The Continuing Chronicles Of Jay Feaster's Incompetence

[Hewey]

Pittsburgh was really uneven against Toronto, and I was thinking Toronto was going to get the win a few times, glad for the win, but Pittsburgh needs to work on the power play and defense. Hell of a game though, gotta give props to Toronto, they played well in the second and third.

[Plubby]

If Jay Feaster is sitting on any kind of a deal right now, he should pull the trigger tomorrow.

Let's be honest, it's likely to be a two-for-one on chicken wings deal.

[Gabriel]

If Jay Feaster is sitting on any kind of a deal right now, he should pull the trigger tomorrow.

Let's be honest, it's likely to be a two-for-one on chicken wings deal.

Two-for-One? How could anyone be sitting on that?

Jesus, Feaster, take the deal and chow down!

[Plubby]

0.2 seconds left? No worries.

[Gabriel]

While reading about the disaster that is my Calgary Flames, I read a bunch of comments about how Brian Burke failed in his rebuild of the Maple Leafs. I don't like commenting in places like HockeyBuzz or the Calgary Sun, but I wanted to ask EWB what they thought.

Sure, Burke is no longer the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dave Nonis is, and the team is successful right now. They're pushing hard for a playoff spot this year. They're on the inside fighting off the bottom seven teams in the East.

But I think this is still Brian Burke's team. This is the team he put together, and I think that it's a gross misrepresentation of his job as GM of the Leafs to say that he didn't do it well. The team that is successful in Toronto right now is comprised of the pieces that Burke brought into the organization. I think his tenure with the team was a success. How does everyone else feel?

[Ruki]

I feel Burke was great for us. He brought in top line players (Dion, Kessel, JVR, Lupul), some college players (Bozak being the big one), got us a decent amount of youth (Biggs, Percy, Gardnier, Ross, Rielly), and even drafted our leading scorer (Kadri).

While he wasn't perfect, we wouldn't be half the team we are right now without Burke. For the time being, this is still his team.

[NobBe Nobbs]

But all the good he did was also tempered with missteps. I'm in the shrinking group that says I do think he did a respectable job in his time here, but you look at deals like the ones he threw at Komisarek and Armstrong, or Liles' extension, or trading to get Kris Versteeg then dumping him not much later and it's hard to give him much more than a C overall. He did bring in talent, but all that talent led to us picking fifth last year, mostly because hey, the goaltending was still problematic and had been for pretty much Burke's entire tenure.

[Hewey]

What a game between the Bruins and the Penguins, great win for Pittsburgh.

[Ruki]

The Leafs hurt me.

[Gabriel]

So I'm bored. The Flames have been shit this year, and yeah, there's always the chance they could sneak into the playoffs and surprise people, but I doubt it.

With the Trade Deadline on April 3rd, I figured I would come in and run down the roster. Where I see each player going if they get moved, and what I could see Jay Feaster targeting in those deals. I'm going to start at the top of the roster.

JAROME IGINLA

Where I see him ending up: Pittsburgh Penguins

What Feaster should target: Kris Letang

-I'm not going to pretend like Iginla on his own is enough in a one-for-one deal with Kris Letang. That would be retarded, but I do see interest there on both sides. For Iginla, this puts him on a contender and a line with Sidney Crosby. The Penguins are always looking for short-term fixes on the wing for both Crosby and Malkin, and I see Iginla as fitting that mold perfectly. Iginla is a UFA at season's end. With the salary cap going down next year, the Penguins are in the market for a rental.

Kris Letang has a cap hit of $3.5 for this year and next, but is a UFA on July 1, 2014. Letang is most assuredly going to be looking for a contract comparable to what other top defensemen are getting. Kimmo Timonen signed a one-year deal with the Flyers for $6 million. Letang will be commanding at least that much on the open market, probably more. The Penguins currently have $39 million in cap space for the 14-15 season, but with only 5 players signed. Ray Shero may want to acquire a defenseman with a smaller cap hit to fit into the lineup for that season, especially with Evgeni Malkin needing to be re-signed as well.

My proposal: Kris Letang comes to Calgary with conditional draft picks. Jarome Iginla goes to Pittsburgh, and the Penguins also get one of Bouwmeester, Giordano or TJ Brodie.

Bouwmeester is currently sitting with a cap hit of $6.7 per year, but his deal is up the same year as Letang's. Where Letang will surely be commanding a hefty raise, JayBo will more likely be heading the opposite direction, taking a pay cut. He may even be willing to sign a more team friendly deal if he's playing for a contender. I expect him to sign for around $4-5 per year, whereas Letang will probably be looking between $6-8.

Giordano is signed for two years beyond when Letang hits free agency, and is rocking a cap hit of $4.1 per season. Just over what Letang makes now, and far less than what he will want moving forward.

TJ Brodie is an RFA as of July 5th this year, but is blossoming. On a poor Calgary team, the play of TJ Brodie has been a bright spot for the past two years. He's not at the level of Letang, but his ceiling is very close. If the Pens really want the cap flexibility, or believe that they can sign Iginla past this season, Brodie may be a more attractive option, but more of a gamble as well.

The conditional picks would be as follows. A first rounder this year, regardless. If the Penguins win the Cup, then Calgary gets their first round pick next year as well. If Iginla re-signs with the Penguins, the Flames receive a second round pick next year.

Honestly, I think this is an everyone wins deal. Of course, this is just the framework, and I'm sure it would include more parts, or different parts, but I believe that if Iginla goes, he goes to Pittsburgh, and Kris Letang is what Jay Feaster will want in return.

I will come back in later and run down what I think happens with Bouwmeester IF he moves, and provided that he doesn't end up as a secondary piece in a bigger deal like this one.

[caucasianheat]

No chance I'd do that deal as Shero. For Pittsburgh, trading Letang for any other defenseman is like fixing a one-legged chair by swapping the leg.

Depending on Ottawa's position and Spezza's health, the capital could be a good place for an Iginla rental. Bryan Murray's been basically showcasing his wares all season long - lots of prospects and young guys to throw in your cart.

edit: I have to append this by saying I don't think Calgary will ever trade Iginla even though they probably should. It's sort of like Dallas never wanting to let Modano and Lethinen and Turco go even though it would have made that team better faster.

[PatDaMan]

Well after last night we can pretty much stick a fork in the Flyers, right?

[Hewey]

I hope so! :lmao: But you never know, they could end up sneaking into 8th or something.

[PatDaMan]

I'm ever the optomist after all of the crazy ways Philly team have snuck into the playoffs over just the past ten or so years (there was the year we got in by beating the Rangers in a shootout in the 82nd game of the year, and the time the Eagles needed a win and like 3 other improbable losses to get in....both teams had deep playoff runs in those respective years.), but I just don't see any type of consistency or defense out of this Flyers team that tells me they're ready to do anything this year.

[Hewey]

It's a longshot, because you guys got some tough games ahead, but maybe the 7th or 8th seeded teams start getting some losses or something, and Philly sneaks in. I forget, but you guys traded Jagr and JVR last year, right? IIRC, Jagr played with Giroux, and they had some good chemistry together.

[PatDaMan]

Yeah, we're not missing Jagr too much though, Voracek is doing very well in that line. The Flyers problems extend waaaaaay beyond Jagr and JVR.

The defense is awful. Swinging and whiffing on Suter and Weber this offseason killed us. Plan C was the JVR-Luke Schenn trade. While Schenn's a good player, he's not Suter or Weber, and shouldn't be a first liner. Neither should Mezaros, Coburn, or Kimmo Timonen. I love Timonen, but he's grossly overpaid at this point in his career, which brings me to the next point.

Bad contracts have hamstrung this team. Briere, as great as he's been in the playoffs, has been terrible in the regular season recently, this year most notably. Bryzgalov is not a franchise netminder, yet is one of the top paid goalies in the league (not sure if anyone passed him this past offseason) - more on him in a minute. Timonen was once a great offensive defenseman, but now takes way too many bad penalties, is the source of a ton of awful turnovers, and, inexplicably, was just renewed for another year at like $6mil or something.

The curious case of Ilya Bryzgalov. I fell for it. The Flyers first signed Bryz, and I fell for him. The charming personality, joking with the media. The recent track record with Phoenix. I fell for it all. Bryz was god-awful last season. This season, he has actually been pretty good. However, "good" isn't "great." He's not a franchise goaltender, but he's one of the highest paid goalies in the league. When the defense folds, he never bails them out (like a Brodeur, Tim Thomas when he played, Quick last year in the playoffs, etc). He simply doesn't win games for his team the way a top goaltender should. He occasionally looks lost, seems like he could be divisive in the locker room, and has paralyzing mental errors at inopportune times.

The only guys seeming to try to keep this sinking ship afloat are Voracek, Simmonds, and, at times, Brayden Schenn.

Also, Giroux isn't showing the talent that made him the captain of this team. That's a biggie.

Rant over. For now.

[Ruki]

Plan C was JVR-Schenn? Didn't plan C happen before the attempts on Plan A and B?

[TGWL]

The rumors for plan C did. But, I think the offer was made for plan A before the trigger was pulled on plan C.

[TGWL]

Realignment plan approved

[Hewey]

I don't like the new playoff format, glad to have the Red Wings in the East, though.