Tom Jones does what he can in the St. Petersburg Times to give Jay Feaster a vote of confidence after the lack-of movement last week around the Trade deadline.
Rolson, Khabibulin, Noronen — the big name goaltenders were brought up as topics of who the Lightning had supposedly targeted at the deadline and Jones does what he can to debunk them all.
That still doesn’t clear Feaster or the Lightning from lack of movement.
In the past, I’ve speculated that the Bolts would make a lateral move instead of a blockbuster of any kind… That’s not trying to put down the idea of a blockbuster — this is just following Feaster’s MO. A lateral move does not mean the quality of those acquired may or may not exceed what we already had – but it would be a shakeup none-the-less and change the chemistry of the club a bit.
A trade wasn’t the only way to do this and Feaster opted to stand pat. There were various players who passed through waivers proceeding the deadline that Jay decided against… Now, I have to re-iterate the lateral movement idea here again. To put in a waiver claim for Phil Sauve or Mike Morrison sends a message to the Lightning’s goaltending pair directly as well as adds depth to the franchise at goalie — though the goalie pick ups may only be on par with John Grahame/Sean Burke at best. Perhaps neither goalie would stick around after the season, or play worth the money invested in them, but in the Lightning’s situation they are looking for immediate impact… Having a waiver pick-up as a rent-a-player is less costly than trading for a rent-a-player of higher calibre.
In closing, Jay Feaster’s dropped-ball at the deadline wasn’t making a killer move or going for a big name being thrown around at the deadline. That tends to not be his thing anyway… But he still failed to make a move – even one less costly and with less potential impact than what the fans hoped – to improve his club during the stretch run and that is the factor that earns Feaster the disappointment of the fans.
