Shea Weber

[Paranoid Android]

Kindof scary that it could be all or nothing. If Suter and/or Rinne decide to test FA next summer and bolt, that means Weber is gone in all likelyhood. Yuck. Did Poile really say they weren't talking contract with Suter or Rinne until after the season? That seems completely idiotic.

If they aren't talking contracts until after the season, that would most likely be due to Suter's/Rinne's decision, not Poile's. I can't remember what the exact quote was though. Anyone have it offhand?

Suter is a bigger priority than Rinne IMO. I don't mind Rinne delaying talks.

Regardless, the possible all or nothing situation is indeed scary.

 

[PredsV82]

Poile said on xm "the players timetable may not be the teams timetable". I took that to mean the players might not want to negotiate while the season was going on.

But back to the original point, if all weber wanted to do was put himself in the same contract cycle as suter and rinne, then I feel good about long term deals getting done.

 

[pekkaslap]

Quick question. I know the team elected for arbitration this time with Weber and he elected the 1-year deal (obviously). Since he's still a RFA next summer and the team cannot file for arb. again, what exactly could happen if they aren't able to work out a long term deal? Can Weber's side file for arb? Will they be forced to trade him for peanuts? Would he just sign a 1-year contract? I guess I'm asking since team elected arbitration isn't an option anymore and Weber is open to offer sheets, does that give Poile and co. more incentive to get it done? Not that they needed anymore incentive....I still can't believe the thing actually went to arbitration, just ridiculous.


Just trying to understand our options here with El Capitan. Thanks in advance!

 

[nomorekids]

Quick question. I know the team elected for arbitration this time with Weber and he elected the 1-year deal (obviously). Since he's still a RFA next summer and the team cannot file for arb. again, what exactly could happen if they aren't able to work out a long term deal? Can Weber's side file for arb? Will they be forced to trade him for peanuts? Would he just sign a 1-year contract? I guess I'm asking since team elected arbitration isn't an option anymore and Weber is open to offer sheets, does that give Poile and co. more incentive to get it done? Not that they needed anymore incentive....I still can't believe the thing actually went to arbitration, just ridiculous.


Just trying to understand our options here with El Capitan. Thanks in advance!

Weber can file for arbitration, which would pretty much be the worst case.

 

[ThirdManIn]

Quick question. I know the team elected for arbitration this time with Weber and he elected the 1-year deal (obviously). Since he's still a RFA next summer and the team cannot file for arb. again, what exactly could happen if they aren't able to work out a long term deal? Can Weber's side file for arb? Will they be forced to trade him for peanuts? Would he just sign a 1-year contract? I guess I'm asking since team elected arbitration isn't an option anymore and Weber is open to offer sheets, does that give Poile and co. more incentive to get it done? Not that they needed anymore incentive....I still can't believe the thing actually went to arbitration, just ridiculous.


Just trying to understand our options here with El Capitan. Thanks in advance!

1) Weber can file for arbitration, but you don't want that to happen.

2) the team holds his rights, so they will not be "forced" to trade him. Weber will never get traded for peanuts, regardless of whether or not the team is backed into a corner. Value may decrease, but he will still garner a pretty sizable return.

3) Weber can request any deal he wants, really. It doesn't mean he will get it, but yes, another 1 year deal is very possible.

4) Offer sheets are welcome. Teams likely will not offer sheet him for much more than he will make this year (think in the $8m range), and if he signs one the Preds have the option to match. Say a team like Detroit decides to send Weber an offer sheet at a cap hit of $7.75m over the course of 6 years. The Preds can then match that offer sheet, and they retain Weber for that exact contract. It doesn't mean it happens, but it's possible. Offer sheets are not very likely, but they are not the end of the world if they do happen. (edit: cap circumvention is looked at very carefully now, and with the new CBA some of the present loopholes in contracts may be closed. An offer sheet could be heavily front loaded, which would put Nashville in a precarious position if they choose to match, but the league is looking at those types of contracts now.)

5) Sometimes things just don't work out. The team and the player don't meet eye to eye. I don't think anyone, even Poile, expected it to actually go to arbitration. These things do happen, though. Smart players have more in mind than simply money. Weber is a smart player. It's going to take more than a decision to pay him in order to convince him to continue suiting up in Nashville. What that is can be speculated, but none of us really know for sure.

 

[lstcyr]

Offer sheets are welcome. Teams likely will not offer sheet him for much more than he will make this year (think in the $8m range), and if he signs one the Preds have the option to match. Say a team like Detroit decides to send Weber an offer sheet at a cap hit of $7.75m over the course of 6 years. The Preds can then match that offer sheet, and they retain Weber for that exact contract. It doesn't mean it happens, but it's possible. Offer sheets are not very likely, but they are not the end of the world if they do happen. (edit: cap circumvention is looked at very carefully now, and with the new CBA some of the present loopholes in contracts may be closed. An offer sheet could be heavily front loaded, which would put Nashville in a precarious position if they choose to match, but the league is looking at those types of contracts now.)

Here's an interesting scenario. Poile convinces one of his GM friends to make an offer sheet on Weber. Weber accepts and Poile then matches the contract.

Guess that's so obvious that even Weber's new agent would see through it. Hard to imagine anyone would make an offer sheet that Weber would accept knowing that Poile will probably match anything.

 

[ThirdManIn]

Here's an interesting scenario. Poile convinces one of his GM friends to make an offer sheet on Weber. Weber accepts and Poile then matches the contract.

Guess that's so obvious that even Weber's new agent would see through it. Hard to imagine anyone would make an offer sheet that Weber would accept knowing that Poile will probably match anything.

I think that could be considering tampering of some sort. If it came to light the NHL would likely reject the contract, and I'm sure it would come to light.

 

[WartracePred]

I think that could be considering tampering of some sort. If it came to light the NHL would likely reject the contract, and I'm sure it would come to light.

I was thinking something akin to collusion. Wasn't there a fishy move two years ago with Ryan Jones, waivers, testicle-guy, and Edmonton??

 

[Paranoid Android]

Weber filing for arbitration is highly unlikely. In fact, I'm gonna go ahead and say it won't happen. It wouldn't benefit him at all.

The real threat is going to be offer sheets. Not just the fear that he may sign one that we can't match, but that he will use unsigned offer sheets as a benchmark for Poile. If he feels Poile's offer isn't high enough, he can just say "well team X is offering me this amount, so I won't accept anything less than that." He really needs to be signed before July 1st or it's going to be very hard to sign him.

 

[Dave is a killer]

Weber filing for arbitration is highly unlikely. In fact, I'm gonna go ahead and say it won't happen. It wouldn't benefit him at all.

The real threat is going to be offer sheets. Not just the fear that he may sign one that we can't match, but that he will use unsigned offer sheets as a benchmark for Poile. If he feels Poile's offer isn't high enough, he can just say "well team X is offering me this amount, so I won't accept anything less than that." He really needs to be signed before July 1st or it's going to be very hard to sign him.

gotta be pro-active in the Suter/Rinne negotiations, before Weber signs back on according to AEM6729

 

[pekkaslap]

It is a bit of a quandary if there's not at least preliminary negotiations that go on during the season. If they wait until the season is over, then you enter next summer with all 3 guys as FAs, 2 as UFAs who potentially walk. And if what AEM6729 says is correct, that also means Weber bolts the first chance he gets.

 

[goalscorer]

Judging from the fan reaction, I think more people come to see Tootoo than ever came to see Kariya. Paul was a star, but you know, Nashville isn't that impressed with stars. They're our next door neighbors and on the PTO with us. They're just people. What impresses us is hard work every night. Wins are nice, too, but the casual fans who come in are excited by the physicality and the other events going on. They usually leaves happy whether we win or lose. In the past I apologized to many folks for bringing them to a loss and they'd look at me like, who cares? Then they tell me how great it was when xxxx happened and proceed to describe something I didn't even see because I was worried they weren't seeing a win. Now I just tell them from the outset that I can't promise anything but there must be some reason I love this game so much so maybe they can figure it out.

Excellent post. I have experienced the same situation with friends who are new to the game.

 

[AEM6729]

That makes the most sense. Any word on how he would feel if say Suter was signed but Rinne left? Would he sign then or wait to see how they spent the money after?

Not sure on whether Suter or Rinne holds more weight for Weber. I would think Suter would be more important, but that's not based on any inside info, just my own opinion. I don't want to lose Rinne but we do have Lindback, plus the goalie market isn't as strong (look at what happened to Vokoun). Suter also doesn't seem like the kind of guy who cares much about playing for a big market team and being a star...his personality seems well suited to Nashville, where he can kinda fly under the radar in his personal life. I don't see why Suter and Rinne wouldn't both want to stay if they were offered fair contracts.

Kindof scary that it could be all or nothing. If Suter and/or Rinne decide to test FA next summer and bolt, that means Weber is gone in all likelyhood. Yuck. Did Poile really say they weren't talking contract with Suter or Rinne until after the season? That seems completely idiotic.

That would totally suck and result in one of the most stressful summers ever. This summer was stressful enough with the Weber thing going on...I can't imagine having to sign all three of them in short order over the summer. Especially if we go deep in the playoffs, it could leave Poile with not much time at all to negotiate.

I wonder if, from the players' perspective, it's better to wait till the end of the season not only to avoid distraction during the season but also to use the season as leverage in contract talks.

Either way it still makes me feel better to know that Weber is mainly concerned with Suter and Rinne staying; making that happen seems much more doable than getting a top six offensive prospect before July 1.

 

[token grinder]

I hope they have a player show, and whenever one of the three are on, with a live mike, i am gonna ask the question---if david poile sits the three of you down, with 5 briefcases with 21 million dollars in each one, and they can divide it up however they want, will they sign up? if yes, i did poile job. if no, i did half of poiles job and he can trade them all.

 

[predfan98]

I hope they have a player show, and whenever one of the three are on, with a live mike, i am gonna ask the question---if david poile sits the three of you down, with 5 briefcases with 21 million dollars in each one, and they can divide it up however they want, will they sign up? if yes, i did poile job. if no, i did half of poiles job and he can trade them all.

I have never been to one of the player radio shows, but if you're going to ask that question, I'll be there buying the beer! I want to see the look on their face!

 

[Adz]

I have never been to one of the player radio shows, but if you're going to ask that question, I'll be there buying the beer! I want to see the look on their face!

Willy would quickly quickly quickly go to a commercial. ;-)

Oh, PF, you need to go to a radio show. They're fun. We'll go this fall.

 

[token grinder]

I have never been to one of the player radio shows, but if you're going to ask that question, I'll be there buying the beer! I want to see the look on their face!

i would like the balckstone nut brown....

 

[predfan98]

i would like the balckstone nut brown....

done..... just let me know when, I don't listen to radio much so sometimes I miss these.

nut brown..........sounds chewy..

 

[predfan98]

Willy would quickly quickly quickly go to a commercial. ;-)

Oh, PF, you need to go to a radio show. They're fun. We'll go this fall.

let's do it!!

 

[Adz]

We will!

I like...shoot, can't remember the name but it's red. Nut brown is very good, too...and not chewy at all. Just smoooooooth and potent.

 

[ThirdManIn]

First of all, Blackstone Nut Brown Ale is awesome. Second, they would just give a canned answer of "we are focused on the next game, and then the game after that. We let our agents take care of the contract stuff." It would be pretty awesome if they did actually answer it though.

 

[token grinder]

First of all, Blackstone Nut Brown Ale is awesome. Second, they would just give a canned answer of "we are focused on the next game, and then the game after that. We let our agents take care of the contract stuff." It would be pretty awesome if they did actually answer it though.

hehe, you don't know me that well. i would preface my question to see if i could get an answer out of them

 

[AEM6729]

I hope they have a player show, and whenever one of the three are on, with a live mike, i am gonna ask the question---if david poile sits the three of you down, with 5 briefcases with 21 million dollars in each one, and they can divide it up however they want, will they sign up? if yes, i did poile job. if no, i did half of poiles job and he can trade them all.

Yesssss.

They need to hurry up and sign these guys. I got stressed just reading the quotes from Weber and Suter in the paper, even though they didn't say much of anything. It will be a long year of reading into everything they do and say until a contract gets done...

 

[Adz]

hehe, you don't know me that well. i would preface my question to see if i could get an answer out of them

I know you would do it--in a heartbeat and with no reservations whatsoever. It's what makes you so endearing.

I want to be there. Should we kidnap the lads and make them appear at the first one together?

 

[PredsV82]

This.

Not that this is Poile's only screw-up.

His biggest is the Weber Arbitration. I think we'll pay for that one for a much longer time.

Im pretty sure the Weber arbitration happened because the owners were not on solid financial footing that summer. If they had been in a position to match any offer that summer, Poile would have been able to let Weber seek his best offer and then just match it. And its a darn shame that it worked out that way because you have to figure the number woukd have been high but not absurd like the deal he ended up getting