Sources: No trade talks for Weber
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Sources: No trade talks for Weber
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the Flyers and Nashville Predators have NOT had any trade talks since star defenseman Shea Weber signed a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet last Wednesday.
That would seem to suggest that Nashville plans to match the Flyers' offer. Either that, or the Predators are delaying trade talks because they are trying to get the Flyers to call with a sweet proposal.
This is high-stakes poker, folks.
At stake: The direction of two franchises for the next 14 years.
Oh, and $110 million.
Nashville must decide by 11:30 on Wednesday night whether to match the offer for the restricted free agent. If it does, Weber is retained by the Preds.
If Nashville doesn't match, Weber goes to the Flyers for four No. 1 draft picks.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren and Nashville GM David Poile have talked once since Weber signed the offer sheet. But as of Tuesday morning, no trade was discussed, two sources confirmed.
One would think if Nashville didn't plan to sign the offer sheet, it would be trying to orchestrate a trade in an attempt to get more than the four No. 1 picks.
Nashville could agree not to sign the offer sheet in exchange for making a deal, one in which it would trade some of the No. 1 selections back to the Flyers for NHL players.
Stay tuned. This game of high-stakes poker is heading toward a fascinating finish.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
Nashville was pretty straight-forward in saying that it would match any offer sheet. I have a hard time imagining them not retaining Weber, despite the little poison pill Homer inserted with the huge signing bonus.— Mike P- of course they're going to say that. have you ever heard a GM say "if the offer is too much, we won't match?". plus, nashville wasn't expecting an offer sheet constructed like this because there has never been one like this in the history of the NHL. i think it's still 70% they don't match. they just don't have the money and now it's clear he doesn't want to be there. they have to pay weber $27M in the next 340 days and only made $24M in ticket revenue last year.
Comment removed.- The deadline (to be precise) is 11:36 PM tomorrow (Wed.)— ICDogg
- Mike P. - I agree, but what do you think the agent's comment that Weber wants to be in Philly does to the situation? He's their captain and he has expressed his desire not to be in NSH. Would make it tough for me to cough up $110M, not to mention the ramifications in the room.— DavidR
- Wow ,, not good , i guess nashville is waiting to the last minute to match , making the flyers wait on Doan or Ryan ,, hard to believe they'd do something as Underhanded as that ...— ingy9
- I don't think they will match. The Pred's GM indicated in his first (and only) statement last week, that yes he said that they would match, HOWEVER, they would do what is best for the team now and for the future. To me that softens the original statement that they would match any offer - period.— Bobphxville
- Less than 48 hours to go. Hommer stand fast and do not blink. Let Nashville sweat more and when they ask for Jake, Mez and others who we need to keep tell the NO! Be firm and donot give up Scheen, Couts, Mez. The hated rangers did not give up muchat all to get nash so we not give away our best young guys for Weber either!— srcdaddy1216
- Way i see it ,, is Poile will have to call Weber , before the match , just to ask him if he's Ok with the preds matching and being in nashville ,, so the only thing that changes the preds thinking then is Shea Weber ,, flat out saying ,, i wanna be in Philly .... Period !— ingy9
- Or maybe they are just not going to match, so there is silence. I don't see how this means a match from them.— matthew76
- I don't know who's sweatin more ,, us or them ...— ingy9
- *** scratch that ... it's us lol— ingy9
- If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Nashville shopping Weber prior to the offer made by the Flyers? I thought I heard that the reason Holmgren made the offer is because he was getting frustrated with the Predator's demands during trade talks. That would lead me to believe that they are not intending to match and now will have to accept less from the Flyers on a last second deal. And I do agree with Bobphxville, they did come out with a hard stance and then immediately followed it up with a softer comment.— CK40
- This is a lot for a player who has already suffered one major concussion and could be one more away from a Pronger-type situation.— echosmyron
- It's pretty obvious that Nashville is going to match the offer. The fact that neither side is talking is not good at all. There is a zero percent chance Nashville takes the 4 draft picks and let's Weber walk. Our only chance of getting Weber is a side compensatory trade. My guess is Poile/Holmgren had a quick conversation and he asked again for Couturier or Schenn. Holmgren laughed at it and now Poile will wait till Wed night to give us the finger back. I agree with Holmgren not budging with Couturier and Schenn. If Poile is too spiteful and ignorant of the big picture for the Preds to not accept some package of Read, Meszaros, Voracek, Gustafsson.....then we can all laugh when the Predators miss the playoffs this season and go bankrupt— phillyfan880123
