Feaster Leaves, Radulov Defects
July 11th, 2008 by Jason ChenSo the reason why Jay Feaster hasn’t commented on Tampa’s recent flurry of signings is because he wasn’t apart of them at all. Feaster parted ways with the Lightning this morning, after he notified owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules that he felt he was no longer needed, after the signings were made without his foremost consultation. Brian Lawton, another former player agent to be named GM this year, will take over. Feaster’s remaining three years on his contract were amicably settled by both sides. This is truly the dawn of a new era for the Bolts. First with the “Seen Stamkos?” campaign, and now big ownership promises to bring the Lightning back to the promised land. I don’t entirely know what’s going on down there (nor does anyone, I think) and to make things even more confusing, the Lightning signed yet another forward, this time Chris Gratton, after just stating publicly that they will not bring him back next season.
Just one day after the KHL and NHL came to an agreement to honour existing contracts in both leagues, Alexander Radulov has reportedly signed with Ufa today, despite having one year remaining on his contract with Nashville. This really comes as a shock, as it was believed with a new agreement (apparently it is NOT a transfer agreement, but just AN agreement) in place it would prevent defection from both sides. Obviously Radulov did not feel that the agreement applied to him, and noted that neither the RSL or KHL has transfer agreements in place with the NHL to prevent him from doing so. NHL Deputy Commissioner Billy Daly and the Predators have both publicly stated that they do expect Radulov to play in the NHL next season. Interestingly enough, there were no quotes from Alexander Medvedev regarding the situation, but I think it’s a strong possibility that he had a hand in this signing. The KHL is still very much interested in bringing in high-end talent to their league, and while I’m sure they’ll admit that the two leagues have a clear understanding of contractual obligations of players, the KHL will continue to pursue NHL players, signed or unsigned, as long as there is a lack of a transfer agreement.
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3 Responses to “Feaster Leaves, Radulov Defects”
By Troy on Jul 12, 2008
Well, Feaster will always be remembered down here as the GM who won the Stanley Cup in ‘04, but didn’t adjust to the salary cap well after the lockout… leading to Brad Richards departure. I wish only the best for the man
By Stephen on Jul 12, 2008
I had the pleasure of meeting him once. Nice guy and considerably more intelligent than anyone gives him credit for. When did the Lightning say they weren’t re-signing Gratton? There were a few releases saying they wanted him back in the case of re-signing Artyukhin. They have the idea that Gratton, Artyukhin and Tarnasky would make a killer checking line (probably with O’Brien and Picard on the blue line). I’m all for keeping these guys, but we’ll see how it goes. I just hope Darche and MacDonald find a nice place to play.
By Jason C on Jul 12, 2008
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/article683612.ece
Says that Roy and Gratton would not be back at the end of the article.
That’s an interesting checking line, plenty of size, no doubt, but that also puts $2m man Halpern on the 4th line when he comes back from knee surgery. He is not second line material, which Stamkos is supposed to centre, although I have yet to hear word about his signing with the Bolts.