Could the Preds trade Shea Weber and still be as good of a team as they are now?

[Oscar Acosta]

No he's not. Josi had an amazing year and a better year than Weber but that's not enough to displace him as the #1. Truth is, Weber and Josi need each other. They're both great #1's by themselves but it's when you put them together do they both suddenly become elite.

Like Suter right? Common cog to that.

 

[BonMorrison]

Like Suter right? Common cog to that.

Yes. Though Josi and Suter are very different players which is a testament to how good Weber is at adjusting to new partners.

 

[Oscar Acosta]

Yes. Though Josi and Suter are very different players which is a testament to how good Weber is at adjusting to new partners.

Exactly. One slightly off year and people are selling Weber so short. He would get an astronomical return in a trade that the Predators would be fine.

Same contracts though, same kind of length left - might be worth considering a Malkin/Weber trade. I doubt I'd do it on the Preds side but it's not bad.

 

[BonMorrison]

Exactly. One slightly off year and people are selling Weber so short. He would get an astronomical return in a trade that the Predators would be fine.

Same contracts though, same kind of length left - might be worth considering a Malkin/Weber trade. I doubt I'd do it on the Preds side but it's not bad.

It wasn't even an "off" year - Josi was just so amazing that it made it look like one.

And yeah, I would too but as I said in my earlier post, it would kill the Preds defensive depth so I'd be wary.

 

[swissexpert]

No he's not. Josi had an amazing year and a better year than Weber but that's not enough to displace him as the #1. Truth is, Weber and Josi need each other. They're both great #1's by themselves but it's when you put them together do they both suddenly become elite.

Can't be said any better.

Nontheless, if they can get a Malkin/Getzlaf kinda center back, I'd do it.
Josi will form an elite pairing again, with whoever he is placed with.

 

[dougie1107]

It wasn't even an "off" year - Josi was just so amazing that it made it look like one.

And yeah, I would too but as I said in my earlier post, it would kill the Preds defensive depth so I'd be wary.

Not to mention he was injured towards the end of the season.

 

[arunnair87]

Well this Stephen Burtch stats analyst guy was talking on Twitter about how Weber isn't the same player anymore. Make of it what you will. I think he could be expendable for a #1C with Jones and Ellis/Ekholm emerging as top4 guys and Josi as a #1.

Some tweets:

I'm confused. Weber keeps the majority of the shots to the outside... Isn't this what you want from a defensemen?

 

[supsens]

I'm confused. Weber keeps the majority of the shots to the outside... Isn't this what you want from a defensemen?

He sure is keeping them outside, never mind the fact he has to play the best of the best --the guys who take the most shots and he has a 55% def zone start, it would be like saying a goalie has a 2.2 goals against so he hasn't been good enough but ignoring his .940 save %

 

[Fish on The Sand]

So your subjective opinion holds more weight than stats do?

Of course it is. What actually happens on the ice isn't important, just reputation.

 

[Freudian]

I guess he doesn't have that WOWY factor anymore.

 

[tony d]

Depends on the return.

 

[ThirdManIn]

No he's not. Josi had an amazing year and a better year than Weber but that's not enough to displace him as the #1. Truth is, Weber and Josi need each other. They're both great #1's by themselves but it's when you put them together do they both suddenly become elite.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not accusing the person you quote said this, but isn't it funny how just a few weeks ago when it looked like Josi might challenge for the Norris the mantra was "Josi benefits from playing with Weber!"

After all of that it's just funny to see someone call Weber the second best defenseman on the team

Trading Weber could make the Preds a better team IF they get the right return, but the chances of that happening are slim so the answer is "probably not."

 

[ThirdManIn]

I'm confused. Weber keeps the majority of the shots to the outside... Isn't this what you want from a defensemen?

The charts being shown don't take into account the amount of times Weber and Josi were thrown out on the ice in the defensive zone with Gaustad and the fourth line. Goose, being such a good face off guy and not having any offensive skills, started a ton of shifts in the defensive zone. Weber and Josi were out there with them. There was an article someone posted a couple of weeks ago that compares Weber's defensive zone starts with fourth liners and his starts with other lines versus other top defensemen and their own starts with both, and the disparity was huge. Weber isn't declining as much as some would like you to think. They are merely not adding enough context to their stats.

Basically, he looked much worse this year than he has in years past, based on advanced stats anyway, because of usage. The person saying that Jones, Ekholm and Ellis were significantly better defensively then both Weber and Josi automatically ruins his credibility.

Context is everything.

edit: I also find it funny that two guys were better offensively than two others guys who had more points (Josi had more points than Ellis and Jones combined). Analytics is fun!

 

[Kronwalled8*]

Weber for Malkin would be a good grade for both teams. Re-unite Malkin with Neal and watch Neal put up 40 goals again.

Malkin and Forsberg would be a great 1-2 punch down the middle. Would also take some pressure off of Forsberg to produce offensively.

Malkin, Neal, Forsberg, Jones, Josi, Ekholm, Ellis, Rinne would be an amazing core.

 

[Lebowski]

Weber for Malkin would be a good grade for both teams. Re-unite Malkin with Neal and watch Neal put up 40 goals again.

Malkin and Forsberg would be a great 1-2 punch down the middle. Would also take some pressure off of Forsberg to produce offensively.

Malkin, Neal, Forsberg, Jones, Josi, Ekholm, Ellis, Rinne would be an amazing core.

Pittsburgh has bigger needs offensively than defensively. You trade Malkin without getting a good center back and Sutter ends up your 2nd line center.

They are stacked with young blue chips on defense as well.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Even without Weber that is a pretty dirty defense.

Josi - Jones
Ekholm - Ellis
Bartley - Franson

Weber should certainly stay though. With Weber, I would rank that d corps top 5, or even top 3 in the NHL.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Even without Weber that is a pretty dirty defense.

Josi - Jones
Ekholm - Ellis
Bartley - Franson

Weber should certainly stay though. With Weber, I would rank that d corps top 5, or even top 3 in the NHL.

There is almost zero chance Franson will be back.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

There is almost zero chance Franson will be back.

Ah, just looked and saw his deal is up. He was logging 14:30 TOI/G in the series vs Chicago anyway.

 

[Hardyvan123]

Roman Josi, man is he ever good! Hes quickly climbing up to be a top 10 defenseman in the world, and only going to get better! Hes already top 15 IMO. Id easily take him over similar dmen like Letang, Yandle, Brodie, Hedman, Fowler, Carlson, etc.

If the Preds eventually do trade Weber, its because of Josi. 55 pts this year, 48 last year. He plays well with both Jones and Weber. I think the Preds could afford to trade Weber and not have their defense take a huge hit because they are so deep.

Josi is easily a #1 on most teams today. Hes a franchise defenseman in the making. Whats scary is that once Jones gets better, they will have 3 bonafide #1 franchise dmen. I dont think theres any team in the league that has 2 franchise dmen, let alone 3.

Yes it depends on the return but having Josi and Jones, who might turn out to be the best of the 3 is a luxury of riches.

the thing is that Webers cap hit is huge and how many teams have an extra top forward making similar money they want to trade back?

Malkin maybe?