute it.

Beatle was suggesting it was never even an alternative plan, a rumour without basis in facts conjured up by the media.

Therein, it proves everything it was supposed to prove.

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands

That proves nothing. It simply states he saw it as an alternative plan. They did not execute it.

Ok, is this enough proof for you?

Smyth admitted he thought about joining the Oilers' fierce provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames, but the pull of the Oilers was too strong.

"There was a couple of teams in the mix," he said. "(The Flames) were one of them for sure. The fact that they were willing and excited I thank them for that. But obviously it would have been really tough emotionally with the Edmonton blood that's in me."

http://www.thehockeynews.com/article...raft-pick.html

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by nik-

He would have had to wait an entire complete prospect rights cycle if he went back into the draft and another team took him.

Agree. That's why I think it was a pretty good deal from both sides' perspective, plus I think the Rangers might also have been worried about being charged with tampering.

[MolsonInBothHands]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

Ok, is this enough proof for you?

Smyth admitted he thought about joining the Oilers' fierce provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames, but the pull of the Oilers was too strong.

"There was a couple of teams in the mix," he said. "(The Flames) were one of them for sure. The fact that they were willing and excited I thank them for that. But obviously it would have been really tough emotionally with the Edmonton blood that's in me."

http://www.thehockeynews.com/article...raft-pick.html

Not really.

We knew Smyth was trying to get back into Alberta, clearly Edmonton was plan A, Calgary was plan B. So in Smyth's eyes Calgary may have been "in the mix", but that is still open for a lot of different interpretations. Calgary may have inquired, they may have considered it an option, they may have even made an offer, which is how I would quantify "trying to get him".

There is no proof in any of the quotes. I am not denying it. Just don't know. Again, it's another thing that didn't happen, so to praise or criticize it seems pretty academic at this point.

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands

Not really.

We knew Smyth was trying to get back into Alberta, clearly Edmonton was plan A, Calgary was plan B. So in Smyth's eyes Calgary may have been "in the mix", but that is still open for a lot of different interpretations. Calgary may have inquired, they may have considered it an option, they may have even made an offer, which is how I would quantify "trying to get him".

There is no proof in any of the quotes. I am not denying it. Just don't know. Again, it's another thing that didn't happen, so to praise or criticize it seems pretty academic at this point.

Seriously?

So Ryan Smyth says, "The Flames were one of them for sure. The fact that they were willing and excited I thank them for that"

So the Flames were willing and excited to get Ryan Smyth, but they didn't try to get Ryan Smyth?

What other proof do you need, Jay Feaster in your lap telling you he tried to get Ryan Smyth?

[MolsonInBothHands]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

Seriously?

So Ryan Smyth says, "The Flames were one of them for sure. The fact that they were willing and excited I thank them for that"

So the Flames were willing and excited to get Ryan Smyth, but they didn't try to get Ryan Smyth?

What other proof do you need, Jay Feaster in your lap telling you he tried to get Ryan Smyth?

You don't think GMs inquire about what the asking price is? You don't think it's possible a player on the decline may embellish perceived interest in himself? You don't think Edmonton media is itching to put up a story of a player choosing to come home to Edmonton over a hated rival? You don't think Jay Feaster sounded willing and excited about just about everything during his tenure? What did Calgary offer for Smyth?

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands

You don't think GMs inquire about what the asking price is? You don't think it's possible a player on the decline may embellish perceived interest in himself? You don't think Edmonton media is itching to put up a story of a player choosing to come home to Edmonton over a hated rival? You don't think Jay Feaster sounded willing and excited about just about everything during his tenure? What did Calgary offer for Smyth?

I'm too lazy to find the source, but it was one of the TSN tweets that day that it was a 4th or 5th round pick IIRC.

Going back though, this all stems from Feaster's comment that he prides himself on getting the Flames out of "cap jail" .... yet he did try to acquire Brad Richards and Ryan Smyth. Now I'm sure you may wish to debate the word "try" or "attempt" and if you enjoy that, all the power to you... but the fact that this was something that was even attempted shows he isn't the matyr he likes to thim of himself as.

[Lanny_McDonald]

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?

[MolsonInBothHands]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I'm too lazy to find the source, but it was one of the TSN tweets that day that it was a 4th or 5th round pick IIRC.

Going back though, this all stems from Feaster's comment that he prides himself on getting the Flames out of "cap jail" .... yet he did try to acquire Brad Richards and Ryan Smyth. Now I'm sure you may wish to debate the word "try" or "attempt" and if you enjoy that, all the power to you... but the fact that this was something that was even attempted shows he isn't the matyr he likes to thim of himself as.

LOL. You don't want to debate whether it was tried or attempted, but the fact remains it was attempted. Got it.

Where does he think of himself as a martyr? I missed that. Pretty sure everyone knows in the hockey business you will be fired, he even joked about packing his bags right along with Hartley should Hartley be fired. Most people in this thread agree he didn't bash the Flames organization in the interview. (some say he was classy, some say he had no basis to bash)