Nashville Predators

According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, the Nashville Predators have matched the offer sheet that the Philadelphia Flyers agreed to with superstar defenseman Shea Weber. The offer sheet was for 14 years and $110 million. If the Predators had let Weber go to the Flyers, they would have received an upward of four first round draft picks from Philly.

 

NSH matches PHI offer sheet on Weber. Not surprised. Would've been OK to give up Weber in trade but NSH couldn't lose him for draft picks.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 24, 2012

 

 

Losing Weber on an offer sheet might well have been the death knell of the franchise. As it is, losing Ryan Suter to UFA, they have work to do.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 24, 2012

The Predators now have a lot of work to do if they want to contend in the Western Conference, considering they now have placed an insane amount of money around Shea Weber. Goaltender Pekka Rinne is signed through the 2018-19 season, so a few of the pieces are in place.

Don't think this is the end of the story for Shea Weber though, chances are many teams are going to try and acquire him in a trade. There are many teams, like the Detroit Red Wings, that are arguably a stud defenseman away from winning the Stanley Cup.

The Philadelphia Flyers will more than likely continue to try and find a way to get Weber, as they have already shown they are more than willing to accommodate his contract. Keep in mind that Rick Nash just went to their division rivals in the New York Rangers and Philly might have to respond if they want to compete in a division that also consists of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Stanley Cup runner-up in the New Jersey Devils. 

What do you think? Should the Predators have matched the offer sheet?

TSN's Darren Dreger first announced that the Philadelphia Flyers had signed superstar defenseman Shea Weber to an offer sheet worth a reported $110 million over the next 14 years:

Breaking: Shea Weber agrees to offer sheet with Philadelphia. 14 years, upwards of $100 mil. Preds have 7 days to match. Wow!!

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 19, 2012

The contract is heavily front-loaded and would make Weber the second-richest player in the NHL behind Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

The deal is not set in stone, however. The Nashville Predators have seven calendar days to decide whether or not they will match the offer or let him go to Philly.

Shea Weber is the biggest name to potentially go to the Flyers since Eric Lindros played the waiting game in 1992 between the Flyers and the Rangers...and we all remember how that turned out.

From Nashville's perspective, while it might be hard to imagine—especially after a solid performance last year that took the team to the second round the playoffs—it has to realize that it is time to let him go a few years earlier than they had anticipated. 

In 2011, the Predators signed goaltender Pekka Rinne to a seven-year contract worth $49 million. That was the largest contract in Nashville's history. To think that they have the market and the coin to cough up over $100 million is honestly hard to fathom.

The Flyers seem to be "New York Yankeeing" the Predators here, even though the NHL's salary cap structure is designed to allow no such thing to happen.

If you take a look at the Preds' offseason, the first thing that comes to mind is that they lost star defenseman Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild—and to an absurd contract at that, as Suter will be paid $98 million over the next 13 years.

There is no debating that Shea Weber is entitled to more money than former teammate Ryan Suter. He is the face of the Predators, is their team captain and is simply stronger on both ends of the ice.

According to NewsChannel5.com, Nashville plans on matching the offer sheet laid out by Philadelphia. But I honestly believe that it would be a mistake.

Sure, re-signing the man I just ranked as the third-best defenseman in the NHL sounds like something the Predators need to do. But looking at what they would be receiving in return, they need to let him go.

The fact of the matter is, while they have a superstar goaltender in Rinne, the Predators are far away from becoming a team that will contend for the Stanley Cup. They lack scoring, and they already lost their fifth-leading scorer from last season in Suter.

They had an impressive run by defeating the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs, but then were immediately sent packing in five games by the Phoenix Coyotes in the next round.

Re-signing Weber would obviously help the team as a whole. But it would still only potentially make them a bottom-seeded team fighting simply to make the playoffs in the Western Conference.

If they let Shea Weber go to the Flyers, they could be awarded with four first-round draft picks over the next four seasons, according to NewsChannel5.com. While the Flyers will be expected to excel with Weber, and those picks will more than likely be toward the bottom end of the round, I don't think Nashville is in a position to pass that up.

As hard as it would be to see for Predators fans and anti-Flyers fans like myself, the Nashville Predators must give up Shea Weber to the Philadelphia Flyers, accept the four draft picks in return and begin to rephase themselves into a championship team.

It has been a rough offseason for the Nashville Predators. A few days into free agency they lost one of their star defensemen when Ryan Suter signed with the Minnesota Wild.

On July 18th more bad news for the Predators came down the pipe, as Nashville captain Shea Weber signed an offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers. 

The offer sheet is something that is not often used in today’s NHL, as only a few players have signed an one since the lockout.

Philadelphia signed Shea Weber to a 14-year offer reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger to be worth $100 million, while Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos puts the figure as upwards as $110 million.

The deal is front loaded with signing bonuses, as reported by Dreger in a subsequent tweet early July 19th.

With Weber receiving a reported $68 million in the first six years in signing bonuses, $27 million of that will be received in the first year alone.

Poile and the Predators have a week to look over the offer sheet and either match it or take the compensation from Philly.

Nashville GM David Poile has repeatedly said they would match any offer sheets made to Weber, according to an article on NHL.com.

The same article mentions that the compensation that Nashville could be eligible for would be a package of four first-round picks from Philly.

This all depends on the annual average value of Weber’s contract.

Nick Kypreos, analyst for Canadian sporting news channel Sportsnet, broke down the offer sheet on his twitter account, found here.

The full contract offers approximately $42 million in salary with the remainder coming in bonuses. That works out to an average of $3 million in salary per year.

The Sporting News has stated that the cap hit will be at $7.85 million

There are a few things that Poile and the Nashville organization will have to consider before responding.

Should Nashville match the offer sheet, they will be unable to trade Weber for the first year, but will be required to pay out all the bonuses in the offer.

They are also unable to renegotiate with Weber, as the matched offer becomes the contract that Nashville would have to honor.

Weber is the captain for the Predators, and has been steadily growing a fanbase for their team. His loss could impact some of these newly-found fans.

Nashville also needs to fill the void left by Ryan Suter, which could take some time or trades by the Predators.

If they allow Weber to go to Philadelphia, they would receive compensation, which as previously mentioned should be four first-round picks.

They could utilize these picks to try to rebuild the blue line around some young stars, but that would take time that Nashville may not have.

They have seen success in the past few seasons, making the playoffs seven of the last eight years and going to the conference semifinals for the past two. 

A rebuild could lose the fanbase that has started grow with Nashville's success.

Another option should they not match the offer sheet, is to utilize the draft picks in a trade with another team as they rebuild their defensive core.

They have a few veteran defensemen and a couple rookies who will need to step up should they lose Weber as well.

One other thing that Poile will have to take into account while deciding to match or walk away from the offer, is whether Weber actually wants to leave Nashville.

If Weber truly wants out of Nashville and Poile matches the deal, it could be disastrous as Weber may be resentful of being forced to play even longer in a town he does not want to be in.

That is not to say that Weber would purposely play badly, but he may be unhappy and like Rick Nash did in Columbus, ask for a trade before the contract has run its course.

Whichever path Nashville takes, Poile will have much to consider before he reaches a decision. It may also be wise to ask if Weber wants to continue playing in Nashville.

No matter what the decision is from the Predators head office, it will affect the Nashville club for more than a decade to come.

It's official.

After remaining uncharacteristically quiet for much of the offseason, the Philadelphia Flyers have made their big splash of the summer.

This year, it's a move almost unheard of in today's NHL—an RFA offer sheet.

Per TSN's Darren Dreger via Twitter:

Breaking: Shea Weber agrees to offer sheet with Philadelphia. 14 years, upwards of $100 mil. Preds have 7 days to match. Wow!!

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 19, 2012

Weber's contract is worth a whopping $110 million and will carry a $7.85 million cap hit. ESPN's Craig Cunstance first obtained the financial details, which immediately rival the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk's salary cap-circumventing deal in 2010:

Got confirmation of salary structure of Weber's deal. Here it is: $14M, $14M, $14M, $14M, $12M, $12M, $6M, $6M, $6M, $6M, $3M, $1M, $1M, $1M

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) July 19, 2012

The massive newsbreak puts the Nashville Predators, typically a team that operates on a budget rather than by the salary cap, in an enormous dilemma.

If they match, they'll retain their team captain and clear-cut best player for the rest of his career.

If they don't, they'll be instantly relegated from Cup contention for years but receive four first-round picks and much greater financial flexibility in return.

How will the Preds and GM David Poile handle the situation? Per Dreger, they're leaning toward the first option:

Preds will issue a statement today. Team is fully evaluating situation, but, Preds have previously indicated plan to match any offer sheet.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 19, 2012

Of course, the situation is by no means already settled.

Taking on Weber's deal would put the Predators' payroll at just over $47.1 million with two RFAs—Sergei Kostitsyn and Colin Wilson—still left to sign. By the end of it all, that mark could be pushing $52 or $53 million.

Could the Predators ownership group, led by Tom Cigarran, handle that expensive of a team? History says it's likely that they could.

In 2011-12, the Predators' payroll stood at $52.1 million, including $7.5 million devoted to Weber—numbers not too different from next year's projections.

In 2010-11, the Predators' payroll fell at $50.9 million, including $4.5 million for Weber—again, barely less than their 2012-13 projection.

Further, history also points to another reason why Weber could still be playing in Nashville last season—over the last 15 years, RFA offer sheets have been matched almost unfailingly.

In fact, on only a mere one occasion did the RFA's original team not retain the player, out of the eight sheets submitted over that time.

That was a whopping five-year, $20.1 million contract for Dustin Penner in 2007—and, based on Penner's recent production, we now know exactly why Anaheim let him walk.

Penner's situation was a rare one, though. Disregarding that one exception, young stars signed to offer sheets over the past decade have found their contracts matched every single time.

In 1997, the Toronto Maple Leafs offered former Vancouver Canucks' defenseman Matthias Ohlund a five-year, $17.5 million contract.

The Canucks matched.

In 1998, the recently-relocated Carolina Hurricanes offered former Detroit Red Wings' star Sergei Fedorov a six-year, $38 million contract.

The Red Wings matched.

In 2006, the Philadelphia Flyers—historically a major perpetrator of offer sheets—offered Canucks center Ryan Kesler a one-year, $1.9 million contract.

The Canucks matched.

In 2007, the Edmonton Oilers offered Buffalo Sabres' icon Thomas Vanek a seven-year, $50 million contract.

The Sabres matched.

In 2008, the Canucks offered St. Louis Blues star David Backes a three-year, $7.5 million contract—and then, one week later, the Blues offered Canucks prospect Steve Bernier a one-year, $2.5 million contract in retort.

Both teams matched.

And then in 2010, the San Jose Sharks offered the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup-winning defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson a four-year, $14 million contract.

The 'Hawks matched.

By now, you get the picture.

History predicts—or rather, based on the above revelations, guarantees—the Nashville Predators will match Shea Weber's 14-year, $110 million contract and retain the star for the entire remainder of his career.

But, then again, $110 million is a bit more money than history has ever before seen.

Mark Jones has been a Bleacher Report featured columnist since 2009. In that time, he has written more than 410 articles and received more than 640,000 reads.

Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

With the lack of talent remaining in the free agency pool, many teams in need of high-end talent have resorted to acquiring restricted free agents.  Shea Weber, arguably the best defencemen in the NHL, is one of many restricted free agents currently on every general manager's radar.

With his contract up at the end of next season, the Nashville Predators, after losing another high-end defensive talent in Ryan Suter, are forced to try and sign the prolific blue-liner. 

The problem is the Philadelphia Flyers beat them to the punch. 

Michael Traikos of the National Post reported the Flyers and Shea Weber signed an offer sheet on Wednesday night worth over $110 million for 14 years of his services.  

If these long contracts are the current trend of the NHL, though they may be short-lived, the Nashville Predators must do the same for Shea Weber.  If there is any player that deserves this kind of commitment, it's him. 

Pekka Rinne is a top-five goaltender in the NHL, but that just isn't enough to build a competitive team. If the Nashville Predators allow the Flyers to sign Shea Weber, the Preds are forced into rebuild. This will inevitably discourage your starting goaltender; just ask Martin Brodeur how he felt before and after the New Jersey Devils made a Stanley Cup run this past year.  

With Rinne being your best player, and only superstar, this is not an option.   

Weber and Rinne are easily franchise players, and with two on the same team, the backbone of this squad is already fulfilled.  If you look at other teams around the league, multiple franchise players have become the new trend of successful teams.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBIJ3GcCs-s

In Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.  In Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.  In Chicago, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. In Vancouver, the Sedin twins. The Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers have now taken this to a whole new level, making it very important for teams lagging behind to at least stay afloat.  

In addition, the Predators also have a high-end, puck-moving defensive prospect in Ryan Ellis, making the replacing of Ryan Suter...easier done than said? With Weber's mind-boggling cannon of a shot and Ellis' play-making ability, the Preds could be in for one of the most dangerous defensive pairings in the NHL. 

The time has come for the Preds to upgrade their top-six forwards, while ensuring the services of Weber and Rinne for years to come. It will be difficult to spend this money on one player, but he is your captain and, by far, your best skater. They will need to keep Weber in Nashville to sustain the current progress they've made, otherwise, back to square one. 

Is he worth all that dough?

The current contracts around the league would suggest yes.   

The most interesting part of all is the Nashville Predators have the most money to spend in the league. With almost $30 million in cap space, it would seem almost necessary to match the offer from the Philadelphia Flyers. 

The question is, will they? Losing the face of the franchise versus spending a lot of money, tough call.

David Poile, good luck.   

This NHL offseason just got a whole lot more interesting. 

Reported by TSN's Darren Dreger in a tweet, the Philadelphia Flyers and Shea Weber have agreed on an offer sheet that will give the elite defenseman a 14-year $100 million contract. Nashville would receive draft picks for compensation, with Dreger believing the picks will be two first-round picks, one second-round pick and one third-round pick. John Buccigross of ESPN believes it will be four first-round picks.

Nashville absolutely must match this offer sheet and keep the All-Star defenseman. The Predators already lost their No. 2 defenseman Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild earlier this free agency. If Weber leaves, the Predators will have blown up their entire defensive core.

Not only that, but they will also have lost all the momentum gained over the last few years. They are finally being seen as an elite team in the NHL, winning their first playoff series and gaining consideration as a potential cup contender. With both defensemen gone, the Preds could be bottom-feeders again.  

Nashville will have a hard time keeping Pekka Rinne and any other stars if it lets Weber walk. It will have gone into a huge rebuilding stage that draft picks may not be able to save, thus entering the dark ages of the Predators' young history.

The Flyers, however, could not have made a smarter move. Dreger believes that the Flyers grew weary of their trade talks, and instead of giving Nashville something for Weber, just want to grab him while they can. 

Weber could be the best possible replacement for Matt Carle, who signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this offseason. Weber would instantly make those in front of Ilya Bryzgalov much better, which in turn could turn him into a more complete player.  

The Flyers are playing in arguably the hardest division, and though they were able to make it out of the first round before losing to the Devils, having a leader like Weber on the roster could have been the difference. 

This deal could change the entire landscape of the NHL. It may not be as high-profile as the Suter/Parise sweepstakes, but it could have a much bigger impact as both teams involved are playoff contenders.

Get ready for an exciting week. 

The Nashville Predators had said they would match any offer sheet to free-agent defenseman Shea Weber, but this is one offer sheet that they may be unable to match.

TSN's Darren Dreger broke the news that the Philadelphia Flyers had sent Shea Weber a 14-year offer sheet that would be worth upwards of $100 million.

 

Breaking: Shea Weber agrees to offer sheet with Philadelphia. 14 years, upwards of $100 mil. Preds have 7 days to match. Wow!!

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 19, 2012

 

 

Weber signed the deal and the Predators have a week to match the deal. If they don't match the offer sheet, they are entitled to compensation; Yahoo's Puck Daddy broke it down.

Depending on what Weber's cap hit would be, the Predators could receive as many as four first-round pucks or two first-round picks, a second and a third. The Flyers own their first-round picks for at least the next two drafts, with the 2014 NHL Draft scheduled for Philadelphia.

This is massive breaking news and if this deal is unmatched, the Philadelphia Flyers would have made the biggest splash during this free-agency period. Weber is an elite defenseman and is of the same mould as current Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger.

This move could be a major game-changer in the landscape of the Eastern Conference and it is a move that could force other teams to make deals themselves. If Weber ends up becoming a Flyer, you can guarantee that the Penguins and Rangers will do their best to make something happen.

In this situation, David Poile needs to match the offer sheet immediately. Odds are that he would have probably offered Weber a contract in the same ballpark so by matching the sheet, Weber would remain a Predator.

The next part becomes very interesting. Although the Predators would forgo a bevy of draft picks, the compensation isn't fair.

The multiple first-round picks would likely be anywhere between 20-30 given the impact Weber would have on the Flyers. If Weber doesn't want to stay in Nashville, Poile can still trade him. He would have to wait one year and then he could open the market for Weber.

A player like Weber on the open market could draw two top-six forwards, a top-four defenseman, a prospect and a draft pick. Teams will move assets and will free up space if he hits the trade market because he would be worth every penny.

David Poile needs to make the right decision. If he fails to match this offer sheet, he loses his franchise player and receives draft picks that won't help the franchise. He should match the sheet and worry about the finances later if he attempts to deal Weber during the summer of 2013.

After losing Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild, the Nashville Predators are in a deep hole if defenseman Shea Weber decides to skip town as well.

Weber led all Nashville defensemen with 19 goals and 49 points last season. He was a pivotal piece to their success which landed them the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and their second 100-plus-point season in the last three years.

With Weber and Suter, along with Vezina trophy-finalist Pekka Rinne between the pipes, Nashville finished the regular season with a goals against average of 2.50, good enough for 10th best in the NHL.

Now, Suter is gone and the Predators are desperate to keep their other prized defenseman.

After going through arbitration with Weber in 2011, other teams are now able to sign him to an offer sheet, a thought has Predator fans nervous.

Since he broke in with Nashville in 2005, Weber has put up tremendous numbers. He's played in at least 78 games in six of his seven NHL seasons and he's solidified himself as one of he premier defenseman in the league.

Although the panic level shouldn't be very high in terms of losing Weber, Nashville is more desperate than ever to retain him after the Minnesota Wild swooned Suter away from the Music City.

Weber and the Nashville front office were able to extend the deadline for a qualifying offer to August 1, which gives both parties a chance to think about what is best for the future.

Nashville G.M. David Poile was bitter about losing Suter to free agency, and needs to save face by keeping Weber in gold and blue for a long time.

Poile publicly stated his distaste of Suter's decision via the Tennessean:

"Whether this franchise is in Timbuktu, the one point of not choosing to stay and play with Shea Weber, I will never, ever understand that."

Larry Brooks of the New York Post wrote that Weber would be a great fit for the Rangers with defensemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh.

"If the defense-first-last-and-always Rangers could get Weber, they would stand to have at least one Norris-caliber defenseman on the ice essentially all game. There is something to be said for doubling down on a strength."

In a perennial market like New York, Weber would be welcomed to the Rangers organization with open arms. He's a three-time All Star, a gold-medal winner, and he's only 27 years old.

Not to mention the Rangers have plenty of pieces to send over in a deal if one were to be proposed.

For the Predators, losing Suter and Weber would decimate them defensively.

Though the two camps still have two weeks to work out a long-term deal, it seems likely Weber will remain with the Predators, hopefully easing the blood pressure of Poile.