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What Feaster knows might help the Flames.

When D.Sutter came from San Jose he made a habit of trading for players he knew from that system, we all appreciate the Kirpusoff trade but the players that followed like Lynn Loyns, Bryan marchment, Mark Smith and Jeff Friesen indicate that Sutter like to trade or sign what is familiar to him. Darryl is not the first G.M. to trade for what he knows, but it does make us think about what Jay Feaster brings to the table now.

Yesterday on the comments section "jtommyt", who has a great avatar, brought up a name me and my friends have often talked about. Brad Richards. All of a sudden this name makes a lot more sense to me in many ways as a player that could be brought in later in the year depending on where the teams are in standings but as a free agent next year. Richards does have a no trade and does count against the cap to the tune of 7.8 Million so there is little to no chance we would see him in a Flaming C until the trade deadline but here are few clues as to why this guy makes sense.

For one, as I eluded to earlier, Feaster knows him very well, Richards was the playoff MVP for feaster in fact. When it's free agency time and the Flames look to spend a little you don't think Feaster will be in Sutter's ear about this guy? Secondly he is a true number 1 center, 91 points last year says so. Three, he is a Flames type player, he plays hard and is physical.

As far as a trade goes there are several fits here as well that can't be denied. The Stars liked Hagman, although under deferent management, he scored 27 goals for them in his final year there. The Stars have several left wingers though so that may be a hindrance to that. having said that the Flames are also stocked with Defense, they could literally trade almost (see Bouwmeester) any one of their starters and have a replacement for him in their depth. Dallas however does not have a spectacular defensive corps, it's not horrible either but a solid hard nose D on that team might be a huge improvement. Not naming any names but the Flames do have a few stay at home d that are quite good, that could help a new goalie in a new system feel a lot better. Sarich is a guy that Played for Feaster and had a solid end of the year last year after finally recovering from injury, with an inflated salary it will be interesting to see if he is moved or not.

With a lot of centers to choose from for top ice time in Flames camp it seems like trading for another one would be folly however it could also be looked at as having assets and depth. The first thing to recognize is that a no trade clause just means that a player can say, "I don't want to go to Edmonton." and the coach can say, "Okay have a great time on the bench". It means very little, if a team doesn't want you, the thought is to go and try elsewhere. A no move clause is a little different and not many players get those, making room trading centers might not be as difficult as it was thought. Secondly players like Backlund offer, for the short term, skilled players who can step in for cheap when a trade goes down. Calgary COULD pull this off, unlikley as it seems, does it seem any more unlikely than bringing Jokinen back?

So my hope is that if Feaster does have Sutter's ear, he will impart some of what he knows. For instance, he knows how to build a Stanley Cup team.


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