The Philadelphia Flyers thought they took a necessary step when they signed Shea Weber to an offer sheet that would have given him the second-most lucrative contract in the league behind Alex Ovechkin, and would have put him in a Flyers uniform for the next 14 seasons.
However, the Flyers received a shock when the Nashville Predators swallowed hard and matched the Flyers' offer sheet (per Nashville Predators/NHL.com).
Predators' general manager David Poile had already taken a solid body blow when defenseman Ryan Suter left the team through free agency. If Weber's contract offer had not been matched, the team would have lost two all-star defenseman.
It was widely thought that the Predators didn't have the wherewithal to handle a 14-year, $110 million contract, but paying the money was obviously a better alternative (per OnTheForecheck.com) for Nashville than losing two elite defensemen in the same offseason.
Nashville's decision will cause the Flyers nothing but pain. Philadelphia felt a need to add a No. 1 defenseman because general manager Paul Holmgren knows he cannot count on the return of defenseman Chris ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Silverman
Nashville Predators: Shea Weber Stays, Preds Couldn’t Lose Him and Suter
July 24th, 2012 by Steve Silverman Leave a reply »
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