Jay Feaster History

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Sutter drove this team into the ground. He caught lightning in a bottle with Kiprusoff, good move but also very lucky and inherited the best player in the league at the time. Since the high water mark of his first season each team successively was worse than the year before it. By the time Sutter was finally put down all that was left was a smoldering pile of embers. Incredibly overrated GM by Flames fans.

You are wrong.

Most fans rate his coaching high and his GMing low. That confuses people. But that is not a mutually exclusive set of assessments.

There is no argument that he is an awesome coach.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

We basically gave Fucale for Ramo?

Fucale was/is a pretty highly touted prospect was/is he not?

That trade hurts now. How the heck did MTL get a pick form us considering the PITA Cammi was for them?

Bad at trades

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

This is ridiculous. This trade had nothing to do with understanding the value of assets.

The Flames organization tried very hard to sign Erixon. He led them on and then screwed them (yes them, as it wasn't just Feaster - he inherited the problem).

Erixon screwed them and Feaster made the most of the situation.

Not a huge trade in the grand scheme of things, but by no means a black mark on his record in any way, shape or form.

To attempt to criticize Feaster for the Erixon situation simply ignores the facts and screams of bias.

I'm not trying to be overly critical or even say it was a poor move nor am I even saying that he didn't make the best of a bad situation.

Just don't tell me it was a good one or imply that it had any foresight / vision attached to it.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Re: Bourque trade

Cammalleri was in Montreal for 2 years. Despite his injuries he was one of their top players and was their top scorer in both the playoffs (in fact had double as many points as the next top scorer in the last postseason appearance with them). He called out the team for losing, anywhere else that would have been a good thing instead Montreal shipped him off.

Bourque was declining much faster than Cammalleri and had 16 points in 38 games (35 point pace over 82 games) with 4 years left on his contract after the season he was traded. Today he is on pace for 25 points and they still have 2 more years left on his deal.

You got to factor in the 2 years of Cammalleri's much higher play than Bourque even if it ultimately didn't matter when assessing the trade and maybe more importantly their value now. If Calgary is capable of snagging a 1st for Cammalleri this season I wouldn't have issue calling them the victor of the trade without factoring in what becomes of Fucale, Ramo, Culkin and Holland.

Not that there isn't a lot of other things Feaster messed up on, but I don't particularly have a problem with this trade's "value".

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

We basically gave Fucale for Ramo?

Fucale was/is a pretty highly touted prospect was/is he not?

That trade hurts now. How the heck did MTL get a pick form us considering the PITA Cammi was for them?

Ummm what?

Cammalleri is one of our 2 best forwards currently. We probably get a 1st for him or a 1st + at the deadline. Bourque has been garbage. Cammalleri has been way better than Bourque AIAEC.

Ramo is playing in the NHL. Fucale is a prospect. Goalie prospects are sketchy, but if he makes it, then good for them. Meanwhile we can wait and see what Cammy returns.

To suggest we lost that trade is ridiculous at this point.

[Rerun]

In a nutshell....

Calgary Flames trade history under Jay Feaster

1. Lane MacDermid for 2014 6th round pick

2. 2014 6th round pick for Tim Jackman

3. Ladislav Smid and Oliver Roy for Roman Horak and Laurent Brossoit

4. Joe Colborne for 2014 conditional 4th round pick

5. Kris Russell for 2014 5th round pick

6. TJ Galliardi for 2015 4th round pick

7. David Jones and Shane O’Brien for Alex Tanquay and Cory Sarich

8. Corban Knight for 2013 4th round pick (Michael Downing)

9. 2103 5th round pick (Eric Roy) for Blake Comeau

10. Mark Cundari, Reto Berra, 2013 conditional 1st round pick (Emile Poirier) for Jay Bouwmeester

11. Kenneth Agostino, Ben Hankowski, and 2103 1st round pick (Morgan Klimchuck) for Jarome Iginla

12. Brian McGratton for Joe Piskula

13. Mike Testwuide for Mitch Wahl

14. 2013 7th round pick (John Gilmour) for Henrik Karlson

15. Dennis Wideman for Jordan Henry and 2013 5th round
pick (Tucker Poolman)

16. 2012 1st round pick (Mark Jankowski) and 2012 2nd round pick (Patrick Sieloff) for 2012 1st round pick (Zemgus Girgensons)

17. Akim Aliu for John Negrin

18. Brian Connelly for Brendan Morrison

19. Michael Cammalleri and Karri Ramo and 2012 5th round pick (Ryan Culkin) for Rene Bourque and Patrick Holland and 2013 2nd round pick (Zach Fucale)

20. Blair Jones for Brendan Mikkelson

21. Lee Stempniak for Daymond Langkow

22. Jordan Henry for Keith Seabrook

23. Chris Butler and Paul Byron for Ales Kotalik and Robyn Regher and 2012 2nd round pick (Jake McCabe)

24. Roman Horak and 2011 2nd round pick (Markus Granlund) and 2011 2nd round pick (Tyler Wotherspoon) for Tim Erixon

25. Fredrick Modin for 2011 7th round pick (Colin Blackwell)


I give Feaster a grade of B+ for his time here as GM

[Fire]

^^^ IMO You have to include the 2 near disasters he narrowly avoided in your grading. The ROR fiasco and the mega contract offer to Richards.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Fire

^^^ IMO You have to include the 2 near disasters he narrowly avoided in your grading. The ROR fiasco and the mega contract offer to Richards.

I disagree with this. The "almosts" didn't happen, therefore they don't have to be included in the grading.

Also, there is no way to say what would have happened with certainty with Richards here. Different players. Different system.

Finally, there is no absolute, 100% unequivocal answer as to what would have happened had the Avs not matched the O'Reilly Offer Sheet. I remain in the camp that the Memorandum of Understanding that was in effect at the time (if I recall, correctly, the CBA was not completed yet) was open for interpretation, and could be read the way the Flames interpreted it. I believe the MOU and the final CBA differ, but I cannot find the MOU on short notice.

I don't think I would give him a B+, but that list of trades is not bad when taken in toto.

[Jakester]

It's still too early to tell what Feaster's final legacy will be for this team. If Monahan continues to develop into and elite centre, if Jankowski ends up being the player the Flames thought they were getting when they went off board to draft him, if Baertschi and Gaudreau fulfill their potential as elite scoring wingers, if Gillies can make his goaltending success at the college level translate in the big leagues, and if some of the other young players drafted/traded for under Feaster develop into good supporting players or better yet, diamonds in the rough, then the Feaster era will be looked upon favourably. I think we'll need to check back two or three years from now to really get a sense of how good or bad Feaster really was as a GM for this team.

With Sutter, there's much to like, but there's also much to dislike. He took a floundering franchise and returned it to respectability, most notably with a cup run in 2004. His trades ranged from excellent (Kipper for a 2nd, Langkow for Gauthier and Saprykin) to okay (Tanguay for Leopold and two 2nds) to awful (the Phaneuf trade, Jokinen and Prust for Kotalik and Higgins). He also deserves credit for locking up Iginla, Kipper, and Regehr with long term deals at a reasonable cap hit.

On the downside, Sutter was always a coach at heart. While his drive to win now served him well behind the bench (and continues to serve him well in LA) it served him less well as a GM. He agreed to far too many no trade/no movement clauses, limiting future flexibility. He also was a little too willing to mortgage the future by trading draft picks for short term help. In the end, his desperation to win now in 2010 resulted in two very poor trades and ultimately cost him his job.

Sutter's lack of success at the draft also proved costly in the long run. He didn't do himself any favours by frequently trading picks and the most of the players he did pick never panned out. His habit of trading down was especially bad for the team. Consider the following:
2004: Moves down from 19th to 24th. Drafts Kris Chucko. Players picked between 19 and 23 included Travis Zajac, Wojtek Wolski, and Andrej Mezaros.
2007: Moves down from 18th to 24th. Drafts Mikael Backlund. Max Pacioretty picked at 22.
2008: Moves down from 17th to 25th. Drafts Greg Nemisz. Players picked between 17 and 24 included Jake Gardiner, Michael del Zotto, and Jordan Eberle.
2009: Moves down from 20th to 23rd. Drafts Tim Erixon. Players picked between 20 and 22 include John Moore and Jordan Schroeder.

The compensation the Flames received for trading down was also poor:
2004: received 2nd round pick (46th overall) from the Rangers. Drafted Adam Pineault (3 NHL games, 0 points)
2007: received 3rd round pick (70th overall) from the Blues. Drafted John Negrin (3 NHL, 0 goals, 1 assist)
2008: received 2nd round pick (48th overall) from LA. Drafted Mitch Wahl (0 NHL games). Acquired Michael Cammalleri. Gave up Alex Tanguay.
2009: received 3rd round pick (84th overall) from New Jersey. Traded it to LA for 3rd round pick(74th overall). Drafted Ryan Howse (0 NHL games).

Three players Sutter drafted are still with the team: Mikael Backlund, TJ Brodie, and Lance Bouma. Still in the NHL, but with other teams, are Dion Phaneuf, Brandon Prust and Adam Pardy; a handful of others have played a few games with other teams, but are not full time NHLers. There are still a handful of Sutter picks in the system who may yet make the NHL.

Overall, I'd give Sutter credit for a Stanley Cup finals appearance and five straight seasons in the playoffs after seven years out. Unfortunately, his questionable contract decisions and especially his poor drafting put the team in a pretty bad spot. Hopefully we're not in for another seven year drought.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Fire

^^^ IMO You have to include the 2 near disasters he narrowly avoided in your grading. The ROR fiasco and the mega contract offer to Richards.

Perhaps.. but perhaps not. If you are going to count near failures do you count good or great trades that didn't happen but he was in the mix?

Plus this list is mostly about trades. It doesn't significantly take into consideration the fact that when Feaster came on board, our future prospects cupboard was essentially bare. Feaster's draft record has basically filled that empty space with a lot of very talented talented players.

ie. Monahan, Jon Gillies, and Gaudreau

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Ummm what?

Cammalleri is one of our 2 best forwards currently. We probably get a 1st for him or a 1st + at the deadline. Bourque has been garbage. Cammalleri has been way better than Bourque AIAEC.

Ramo is playing in the NHL. Fucale is a prospect. Goalie prospects are sketchy, but if he makes it, then good for them. Meanwhile we can wait and see what Cammy returns.

To suggest we lost that trade is ridiculous at this point.

[Day Tripper]

Originally Posted by Jakester

It's still too early to tell what Feaster's final legacy will be for this team. If Monahan continues to develop into and elite centre, if Jankowski ends up being the player the Flames thought they were getting when they went off board to draft him, if Baertschi and Gaudreau fulfill their potential as elite scoring wingers, if Gillies can make his goaltending success at the college level translate in the big leagues, and if some of the other young players drafted/traded for under Feaster develop into good supporting players or better yet, diamonds in the rough, then the Feaster era will be looked upon favourably. I think we'll need to check back two or three years from now to really get a sense of how good or bad Feaster really was as a GM for this team.

For the future top six, we have two potential #1 left wingers in Baertschi and Gaudreau, a potential #1 center in Monahan, and a potential #2 left winger/right winger in Poirier. Klimchuk could be a #2/#3 tweener like Stempniak. On defense, we have a potential #2 in Brodie, but little else with top 4 potential. Maybe one of Wotherspoon or Sieloff becomes a second pairing guy. And we have a potential #1 goalie in Jon Gillies. Now, not all of these guys will reach their (perceived) potential, but there will also be players off the radar now who will surprise us.

Our wishlist then is:
- Another potential top 6 center, and no, that's probably not Jankowski.
- A #1 right winger.
- A #1 defenseman.
- One or two second pairing defensemen.

That's the way I see it, anyway.

[Freeway]

Feaster hires:

John Weisbrod (AGM)
Craig Conroy (Assistant to GM)
Chris Snow (Director, Video and Statistical Analysis)
Jamie Pringle (Senior Video Analyst)
Bob Hartley (Head Coach)(who hired Jacques Cloutier and Martin Gelinas)
Craig Hartsburg (under Brent Sutter)
Clint Malarchuk (Goaltending Coach)(under Brent Sutter)
Todd Woodcroft (Director, Scouting)
Brandon Benning (WHL Scout)
Michel Goulet (Western Pro Scout)
Bobbie Hagelin (European Amateur Scout)
Troy Ward (as a head coach)
Jordan Sigalet (under Ward)
Robbie Ftorek (under Ward)
Dominik Pittis (Skills Coach)

[Freeway]

As an aside, I'm reasonably sure Brandon Benning is Jim Benning's son.

[Jakester]

Originally Posted by Day Tripper

For the future top six, we have two potential #1 left wingers in Baertschi and Gaudreau, a potential #1 center in Monahan, and a potential #2 left winger/right winger in Poirier. Klimchuk could be a #2/#3 tweener like Stempniak. On defense, we have a potential #2 in Brodie, but little else with top 4 potential. Maybe one of Wotherspoon or Sieloff becomes a second pairing guy. And we have a potential #1 goalie in Jon Gillies. Now, not all of these guys will reach their (perceived) potential, but there will also be players off the radar now who will surprise us.

Our wishlist then is:
- Another potential top 6 center, and no, that's probably not Jankowski.
- A #1 right winger.
- A #1 defenseman.
- One or two second pairing defensemen.

That's the way I see it, anyway.

Not much to argue with here. Our prospect pool has improved over the past few years: it's gone from terrible to average (maybe). Still lots of room for improvement.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Jakester

Sutter's lack of success at the draft also proved costly in the long run. He didn't do himself any favours by frequently trading picks and the most of the players he did pick never panned out. His habit of trading down was especially bad for the team. Consider the following:
2004: Moves down from 19th to 24th. Drafts Kris Chucko. Players picked between 19 and 23 included Travis Zajac, Wojtek Wolski, and Andrej Mezaros.
2007: Moves down from 18th to 24th. Drafts Mikael Backlund. Max Pacioretty picked at 22.
2008: Moves down from 17th to 25th. Drafts Greg Nemisz. Players picked between 17 and 24 included Jake Gardiner, Michael del Zotto, and Jordan Eberle.
2009: Moves down from 20th to 23rd. Drafts Tim Erixon. Players picked between 20 and 22 include John Moore and Jordan Schroeder.

The compensation the Flames received for trading down was also poor:
2004: received 2nd round pick (46th overall) from the Rangers. Drafted Adam Pineault (3 NHL games, 0 points)
2007: received 3rd round pick (70th overall) from the Blues. Drafted John Negrin (3 NHL, 0 goals, 1 assist)
2008: received 2nd round pick (48th overall) from LA. Drafted Mitch Wahl (0 NHL games). Acquired Michael Cammalleri. Gave up Alex Tanguay.
2009: received 3rd round pick (84th overall) from New Jersey. Traded it to LA for 3rd round pick(74th overall). Drafted Ryan Howse (0 NHL games).

2004: Brutal. Didn't help that the rules just changed and we ended up drafting a slow, powerforward who might've been much more effective in the old clutch and grab NHL. That said our scouts sucked on that one. He wasn't helped by a few concussions and might've actually become a role player eventually. Zajac would've been nice and we reportedly liked him as well. Bad drafting in retrospect.

2007: Not much blame here. Backlund is a decent NHLer IMO and still has upside. You can't expect to get the best player available at that slot every time. That just isn't realistic at all. Scouting isn't an exact science and there's tons of variables that go into development a great many of which the team has little to no control over. Even the best drafting teams have many shocking misses. To get a guy like Backlund out of the late first in a mediocre draft year is a win IMO. At that point in the draft your chance of getting a solid NHLer is 50/50 at best.

2008: Yep this one looks pretty bad.

2009: I don't mind this one. Erixon had good value when he decided not to sign with us and Feaster actually got a steal of a deal considering the situation he was put in by getting Horak and two 2nds (Granlund/Wotherspoon). Who knows how Erixon might've developed with us, we actually would've given him much more of a chance than NYR could and CBJ has. But I'd take Horak, Wotherspoon and Granlund over Schroeder anyways so I don't mind how the whole thing ended up for us.

[strombad]

Out of curiosity, when did the narrative on Jankowski change?
I've always been neither here nor there on him, and that hasn't changed for me, but I have noticed a sudden shift from wide-eyed optimism to a more sullen view of the kid.

Are we now thinking Janko isn't much of a prospect?

[3rd line Grinder]

Can't agree more with strombad, also to those who claim they lack prospect depth, please look at the standings in the AHL, having the best farm team in the league is a pretty good indication of the prospect depth which the flames have been able to aquire in the last few years

[PeteLFan]

Cammy did not walk out on his team. He called them out that is all, he was shipped off during the 2nd period. That trade was a great move by Feaster.

The rest of his moves came across as meh, but he did make some good moves, and avoided a few massive mistakes that would have crippled us for years.

He didn't have a clear direction much like Sutter.

I think that all changes with Burke.

[moon]

Originally Posted by strombad

Out of curiosity, when did the narrative on Jankowski change?
I've always been neither here nor there on him, and that hasn't changed for me, but I have noticed a sudden shift from wide-eyed optimism to a more sullen view of the kid.

Are we now thinking Janko isn't much of a prospect?

I think you always have to be careful when saying "we" as it may be that most people have the same view it is just some that are more down on him are what you are seeing more of. From what I have seen I think it is pretty much the same view that most have of him and he is always going to be a polarizing kind of prospect since so much is based on what he will be not what he is right now.

Him having more playing time at a "high" level and not excelling as some might like likely has a few of the fence sitters moving towards the negative side but his supporters are still there maintaining that he is having a good year and on pace to be great.