Shea Weber is a shell of his former self.

[Canadienna]

Someone did I was just trying not to directly call the poster out.

I'm just calling it like I see it as a Habs fan whose watched nearly every game he's played since the trade. Vets often play off their reputation.

He was off at the start of the season, started to find his stride and has been off again since. Likely his best role now is a defense first 3rd pairing shutdown D. Maybe it's just his ice-time too, and if played less he could improve.

I can see why that may sound ridiculous, but I have no reason to hate on Weber, I've been hyping him since he came to MTL.

 

[Lolonegoal]

What happened? He seemed to be a beast as recently as last season and playoffs.

What happened is typical habs fans. And I say this as a Habs fan. He just held McDavid to 0 shots two games ago. Guys better than 99.9% of defenseman at 35 in the history of the NHL.

 

[Riddum]

His skating isn’t just bad now, it’s flat out laughable. If you watch Habs games, pay attention to him in a foot race. He never had great speed, but he looks like he’s pulling a trailer now. He also gets beat almost everytime when trying to keep possession in the offensive zone. Teams are constantly getting there first and chipping it out past him. Not to mention his shot just looks so lacklustre most of the time now which was his biggest threat. He’s a number 4 defenseman in this league now. But as a Habs fan, we can’t be leaning on him the way we do. His minutes need to be reduced.

He's like a former great boxer who can no longer let his hands go. The reflexes, explosiveness, speed and quickness have all diminished tremendously. The power is still there but with the aforementioned diminished abilities, the puck rarely reaches the net... Unless he has 3 hours to shoot

 

[Lolonegoal]

At least he's better than PK.

Sadly the delusion on the Habs board is that that's not true.

 

[JianYang]

What happened? He seemed to be a beast as recently as last season and playoffs.

He's been getting hurt alot over the last few seasons. I could see him gradually declining over that span, and it's just continuing that way.

I mean, I think there are some exaggerations. He's not finished or anything like that, but he should not be your top guy anymore, and in Montreal's case, it probably would be even more apparent if Petry hadn't been aging like fine wine.

He's at that age where none of this is unexpected, and I think it's a credit to him that he's adapted somewhat to a game that has changed rapidly since he came into the league, but combine that with the miles, and it eventually catches everyone.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Compared to the whole Ottawa Senators defence, Shea Weber is a generational superstar.

 

[57special]

There is something in between #1D and third pairing/ replacement level. That's where Weber probably is, just like his old D partner, Suter. I think most teams would be happy with him in their top 4. Maybe the problem is more that MTL doesn't have a good partner for him that can disguise his faults and let him focus on what he does best, like Spurgeon does with Suter.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Get him on the Tom Brady diet, it'll save him.

I was going to like your post but I just had to preserve the current status

 

[StreetHawk]

He's still good. Not his fault Montreal leans on him so hard

He has 5 years left on his contract. $6 mill salary in 21-22 season, then it begins to drop. $3 mill in 22-23, then 3 more seasons after that at $1 million.

Without a NMC, if Montreal down the line doesn't think he's worth the $7.9 mill cap hit, they can assign him to Laval in the A and if he balks at going, they terminate his contract and take at most a minimal to no dead cap charge. That will all fall on Nashville.

 

[banks]

Every player has ups and downs in a season. Petry, too, is slumping a bit after looking like a Norris candidate early in the year.

I believe Weber will still be fine. You can't expect him to be the same at 35 that he was at 25, but he's still a good player. I'll bet most complainers are just frustrated fantasy owners.

 

[Archijerej]

He's 35, struggling through an insane schedule with Chiarot and Edmundson as his partners, but still performing like a top pairing D.

 

[Flyer lurker]

If Weber was your 3 you wouldn't say boo about him. As 1/1a he gets more exposed. Weber should not be the guy against Mcdavid, Matthews , etc but has to in MTL.

Price and Allen's stick handling help not expose Weber's lack of speed chasing pucks. If Weber were to go to a team with below average puck handling goalies, it would get uglier quick.

 

[Thrasymachus]

this thread should be retitled "Shea Weber is 35"

 

[BruinDust]

Like one poster said, 2003 was a long time ago, and Weber, like the rest of his draft class, are declining fast. Really it shouldn't be a shock to anyone.

The anomalies thus far are Bergeron and Pavelski, and both guys relied far more on their instincts and hockey IQ than they do their skating game. Bergeron has never been terribly fleet of foot. Even as a Bruins fan I can admit we are starting to see trickles of aging in Bergeron's game. You starting to get that scattered game (for example 3rd in 4 nights) where his performance isn't the all-world two-way gem folks have come to expect and he looks rather pedestrian.

Getzlaf, E.Stall, Burns, Weber, and a few others really took a turn downward this year.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

I was going to like your post but I just had to preserve the current status


View attachment 419036

Hey Officer, why you gotta post my warning stats like dat for all da homies to see? I'm sti trying to build up the street cred, if you tell everyone I only got five, they gonna laugh at me.

 

[Betelgeuse]

Shell Weber

 

[Larry Hanson]

Bright side is he only has 1-2yrs left. I seriously doubt that he plays out the 1Mx3 yrs at the end of his contract, after escrow/etc that's chump change to him.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Nothing to worry about. Habs only have 20 games in 34 days coming up. Im sure Weber will pick it up.

 

[Sweetpotato]

I was going to like your post but I just had to preserve the current status


View attachment 419036

That's a generational screen shot

 

[dm1371]

Very honest on ice performance considering his age. I'm still happy with his play overall.

 

[cipher]

He has 5 years left on his contract. $6 mill salary in 21-22 season, then it begins to drop. $3 mill in 22-23, then 3 more seasons after that at $1 million.

Without a NMC, if Montreal down the line doesn't think he's worth the $7.9 mill cap hit, they can assign him to Laval in the A and if he balks at going, they terminate his contract and take at most a minimal to no dead cap charge. That will all fall on Nashville.

I don't believe this is correct. He has a yearly cap hit of $7,857,143 for the next five years. His contract was front loaded so more cash was paid up front so those numbers you are mentioning above are his future yearly salary not his cap hit.

Shea Weber

Nashville have $0 retained salary for Weber so his cap hit is owned completely by Montreal until he's 40 unless they can offload him:

Nashville Predators - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

 

[kp61c]

At 35 you say?
Huh.

They will be shackled with him for 5 years more. It's too early to fall off a cliff for him.

 

[branch]

He’s still good at cross-checking guys and not getting called for it.

And getting beat up by 21 year olds

 

[Just Linda]

I've been saying for a couple years now that the Habs should leave him exposed (to protect another d). He's not the Habs top D, that's Petry (who's slumping right now too). Seattle could use a dman like him.

He's still effective when supported but he needs something Habs lack to support him.

 

[Just Linda]

And getting beat up by 21 year olds

Being pushed into a net is not getting beat up.