Calgary Flames: Time to Rejoice As GM Darryl Sutter Steps Down

Changes will finally start to happen in Calgary as the first major piece of the puzzle has fallen into place today with the announcement of Darryl Sutter stepping down.  Currently the Calgary Flames are sitting in fourteenth place in the Western Conference, but are only six points out of a playoff spot.

The man replacing Sutter for the interim is assistant GM Jay Feaster.  The Sporting News named Feaster their NHL Executive of the Year in 2004 when he led the Lightning to a Stanley Cup championship. 

Feaster served as the GM of Tampa Bay for six seasons, showing he can build a championship team.  Under his direction the Lightning won back-to-back division titles, as well as that Stanley Cup.  Feaster also has a Calder Cup under his belt as a GM.

Let's hope that this move was not made in an attempt to get the Flames into the playoffs this year.  The Flames do not need to become the Toronto Maple Leafs of the West, where they continue to bring in veteran players in an attempt to make the playoffs each season, only to fail, in turn hurting their draft position. 

Calgary fans are grateful for all that Jarome Iginla has done for their team.  Iginla can do even more for this organization by asking for a trade.  Moving Iginla now will bring in a huge return of young players and prospects to kick start the rebuild.  Mats Sundin set the Maple Leafs back several years by handcuffing Leaf management with his no-trade clause.  Iginla, please don’t follow Sundin’s lead.  Do Calgary fans one last favour by starting the rebuild with your trade. 

Management needs to recognize that in the salary cap era, rebuilding can take as little as two years.  Sacrifice a couple seasons and get those top draft picks.    

Will the Flames management give Feaster the green light to make changes as he sees fit or will he just be keeping the seat warm until they find the GM they want to hire? 

If Feaster is given the opportunity to rebuild the Flames, then players like Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff will be on the trading block.  It should be an interesting few months leading up to the trade deadline on February 28.