Ever Wonder Why Darcy Regier Finds It Difficult To Pull Off A Big Trade?

Before the deal for Robyn Regehr in June, the last time Sabres GM Darcy Regier made a trade of signignificance was eight years ago, when he actually made two--Daniel Briere at the 2003 trade deadline and Chris Drury the following off-season.

Between then and now, Regier has pulled off a number of minor ones involving draft picks.

After 14 years of listening to Regier, and watching how he works, Buffalo fans know a few things about the Sabres GM when it comes to personnel:  he believes in building from within, he will give his players every chance to succeed on his team, he's patient to a fault, he falls in love with his players and he has a tendency to let players walk for nothing.

It has been rumored that he also overvalues his players when talking trades with fellow GM's.

Because they're a pretty tight-knit group, GM's generally don't divulge what happens behind the scenes, but in the following interview Toronto GM Brian Burke divulges a few tidbits about the trade process. And he also calls out Regier by name as one of 10 GM's who often speak in a "different language" when it comes down to discussing a potential trade.


In the segment (10:15-mark) Burke points out that Regier is basically a "good guy," but the type of GM who Burke finds "unreasonable" and "unrealistic" when it comes to the putting a value on his own players. It gets to the point where Burke doesn't even want to "waste an hour going over rosters" with a GM like that.






How many other GM's feel that Regier "speaks another language" while going over rosters? Based upon his track record over the last four-plus seasons, it would seem as if there are quite a few.




Thanx to "guest" on Bucky Gleason's Chat yesterday for a link to the above video from The Score.