If I had to guess Feaster might be considering the option of a rebuild. Our line-up has went through a complete 180 within the span of a week. We lost Kipper, Backlund and more recently Cammalleri's been placed on IR (doesn't mean its serious but still). And also, considering that we've lost Baerstchi a week before I think upper management is preparing for a possible "back-up" plan if things go sour.
We don't know the details but Kiprusoffs injury might be more serious than we think. As @RogMillions reports: he skated today but no butterfly, knee bends or any sort of flexible movement which seems hard to believe that he will be ready for wednesday. If thats the case, I think this team is going to have a really tough time making the playoffs which may indicate the rebuild.
Im sure Feaster has received some offers for Kipper and if things do go south, he might be setting up to trade Kipper and Iggy at the trade deadline. I'd be all for this as its supposed to be a good draft and we could possibly have a really quick rebuild like the flyers did 5-6 years ago.
If we could get a 1st and prospect for Iggy and possibly another first and prospect for Kipper we could have 3 firsts for the draft which would be huge (especially if one turns out to be a top 5-10 pick).
I could see Iggy going to St.Louis and Maybe Kipper to the Flyers (Buy out Bryzgalov in the summer?
). And then if by some chance we get offered a 2nd for Stemps id be all over it.
Bottom line if theres a time to rebuild its this season. If we resign Iggy in the summer we could have pretty much the same team we have this year with possibly a Ramo/Irving tandem with an extemely improved prospect pool. Or I could just be overspeculating and MacDonald is just there to replace Taylor.
PS: things might get awkward with Irving and MacDonald
EDIT: Another thought that comes to mind is that Feaster refused to address the media when approached. Which could mean that he's got something in the works and does not want to reveal it publicly. It must mean something because I don't see why he wouldn't come out and say its simply a depth move.