Wouldn't you? It's up to the Preds to match, but they have to keep him for a year and pay those bonuses. If they don't, the Flyers aren't obligated to give them anything but the draft picks. What would you be willing to give up for the Preds to walk away and not match? Certainly not front line players.
- JJBraccili

Nope I would rather watch my team win a cup, by drafting and developing our own tallent not poaching others .Its crap like this type of deal that will ensure we never see 30 healthy teams in the nhl

Bettman must be (frank)ing ecstatic this morning
- stinger67

not one bit this could kill the nashville franchise

They can demand whatever they want, but the Flyers won't give up their core players. Nashville is then stuck with Weber for a year and has to pay out the bonuses in that year. The only team they can get something back from this year is the Flyers.

not one bit this could kill the nashville franchise
- hubie

Yep and philly fans rejoice ,very sad .

They can demand whatever they want, but the Flyers won't give up their core players. Nashville is then stuck with Weber for a year and has to pay out the bonuses in that year. The only team they can get something back from this year is the Flyers.
- JJBraccili

Which makes it a female dog move,there is no honor in stealing from the weak

Now IS the the TIME! SIGN WEBER AND THE OTHER PIECES WILL FALL IN PLACE!! This will now be Shea's team and he will just become better as a captain!

they need to match and then trade him
2 first and a 2nd and 3rd is not even close,nashville needs to match this offer.
- MapleLeafs4eva

you cant trade him for a year after matching....

Which makes it a female dog move,there is no honor in stealing from the weak
- top shelf 15

We're not going back to the days when players were the property of the teams that drafted them. In those days, a player like Weber would never get the kind of money he now commands.

Would you like to go back to the days when the Canadian teams had territorial rights and you had Montreal and Toronto dominating the league at the expense of everyone else?

I can see a sign and trade, from Nashville. Probably from the Penguins or Rangers. They aren't about to let Philly get away with this. The Preds need tangible assets, in return for Weber. How can they sell this team to the local fans, with both Suter and Weber now gone. Maybe we see a very good forward and defenceman, going the other way, with some picks and prospects. This is not a good day to be a Predators fan!
- PrinceLH

again you cant sign and trade... it needs to wait a year

Which makes it a female dog move,there is no honor in stealing from the weak
- top shelf 15

I must agree, this is just plain disgusting , there is a reason why Burke got mad at Lowe for poaching Penner and were seeing why....

Holmgren knows Nashville doesnt have the financial resources to even sign him to a 26 million dollar signing bonus, this is what makes me puke.

deals such as this, is part of the reason we may lose another year of hockey...we as fans should be pissed.

Now IS the the TIME! SIGN WEBER AND THE OTHER PIECES WILL FALL IN PLACE!! This will now be Shea's team and he will just become better as a captain!
- Predsrhea

Keep an eye on this guy. A year from now he'll stop caring about the Preds when they're not in the playoffs or one and down & in 5 years he'll be demanding a hockey franchise in Nashville when they move the Preds to Seattle. Paying out 26mil this year would cripple their franchise - on top of that being handcuffed from adding additional free agents b/c of the commitment to Weber as well as not being able to rebuild through the draft b/c you're stuck in 7th/8th seed purgatory. At least you'll get another couple years wear out of that Weber jersey you bought a few years back.

i hope Weber protests to play for a bunch of criminals.

I'm sure the fans in Nashville will keep coming to see a Defenseman + a bunch of jabronis miss the playoffs or one & done as an 8th seed. Spoiler Alert: A defenseman doesn't win you a cup. Ovechkin, Giroux, Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, Weber - one of these "franchise players" does not belong.

If Nashville matches on Shea Weber they should change their goal horn to that "DUM DUM DUM DUM DUM" song from the Mormon South Park episode.

lol I could only find it in German http://www.youtube.com/wa...ture=youtube_gdata_player
- MeLLo

Yep, Crosby and Malkin don't belong. They are the only ones who have won the cup.

again you cant sign and trade... it needs to wait a year
- DarcyTucker16

To quote Dave Hester - "YUUUP!" & they're not going to pay out almost a quarter of that 100mil deal, 26mil in one year just to trade him a year later.

For all of you saying that Nashville will match the offer.........

I don't see how they possibly can, especially if all the money is up front. This isn't a salary cap issue. It's a budget issue. Nashville would basically have to play with Weber, Renne and a bunch of third and fourth line players for several years. Barry Trotz is good but that would really be pushing it.
- todstiles

the craziest thing about this is... if nashville does match and it is all money up front... think how good they will be when they only have to pay weber like 4-5 mill a year after the first couple years... potentially could be a cap team because they wouldnt be spending that much

They can demand whatever they want, but the Flyers won't give up their core players. Nashville is then stuck with Weber for a year and has to pay out the bonuses in that year. The only team they can get something back from this year is the Flyers.
- JJBraccili

Nope. Poile and Holmgren are buds. I'm betting Holmgren let him know that he has to make a decision shortly, because if he can't get Weber he'd have gone after Bobby Ryan. So he pulls out the offer sheet, warns Poile it is coming, and they work the next week on the trade package. Front loading it gives Poile the ability to tell his fan base (who he promised that he'd match any offer) that the Big Bad Big Market Flyers offered too much cash, but rather than getting nothing (e.g. Suter) or four future picks, "Just look at the stuff the Flyers gave me!"

The Flyers did the same thing in the Gratton trade years ago, I believe.

The genius of the move is that if the Flyers DON'T get him, then Weber stays in Nashville, and doesn't go to an Eastern Conference competitor (e.g. the Penguins, who have lots of talent and cleared plenty of cap space, or the Rangers).

you cant trade him for a year after matching....
- DarcyTucker16

Correct, and since you have to pay all those front loaded bonuses, why would you trade him after the 1st year? The rest of the contract is cheaper.

We're not going back to the days when players were the property of the teams that drafted them. In those days, a player like Weber would never get the kind of money he now commands.

Would you like to go back to the days when the Canadian teams had territorial rights and you had Montreal and Toronto dominating the league at the expense of everyone else?
- JJBraccili

No but by at least trying to do things the right way ,and allowing Nashville to move their star to a team that gives them best return ,ensures they will have a viable franchise moving forward .There is no honor in winning a cup, if the rich where the only real teams with a chance to win it

Keep an eye on this guy. A year from now he'll stop caring about the Preds when they're not in the playoffs or one and down & in 5 years he'll be demanding a hockey franchise in Nashville when they move the Preds to Seattle. Paying out 26mil this year would cripple their franchise - on top of that being handcuffed from adding additional free agents b/c of the commitment to Weber as well as not being able to rebuild through the draft b/c you're stuck in 7th/8th seed purgatory. At least you'll get another couple years wear out of that Weber jersey you bought a few years back.
- MeLLo

you sir are an aboslute gem.

re-read your post and think to yourself...am i really this (frank)in (*&*(&*(?

the craziest thing about this is... if nashville does match and it is all money up front... think how good they will be when they only have to pay weber like 4-5 mill a year after the first couple years... potentially could be a cap team because they wouldnt be spending that much
- DarcyTucker16

The will have to rebuild to keep their star ,its sad really .A good hard working small market team ,gets wiped out in one summer.Yep takes some off the silver of the cup if philly wins it this way

Not gonna lie, if Weber ends up in Philly; it's going to be tough not to love that team.

As much as I'm supposed to (and do) hate the Flyers...Weber is easily my favourite dman.

Although seeing Homer cheat the CBA and continuously hand out these contracts is just sad and embarrassing for the league.

Nope. Poile and Holmgren are buds. I'm betting Holmgren let him know that he has to make a decision shortly, because if he can't get Weber he'd have gone after Bobby Ryan. So he pulls out the offer sheet, warns Poile it is coming, and they work the next week on the trade package. Front loading it gives Poile the ability to tell his fan base (who he promised that he'd match any offer) that the Big Bad Big Market Flyers offered too much cash, but rather than getting nothing (e.g. Suter) or four future picks, "Just look at the stuff the Flyers gave me!"

The Flyers did the same thing in the Gratton trade years ago, I believe.

The genius of the move is that if the Flyers DON'T get him, then Weber stays in Nashville, and doesn't go to an Eastern Conference competitor (e.g. the Penguins, who have lots of talent and cleared plenty of cap space, or the Rangers).
- jonandabby

I think this is a very likely scenario. It is no secret that Holmgren and Poile are friends and have a great deal of mutual respect for each other. I am fairly certain that David'd dad Bud was the first GM in flyers history and was very close with Snider.

It is very plausible to believe that Holmgren let Poile know what he was going to do and his intentions. Holmgren either wants Weber or wants him to stay in Nashville. Also, who is to say anotehr team like Vancouver or New York wasn't going to offer sheet Weber. It's possible there are already players and compensation (instead of the four draft picks) worked out between the 2 clubs if Nashville declines to match.

deals such as this, is part of the reason we may lose another year of hockey...we as fans should be pissed.
- Dee13

This These stupid (frank)ing moron owners. Crying poor and want a huge salary rollback but then offer contracts like this, Suter and Parise. It's (frank)ing bullpoop. All I want is hockey. (frank) your contracts and (frank) your (frank)ing politics.

Not gonna lie, if Weber ends up in Philly; it's going to be tough not to love that team.

As much as I'm supposed to (and do) hate the Flyers...Weber is easily my favourite dman.

Although seeing Homer cheat the CBA and continuously hand out these contracts is just sad and embarrassing for the league.
- Juice

Bingo ,why have rules if they dont apply to all teams.Winning a cup with a roster you built from the ground up is something great to see .Too bad all the rich teams have to do is steal one