McKee: Being Loyal Doesn't Get You Paid

You have to love Jay McKee. He is a soldier. Playing through pain and injury is part of his character. He is also a class act. While he has gone from a team that was a perennial Stanley Cup contender to a celler dweller without switching cities he has publicly stated that he wants to stay with the Buffalo Sabres. It makes sense. His wife is Buffalonian. He has lived here for almost ten years.
Being loyal doesn't get you very far in the NHL, especially with the bottom line watching Buffalo Sabres. In a move that Money Ball GM Billy Beane would be proud of, Darcy Reiger has not budged on his value of Jay McKee, saying he is "injury prone", meaning the longest tenured Sabres will most likely be going the way of Satan and Zhitnik come next summer or even sooner if the Sabres are out of the playoff chase.
Only looking at the botttom line is to narrow of a perspective when considering the wider dynamics that make a hockey team work. Jay McKee may have had injury problems in the past but what he brings to the lockeroom even when hurt certainly justifies a greater effort on Darcy Reiger's part to sign him to a long term deal.
Being injury prone is a weak excuse at best. Can't we just have some honestly and say he wants too much money. If the Sabres were not siging players because they are delicate flowers that could be mangled by a hockey dashing down the ice the Sabres would not have resigned Jochen Hecht or taken a chance on Teppo "Bad Heart" Numminen.