Shea Weber headed to Philadelphia Flyers and its impact on Nashville Predators –NHL Special
It looks like the Nashville Predators were dealt another vigorous blow as sources are claiming that their top level defenseman, Shea Weber, has signed a 14-year offer sheet with Philadelphia Flyers.
The deal is reportedly worth a monstrous $100 million or even possibly more, but sources have not been able to finalise the terms and conditions from either side as of yet.
Last year had the same problems for Weber and the Predators as both stakeholders failed to come to mutual terms before the season and were forced to undergo an arbitration hearing, which gave Weber the title of being the best defender in the league.
He was on a one-year contract worth $7-plus million with Nashville Predators, but had been expected to re-sign seeing how Nashville was desperate after losing Ryan Suter earlier in this year’s offseason to Minnesota Wild.
The Minnesota Wild surprised the league as they took New Jersey Devils’ captain, Zach Parise, and Nashville Predators second best defenseman, Ryan Suter, on board with a 13-year, $98 million contract for each. Now with the possible loss of Shea Weber, it
seems as if all hopes have been lost for the Predators team.
Even if Weber has agreed to Philadelphia’s offer sheet, the Nashville Predators still have one week to match or exceed the offer, which does not look like they are able to do otherwise the club would have done so far earlier than now.
If Nashville Predators do not choose to offer the same or more, Philadelphia Flyers will be giving them four first-round draft picks for future drafts, if a trade is not worked out between the two teams.
On the bright side, Philadelphia is believed to have four future draft picks which are not higher than the 20th pick, meaning that Nashville may be able to search for more top-notch talent, but losing Shea Weber would definitely have a major impact
on the team right from the start of the upcoming 2012-2013 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
Weber is currently a restricted free agent and it is believed that Philadelphia could not keep on waiting for Nashville to do the deed, which is why they decided to go forth with it first instead. Flyers were also in the race to grab Parise or Suter, but
failed to get their hands on either one, opening up the opportunity to talk with Weber and his agent.
The 26-year-old defender has a lot of potential and could solve Philadelphia’s woes in the defensive line-up as a starter. Selected as the 49th overall back in round-two of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by Nashville Predators, Weber continues to be
a high level player each season with 480 games under his belt and 263 points (99 goals, 164 assists) and 369 minutes in penalty time.
He was the runner-up for the Norris Trophy, which is giving to the league’s top defenseman every year, and can be termed to be the best in terms of consistency and leadership. Like New Jersey, Nashville Predators are also on the verge of losing their long-time
captain and finding a replacement at this moment of the offseason is good as impossible.
Weber had 49 points (19 goals, 30 assist) last season with an amazing plus-minus rating of 21. He has been a major factor in Nashville Predators reaching the playoffs for the past three straight seasons along with breaking the first round barrier for the
first time in franchise history back in 2011.
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