Dan Bylsma is a coach, not a general manager, but he's in the loop enough to be able to say that, in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, the Penguins were no more than interested bystanders.

"We weren't in the running," Bylsma said Friday. "We can't afford that in our salary cap."

Atlanta traded the star winger to New Jersey in a blockbuster deal Thursday night. The Thrashers got defenseman John Oduya, forwards Niclas Bergfors and Patrice Cormier, and a 2010 first-round draft pick.

Kovalchuk, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in July, is making $7.5 million this season and turned down a 12-year, $101 million offer from the Thrashers. He joins a Devils team that leads the Atlantic Division and is vying for the Eastern Conference title.

"He's a good player," said Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis, who played with Kovalchuk in Atlanta. "He was the face of the franchise. Obviously, they couldn't agree on terms, so they moved him."

Kovalchuk, an offensively skilled player, might seem like an odd fit with the Devils, who have been a tight, defense-first club for years and now are coached by Jacques Lemaire, who personifies that style.

"When I was in Atlanta, he played pretty hard defensively when we made the playoffs," Dupuis said of 2007 when the Thrashers made their only postseason appearance. "I think he can do it. It's just if he wants to."

The saga with Atlanta and Kovalchuk had been playing out for some time, so the trade didn't shock the Penguins.

"Obviously, Jersey is having a good year," center Sidney Crosby said. "They want to get another guy to push them forward. He's a superstar in this league, so he's a good pickup for them."

Bylsma watched from afar, too, but he was hoping for a slightly different outcome.

"Certainly, it was of interest to watch," he said. "We would have liked to see him go out of our conference because he's a dangerous player."

The Penguins' personnel carousel continued.

Forward Max Talbot didn't practice and stayed behind on the weekend trip because of what is believed to be a groin injury. Winger Chris Kunitz traveled but is unsure if he will be able to return this weekend from Jan. 6 surgery to repair an abdominal muscle tear.

"We're trying to get [a game] in here," Kunitz said. "Didn't feel so good [Friday]. You just have to out there and we'll see. It doesn't look like Saturday, but if ... I feel better, we'll try Sunday. There's not a set deadline for returning. Just trying to get back into it when I can."

He is still hoping to return before the Olympics break but indicated he won't push it just to do that.

To fill in, the Penguins recalled forwards Mark Letestu and Tim Wallace from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Letestu has a goal in five games with the Penguins. Wallace had two assists in 16 games with the Penguins last season. He has not played in the NHL this season.

The Penguins have been shuffling prospects back and forth from Wilkes-Barre for several weeks as players deal with short- and long-term injuries.

Often, a trip to Montreal involves travel delays or headaches. This time, the Penguins are more concerned with getting to their next stop.

The weather was fine in Montreal when the team arrived Friday. Getting to Washington for a noon NBC game Sunday against the Capitals might be the tricky part. The District of Columbia area is expecting up to two feet of snow by tonight.

The Penguins are looking at options, and those include flying somewhere else and taking a train to Washington.

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