Will Shea Weber be the next big name Predator to leave Nashville?
Predators Yet to Match Flyers Offer for Defenceman Weber
Well, the Predators are falling apart at the seams it looks like. As of Saturday morning, the Nashville Predators have yet to make a decision whether to match or not match the 14 year, $110 million offer sheet that Shea Weber signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Weber’s agent tweeted something that had a good point, and almost seemed like a jab at Preds management. “He’d like to play with the Flyers….he doesn’t want to go through another rebuilding process again.”
While I’m surprised that his agent came out and said something as blunt as that, you cannot fault Weber for wanting away of the sinking franchise. After losing Ryan Suter to free agency, Nashville’s GM David Polie has done nothing but whine about how his former player lied to him, rather than try to make some signings that would make his captain want to stay with the team.
Now with another huge sheet in front of him, will Polie finally act? Or will he sit idly by and watch his team walk away from him. It’s a shame really, as all this happens right when the Preds finally find some postseason success.
In Weber, the Flyers would get that missing defensive piece they lost when Chris Pronger went down due to injury, yet to return. The problem? Look at the length of that contract! 14 years is an insane amount of time to sign anyone to. Weber is 26 right now, fast forward to when he’s 40, will he even still be able to play?
Weber is good, but the idea he is the next Nick Lindstrom is a bit of a stretch. Look at Philly’s other long term contracts they’ve signed recently (Ilya Bryzgalov 9 years, $51 million) and see how they panned out. Philly is trying to swing it’s checkbook around until it hits the piece that will finally give them a championship, will Weber be it?
The next move is on Polie.
Joe Kassabian is a contributor for Outside the Redzone. Follow him on Twitter @jkass9966
