The role of NHL GM requires a significant degree of secrecy – and in this exclusive story written by veteran GM Jay Feaster, the secrets of the industry were laid bare.
Vol. 62, No. 18, Feb. 23, 2009Over the years, THN has canvassed many NHL power brokers to get their input on the sport and hockey’s top league. And in this major feature story from THN’s February 23, 2009 edition (Volume 62, Issue 18), former Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster penned an article discussing why much of his job required him to keep secrets.
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Feaster ran the Flames for two-and-a-half years, but before that, he was the Lightning’s GM for six years, guiding the Bolts to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2004. And he was always particular when it came to keeping discussions of trades or team moves on the down-low.
“When hiring personnel, I made it clear that our business was to stay within our own operation,” Feaster wrote. “While our scouts were free to collect information from other scouts who were willing to dish about their own franchises, we wouldn’t reciprocate. The penalty for sharing internal business with other teams’ personnel was ‘termination for cause’.”
Feaster currently is the Lightning’s executive director of community hockey development. And the 62-year-old said even broaching the subject of trading one of his best players — Bolts star forward Brad Richards – eventually made its way into the public sphere, although not at Feaster’s doing.
“(W)hen I began making phone calls prior to the trade deadline last season regarding interest in Brad Richards, I had a fellow GM ask me if I realized that by contacting all 29 other teams in this manner it would guarantee the news would be leaked to the media within hours,” Feaster wrote. “I knew that, but I had to make the calls. I made it a point to alert Brad and his agent beforehand.”
TRADE TALK? SHHHHH!!!
By Jay Feaster
My mentors in the game were iconic GMs such as Colorado’s Pierre Lacroix and New Jersey’s Lou Lamoriello.
The inner workings of their teams were never discussed in public or played out in the media. I admired the way they operated under the radar; when I became GM in Tampa Bay in 2002, I attempted to run the Lightning in the same manner.
When hiring personnel, I made it clear that our business was to stay within our own operation. While our scouts were free to collect information from other scouts who were willing to dish about their own franchises, we wouldn’t reciprocate. The penalty for sharing internal business with other teams’ personnel was “termination for cause.”
Similarly, if we were talking with another NHL club about a possible trade and I brought our scouts or other personnel into the discussion, it was stated up front the talks were to be kept confidential. My colleagues knew that anything discussed with me would stay within our organization; failure to do so would cost the offending employee his job.
Unfortunately, this standard was not followed by all teams. I knew that, in most cases, if I called my 29 colleagues or perhaps sent an email advising of a player’s availability, the media would know about it chapter-and-verse before long.
Some of my colleagues used the media as a sounding board, knowing they could float any information like a trial balloon, which allowed management to gauge public and industry reaction. Others immediately went to the media in hopes there would be reciprocity down the road. Still others, I’m convinced, shared the info in hopes that public disclosure would become a distraction in our dressing room and derail whatever team success we might be having at the time.
It happened to me in 2006 when I knew our captain, Dave Andreychuk, had reached the end of his career. I wanted to meet with him and tell him I had contacted each team to gauge interest in his services. I sent out a memo via fax to every NHL team and within hours it was in the hands of the media, who phoned Andreychuk to tell him before I could meet with him in an orderly fashion. To this day I regret the manner in which Andreychuk found out about that memo.
Similarly, when I began making phone calls prior to the trade deadline last season regarding interest in Brad Richards, I had a fellow GM ask me if I realized that by contacting all 29 other teams in this manner it would guarantee the news would be leaked to the media within hours. I knew that, but I had to make the calls. I made it a point to alert Brad and his agent beforehand.
Although trade speculation is fun and interesting for fans and media, I remain firmly convinced that discussing potential deals under the radar is in the best interest of the franchise.
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