Nashville Predators, Shea Weber committed to winning with contract behind them -NHL Special
Nashville Predators rocked the National Hockey League (NHL) by blocking what was bound to be a transition for Shea Weber to the Philadelphia Flyers, by signing on their captain to a 14-year, $110 million deal.
Predators lived up to their words by meeting the offer made by Philadelphia Flyers, which now means both stakeholders can work towards winning instead of having to worry about a possible arbitration hearing every year after failing to reach a deal.
"It is a very exciting time for the Predators organization and myself," Weber said. "It is a big step in the right direction. The ownership showed a commitment here obviously in the last week. Going forward, now I can focus on the important stuff: getting
ready for the season and getting ready to go this year."
Like last year, Nashville’s renowned captain and the league’s top defenseman, Shea Weber, had to go into an arbitration hearing and was awarded a one-year deal along with being termed to be the best at the position he plays. This year was slightly different
as Weber was sick of one year deals and was focusing on fixating his career, whether it was with Nashville or not.
Philadelphia Flyers made a big move to offer the player a 14-year, $110 million deal, which immediately put Nashville Predators on the edge as they had already lost second in line defender, Ryan Suter, to the Minnesota Wild during the free agency.
General Manager David Poile worked by every instruction in the book but knew he would have to do something unique in order to satisfy his hungry defender, that has become the face of the organisation over the years.
"It was a very interesting four or five days," Poile said. "If anything, I think it brought our organization even more together than it was. At the end of the day, when we knew what we were going to do, I think it really galvanized our whole organization.
Everybody thinks we made the right decision. I know we made the right decision."
Philadelphia Flyers general manager, Paul Holmgren, was without a doubt disappointed to hear about Weber’s decision to stay with Nashville as the former had also lost a lot during the offseason and needed to capture the 26-year-old on a long term basis.
Shea Weber is definitely a need for Nashville Predators more than a want and now ready to enter his prime, the team needs him to continue leading them to new levels in order to stay an NHL level team.
In a total of 480 points, Shea Weber has 99 goals and 164 assists for a total of 263 points and 369 minutes in penalty time.
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