Thread: Shea Weber agrees to offer sheet with Philadelphia. 14 years/$110M. Predators Match!!

Living an hour from Nashville, it really SUCKS to see the hearts of the fans being torn out by their best players. I think most everyone expected the Suter was going to leave, but this just stinks from Weber. This reminds me of the Rob Blake take the money and run situation.

Weber just screwed Nashville no matter how anyone looks at it. The lose him, and they possibly get 4 LATE 1st round picks and years of developing potential talent. They sign him and you have a player who is locked into a 14yr contract that obviously does NOT want to be in Nashville, and ties their hands when he demands a trade in a year. The league should be able to step in and veto this contract on the grounds of pure idiocy.

I am by no means a fan of the Preds, but I am a fan of Hockey, and this fan base here in Tennessee is rabid for their Preds, they are actually VERY good fans here. Truth be told, they are light years ahead of any and all Ducks fans, having been to the home barn many times for both those teams. It is a small market team that needs to be able to compete in order to not bore the fans of hockey as a whole. This 14 year contract stuff is ridiculous, and I feel like it is BAD for the overall game of hockey, not just the teams involved.

Some of you saying that later 1st round picks aren't worth it understand that Weber was picked in the 2nd round by that same Predators team right? That it's likely they'd use the two first rounders they have in each of the next four years to stockpile or with other players to move up? It's not like you're just "stuck" with them. Taking the picks isn't a short term move. It's a long term rebuild the **** out of your franchise. Imagine the Kings had 8 1st round picks in the next four years and 4 were top 10-15 and 4 were top 20-30. You don't think there would be some big additions for the next four years? C'mon.

Having said that, I expect Nashville to match if only because of the appearance of it. Not to mention, it's not anymore than they're already paying him.

Also, there is no cap relief on Prongers contract. That one counts whether he retires or plays. They're stuck with it.

Originally Posted by SmytheKing

Also, there is no cap relief on Prongers contract. That one counts whether he retires or plays. They're stuck with it.

They have to pay the cash on it and keep him unretired and use the LTIR relief. If that contract is uninsured.....Big market teams eh?

so if you didn't want to play in Nashville as an RFA - do you sign a 10+ year offer sheet that the organization that you desperately want to get away from can match and be stuck with them for your career if they see fit?

Originally Posted by dgrycan

God damn . . . I sure hope the opening line of the CBA Negotiations went something like "Please, Please, Please players . . . PLEASE protect us from ourselves!"

I think there are some people on the wrong sides in those negotiations. It should be the perceived superstars and teams like the Flyers, Rangers, and Leafs vs the rest of the players and the other teams.

The big issues should between those two factions would be revenue sharing, the number of teams in the NHL, the years of service a player must give before he can hit RFA and UFA status, and not being able to bury undesirable contracts in the AHL.

Originally Posted by nosoupforyou

so if you didn't want to play in Nashville as an RFA - do you sign a 10+ year offer sheet that the organization that you desperately want to get away from can match and be stuck with them for your career if they see fit?

In all honesty I actually see it as a ploy by Weber to get a long-term deal before the next CBA. I'm not sure he WANTS to leave Nashville, but he's in a winning situation here. He gets his deal and he could still stay, or he ends up with the Flyers who, even if we all know they go about it the wrong way, will never be accused of complacency and not trying to win.

Originally Posted by SmytheKing

Some of you saying that later 1st round picks aren't worth it understand that Weber was picked in the 2nd round by that same Predators team right? That it's likely they'd use the two first rounders they have in each of the next four years to stockpile or with other players to move up? It's not like you're just "stuck" with them. Taking the picks isn't a short term move. It's a long term rebuild the **** out of your franchise. Imagine the Kings had 8 1st round picks in the next four years and 4 were top 10-15 and 4 were top 20-30. You don't think there would be some big additions for the next four years? C'mon.

Having said that, I expect Nashville to match if only because of the appearance of it. Not to mention, it's not anymore than they're already paying him.

Realistically, how many 2nd rounders turn into Weber? Hell, how many first rounders turn into half the player Weber is? I'm not saying four first rounders are worthless, it's just that odds are they ultimately aren't gonna add up to his value in terms of real NHL players even after the many years required to nurture and going through growing pains to make those players into the best they can be. It'd be better for them to keep him around for a year and get proven NHL talent in return. They would at the very least get a top 6 forward and a top 4 d-man back. Probably a first round pick or two as well.

I'd match it. Weber is worth it