Feaster

[TheHudlinator]

Jay Feaster took a lot of heat as the GM of the Flames from the ROR fiasco to the drafting of Jankowski but I have to ask looking back at some of his moves are they starting to be justified?

Paul Byron was written off long ago by most if not all on this board but has probably been the hardest working Flames since being called up and has 6 points in 11 games this year as well as 18 in 23 on the Heat.

Hanowski was a no one at the time of the trade and in fact Feaster was mocked for targeting him, he has 23 points in 30 games as a first year pro and has been fairly impressive by all accounts.

Hudler and Wideman were generally called overpayments and poor moves and imo both have easily earned their contracts if not under paid (hudler) and have been great mentors by all accounts.

Ramo many on the main board (not so much on this this board but in general) wasn't considered to be a real option as a starter and was often mocked for saying he is the best goalie not in the nhl.

I am not trying to say that Feaster was perfect or that this moves are successes (as they aren't yet), but what I am asking is do you think the early success of these players and the generally consensus around the NHL that the Flames are better than they should be (even rival fans admit to liking the hard working nature of the team) means that Feaster should have stayed on?

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[Pirate King Luffy]

Too early to say. We will have to wait a season or 2 to figure that out, and whenever Jankowski make the team or not.

 

[tfong]

He wasn't bad, but not good either I think going forward. He made some decent decisions, some of the draft ones are questionable, some are good.

Ultimately I think the board wanted someone that was really aggressive and someone that can make an impact via trade to speed up the process and I think thats where Burke's mentality comes in.

I think ultimately not getting big returns from Iggy and Jbo were key in his dismissal.

 

[InfinityIggy]

The problem with arguing in his defence at this point, is that none of the examples outside of Hudler/Wideman have proven anything yet, really. Thats not his fault though. Just too early to say.

 

[Taranis]

I think Mark Jankowski is going to be a pretty decent player once he makes the switch over. Everyone bashes his stats (7g, 4a in 17 games this season), but Providence seems to play a very defensive game, I wonder what kind of numbers he could put up on the Heat. I mean hes a big, all be it under weight at the moment Canadian center, whats not to like? Also if you look at the other players hes drafted outside of the first round (Sieloff, Wotherspoon), how can you knock him?

Okay here is a team of Feaster moves. Looking at it, I would say its pretty decent although definitely could use a top pairing defenceman (or two haha) and another elite winger.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Poirier
Klimchuk - Jankowski - Sven
Agostino - Knight - Hanowski
McGratten - Colborne - Granlund

Wotherspoon - Sieloff
Roy - Russell
Kanzig - Culkin

Gillies
Ramo

 

[DFF]

On the negative side
Giving up a 2nd in the Regehr deal was stupid. Regehr alone was worth more than that.
David Jones and SOB pickup was garbage.


On the positive side
Picking up Hudler and Wideman for decent contracts

Cammy deal was good except he threw away a 2nd in a deep draft. Ramo? Nobody would have given much for him.

Can also argue that he could have picked up some real prospects instead of a bunch of no name long shots in the Iginal/JayB deals....yeah sure some of them may turn out to be something but that is not the point. He shouldnt have to gamble. And those prospects could be had for pennies

Feaster needs to go. He is not capable.

That doesnt mean the Flames will do the right thing and hire a better GM...that remains to be seen.

 

[DFF]

Okay here is a team of Feaster moves. Looking at it, I would say its pretty decent although definitely could use a top pairing defenceman (or two haha) and another elite winger.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Poirier
Klimchuk - Jankowski - Sven
Agostino - Knight - Hanowski
McGratten - Colborne - Granlund

Wotherspoon - Sieloff
Roy - Russell
Kanzig - Culkin

Gillies
Ramo

Not sure what you are talking about, that's as average as you can get for 3 years of non-playoff and selling off your best players

Monaha -> great
Baetchi -> was great, now who knows but potential is there
Porrier, Gaudreau, Gillies -> See Baerchi, except the was great part.

The rest-> roll the dice. most will never make it (except for Russel and McGrattan, not sure why the are on the list)

 

[Taranis]

Both were brought in under Feaster as GM. This isn't meant as a series lineup but rather show casing the players he has selected and where they could slot in going forward. Sure it depends on all our prospects panning out, but meh.

 

[DFF]

Both were brought in under Feaster as GM. This isn't meant as a series lineup but rather show casing the players he has selected and where they could slot in going forward. Sure it depends on all our prospects panning out, but meh.

Yes but why would Feaster get much credit for Monahan? He basically fell into his lap.

Unless you think Feaster deserves credit for a top 6 pick because he built a bad team.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I remember when Burke was hired, he made a comment that him and Feaster had conversations about players and Burke asked if he liked a certain guy, Feaster replied yes, then Burke said yeah well I don't. This at the time was supposed to of been a strength with management having more heads thinking. Anyways my point is that they had pretty large philosophical differences on which players Weisbrod and Feaster liked compared to Burke.

Feaster and Weisbrod, were constantly always trying to find the diamond in the rough whether it be through the draft or player trades, always trying to outsmart everyone. I believe this is what cost them both their jobs.

Regarding Byron, it is far too small of a sample size to say anything about him long-term going forward. One only needs to look no further than Roman Horak. I definitely think they made some good moves to improve this roster and did a lot of things to set us up going forward. But their overall methodology in acquiring players was too high-risk and extreme. We are in much more capable hands now with Burke at the helm, he knows what it takes to build a roster that can win a championship and that is what he will set out to do here in Calgary.

 

[Zirakzigil]

I think the main issues were the Regehr trade, the Tanguay trade and the whole situation around the ROR signing. Trading for players using picks he generally got decent to good value, but trading away players he generally got really poor value and thats what cost him his job.

 

[Anglesmith]

Can also argue that he could have picked up some real prospects instead of a bunch of no name long shots in the Iginal/JayB deals....yeah sure some of them may turn out to be something but that is not the point. He shouldnt have to gamble. And those prospects could be had for pennies

This is so funny to read. It doesn't matter whether the prospects he got turn out to be the best prospects available, what matters is whether we knew their names at the time of the trade?

 

[Sparky93]

The ROR offer sealed his fate. That could have seriously damaged the future and frankly made the organization look stupid. The Jankowski pick looks pretty bad right now too, but it's still a little early to tell.

 

[Beats By CoRD]

This is so funny to read. It doesn't matter whether the prospects he got turn out to be the best prospects available, what matters is whether we knew their names at the time of the trade?

It's not that we didn't know their names, nobody knew them. Fans of Pitts/Blues, analysts, you name it. We should have gotten AT LEAST one blue chip prospect out of both those trades, if not two. We got zero. Pretty disappointing.

But again, time will tell. Weisbrod could end up looking like a genius in 5 years, who knows.

 

[Beats By CoRD]

Feaster needs to go. He is not capable.

You do know Feaster was fired right?

 

[Anglesmith]

It's not that we didn't know their names, nobody knew them. Fans of Pitts/Blues, analysts, you name it. We should have gotten AT LEAST one blue chip prospect out of both those trades, if not two. We got zero. Pretty disappointing.

But again, time will tell. Weisbrod could end up looking like a genius in 5 years, who knows.

But the post said it doesn't matter if the prospects turn out better than these blue chip prospects, which is ridiculous. I would rather have a GM make unpopular moves which help the team than popular moves that don't.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I'd be shocked if Agostino or Hanowski ever end up being more than 3rd liners. Best case for me is Agostino turns out to be a Matt Read type of player.

 

[TheHudlinator]

I'd be shocked if Agostino or Hanowski ever end up being more than 3rd liners. Best case for me is Agostino turns out to be a Matt Read type of player.

And before the trade no one even knew who they were. The point of this thread wasn't that I think Feaster was great (I thought he should be fired after the ROR offersheet) the point was to give him some credit as many of the guys he brought in got reaction such as "lol Feaster" etc and so far many of them have preformed well above those expectations. If anything this was about the positives he brought and why we felt the need to remove him when this team has been given credit for playing above expectations. We all knew Feaster weakness was trading but since the offseason Feaster made a lot of good little trades and of course the Smid trade. My question is why was he let go now when his moves have started off positively.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

To me the best moves he made was hiring Weisbrod (which I also feel led to him being fired) and Hartley. I think Weisbrod was mainly his intell for all drafting and trades, and Hartley really has done a fantastic job with getting the most out of the players making Feaster look good. So I will give him credit for hiring and surrounding himself with good people. I also like the contracts he signed, minus Babchuk.

 

[DFF]

This is so funny to read. It doesn't matter whether the prospects he got turn out to be the best prospects available, what matters is whether we knew their names at the time of the trade?

It's the best prospects he got, not the best available.

He didnt get enough for Iginla and JBow, dont know why anyone would want to argue with that.

Those are very long shot prospects with limited potential.

 

[TheHudlinator]

It's the best prospects he got, not the best available.

According to TSN it was about as good of prospect that were being offered for him. Sometimes you have to take what you can get.

 

[Bouma Fett*]

I nevered liked the Jankowski pick, and I still don't That's the type of player a team like Pittsburgh drafts, who is already set at centre, and can afford to wait the 6 years it will possibly take for him to be a factor in the NHL. There were much better options available when we took him. If he had made that trade, and drafted a great prospect, and added Sieloff with the trading down, people would have been talking about how great of a move it was.

Time will ultimately tell I guess, but I doubt Jankowski ever becomes more than a decent third liner.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I like Janko, I think he'll be an NHL'er at some point. He's got tons of potential but right now it's hard to argue he'll be much more than a Colborne based on what he's shown us. He should be putting up better numbers, defensive system or not.

That said, because he's such a project I have no idea how he'll turn out. He's still got top 6 potential.

 

[Skobel24]

Just my thoughts, but...

Feaster gets a pass in my mind. Between him and Weisbrod, they built up the prospect pool quickly, and have managed to create a very hard working team.

However, I never saw them as a long term solution. As far as the scouting/drafting goes, I really wonder how much of that was actually Weisbrod. Seeing as he was let go, I'm starting to wonder if it was the rest of the scouting department that persuaded Weisbrod to draft the guys that they did.

The Good Trades:
-The Erixon trade was amazing. Horak, Granlund and Wotherspoon for Erixon and a 5th.
-Langkow for Stempniak has worked out wonderfully.
-The acquistion of Blair Jones was a decent trade. Mikkelsson is clearly not missed. -
-The Cammy trade, I Love it. Cammalleri is gonna bring in a solid return at the deadline, and Ramo is really starting to show he can be a starter.
-Knight for a 4th? Awesome. Russell for a 5th? More awesome.
-Love the Colborne trade as well. It's nice to actually have some size down the middle.
-Smid was a good pickup. Downgraded on a goalie prospect, and traded Horak, who I feel is a 3rd line winger at best, and more than likely a bust.

The Bad Trades:
-I really find it hard to believe that they couldn't do better on the Bouwmeester and Tanguay trade.
-The Regehr trade sucked, regardless of how Byron is playing right now. Calgary gave away a 2nd to save 3 mil.
- I'm still on the fence for the Iggy trade. Hanowski is doing really well, and Klimchuk is a damn good prospect. With a very limited NTC, it's not too bad.

Signings:
- Glencross, 4 year, $10.2 million. Awesome contract, very solid discount
- Tanguay, 5 years, $17.5 million. I think most people questioned the length, but I still think it was a good signing. He's still worth the 3-4 million that he's making.
- Babchuk, 2 years, $5 million. Didn't work out at all.
- Stempniak, 2 years, $5.5 million. Wouldn't surprise me to see somone give him 3-4 mil per year this offseason. Stempniak was a great signing.
- Sarich, 2 years, $4 million. Torn. He was slow, non existent offensively, but he was still a servicable bottom pairing guy who was great on the PK.
- Wideman, 5 years, $26 million. I'd like to see him be a bit more responsible in his own end, but after seeing him gone for the last while, it really shows how bad our PP is without him.
- Hudler, 4 years, $16 million. Excellent signing. Near a PPG pace, very experienced.
- Brodie, 2 years, $4.25 million. Excellent price, hopefully Calgary can get him extended again when the time comes.

Feaster gets **** on more than he should. He came into Calgary with a tough situation, and overall, I think he did a damn good job. The O'Reilly mess was, well, a mess. I still question the Jankowski pick.

Burke is going to be better for this team in the long run. However, in the end, credit when it's due, Feaster did a great job to get this rebuild off to a solid start.

 

[slappipappi]

He didnt get enough for Iginla and JBow, dont know why anyone would want to argue with that.

He got the going rate for players of that ilk.

If Feaster had hung on to them, he would have eventually gotten nothing.