The Sabres were not a player in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes. Sabres GM Darcy Regier told Mike Schopp and the Bulldog on Friday why his team was not interested in a blockbuster deal.
“He’s a rental player. You are going to spend a lot of your youth or future on a rental player. For us to make a move it needs to be a hockey trade that is not only going to help us in the short-term, but will at least carry through to next-season.”
Regier did not think Kovalchuk would factor into the Sabres long-term plans because of the salary the forward would command this off-season.
Right now, Buffalo’s roster does not have a high-volume scorer playing up to the level of Kovalchuk. A fact that is not bothering Regier.
“I’m not big on superstar. Quite honestly, they are a lot of so-called superstars that don’t win championships. It’s not about the finals. It’s about winning the Stanley Cup. Our forwards are going to continue to get better. I don’t look at this as our only shot. There’s continuous growth here.”
Besides no trade, another thing Sabres fans are grousing about is the hit Ryan Miller took Wednesday night. Comparisons to the Scott Gomez incident from last do not make sense.
“Those are two different situations. I think that Phillips ran into him. Quite frankly after the fact he was explaining himself and said ‘I didn’t mean it.’ That wasn’t Chris Neil running him over. I was okay with it. I thought the way Tyler Myers handled it was good for the team.”
Want more from Darcy? Listen to the whole interview in the WGR 550 audio vault.
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