Nashville Predator’s captain Shea Weber was sent an early Christmas present in the month of July from the Philadelphia Flyers during the late night of July 19th.
Paul Holmgren offered Shea Weber a 14 year contract worth about $109 million. Naturally Shea Weber accepted the offer sheet which now means the Nashville Predators have 7 days to either match that offer or they lose Weber to the Flyers in return for draft picks.
If the Nashville Predators, the team with the largest cap space in the NHL does match the offer, Weber will remain in Nashville.
Under the current CBA, players signed to offer sheets can’t be traded until the next off-season.
So what does that mean for other teams who were interested, like the New York Rangers? A team that was very interested in Weber, a team within the same Atlantic division as the Philadelphia Flyers.
By doing this, Holmgren sabotaged the chances for a couple of other Stanley Cup contenders to add the best defenseman in the NHL, including one in his own division. This might reek of desperation, but it’s actually a very smart play by Holmgren.
As you can see Paul Holmgren is going to be praised one way or another here by the fans and the media. He keeps his team in competition with the rest of the Atlantic Division or he lands one of the best defenseman in the NHL. It’s a win, win situation.
In my opinion, The Nashville Predators will match this offer. They already lost Ryan Suter they can’t afford to lose their captain. On top of that, they have the cap space to match this offer. The Flyers and Predators have a strong relationship and as I see it, Paul Holmgren and Dave Poile are just helping one another out.
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