[Offer Sheet Matched] SHEA WEBER SIGNS WITH PHILLY! 14 Years/100Mill!!!

[iamlilc]

There's no way that NSH doesn't match the offer sheet.

He's their captain and the best player on the team. The contract is great considering what Suter signed for. They're still 14 million under the cap floor. There's no reasonable explenation for them not to do it unless Weber wanted out, which I doubt.

[kushmoney]

I'm sure there is a pre arranged deal. I think that Homer was getting nervous that maybe NYR would land him so put out an offer sheet that Weber was happy with to eliminate all other teams. Weber did not mind foregoing FA because he doesn't mind being in Nashville for his career. He also would not mind being in Philly his whole career but maybe was not crazy about the other teams in the talks.

Nashville easily matches this offer unless they do not feel they can contend without suter AND weber and would prefer player compensation.

how the **** does philly always find the cap space to sign every single player

As I stated in previous posts in different threads and got absolutely annihilated as a unknowledgeable fan, any team can do what the Flyers do, they just do not have the owners that will let them make risks. Everyone was clamoring that the Flyers did not have this money, did not have that money and I was steadfast in the fact that the Flyers would be a player in free agency BiG TIME. I was laughed at and mocked.

The Flyers ALWAYS find a way.

[3rtpaper]

1. Nashville is thrilled and I am 99% sure they will keep Weber
2. Weber signed the deal because it is front loaded, something Nashville was trying to avoid in negotiations. Philly offered it he signed it. That doesn't mean he wants to be a Flyer, all it means is he wanted money up front which he got.
3. Nashville was said to be shopping him around, okay why wouldn't they see what they could get back? Nashville went all in last year and lost (still made it past Detriot and got extra playoff revenue which is VERY important in all this), then lost Suter.. they are going to have to rebuild for a year or 2. With Weber someone would have over paid.. if that is possible and set up Nashville for years to come.
4. Holmgren probably knew his deal wasn't going to enough to land Weber and thought to himself well if I can't have him no one else can (NYR in particular). Although this move surely hurt his relationship with Nashville down the road. Plus with Philly not winning since the 70's and missing out on Parise/Suter this year despite throwing crazy money at them he had to do something to please the fan base.

[Filadelphia]

4. Holmgren probably knew his deal wasn't going to enough to land Weber and thought to himself well if I can't have him no one else can (NYR in particular). Although this move surely hurt his relationship with Nashville down the road.

Holmgren wouldn't have hurt his relationship with Nashville for nothing. It was either a favor [which conveniently helps the Flyers by keeping Weber in the west], or the Flyers will end up with Weber.

[Carcillo]

The Predators and Flyers could make a trade for Weber en lieu of the picks, similar to the Gratton "deal" years ago - the package will trump the return of compensation picks. If the Preds were in trade negotiations with Weber as it was, that means they were willing to trade him. All this does is lock in the 2 dance partners.

They can't make any other trade anymore this summer for Weber. This offer sheet guaranteed it and there's only two options left - either the Preds match the offer and keep Weber or Flyers get him with the offer sheet compensation. And if and when the Predators match this offer sheet, Weber can't be traded for a year. And if Nashville is paying $26 million of the deal by the time they can trade Weber next summer, why would they want to do it anymore at that point?

[kushmoney]

I agree, Homer and Nashville are fine... I'm sure they knew this was coming and its just to expedite a deal or keep him from the Rangers, not to hurt Nashville.. how are they hurt? They get their best player locked up without having to negotiate.

[kushmoney]

They can't make any other trade anymore this summer for Weber. This offer sheet guaranteed it and there's only two options left - either the Preds match the offer and keep Weber or Flyers get him with the offer sheet compensation. And if and when the Predators match this offer sheet, Weber can't be traded for a year. And if Nashville is paying $26 million of the deal by the time they can trade Weber next summer, why would they want to do it anymore at that point?

Hey Homer, we have history... I wont accept, you give me Schenn, Voracek and Bourdon for draft picks... wink wink wink wink wink wink wink.. u need to shed some cap room anyway more winks.

[Carcillo]

Hey Homer, we have history... I wont accept, you give me Schenn, Voracek and Bourdon for draft picks... wink wink wink wink wink wink wink.. u need to shed some cap room anyway more winks.

Would be incredibly stupid for the Flyers to do that if Nashville decides not to match the offer sheet. That type of deal would have been done prior to any offer sheets.

[Bomm Bastic]

For what it's worth, Pete Weber, voice of the Preds, was just on Buffalo AM sports radio. He is of the opinion the Preds will match.

[3rtpaper]

It absolutely hurts Holmgrem's relationship with Nashville unless Weber refused to sign with Nashville no matter what was offered. How doesn't it?
1. It didn't let any trade happen and if Nashville was shopping him how can they be happy about that
2. Nashville didn't want to drop 26 million in 1 year and was trying to avoid that if possible and Philly is forcing them to do so. - That being said they will now that they have to.

All that being said I never said Philly didn't do what they had to in order to keep him away from the Rangers, and they threw out an offer that there is a chance Nashville doesn't match. Making Nashville mad is worth the security of Weber not landing with NYR and giving yourself a slim chance of landing Weber. There are 29 other teams out there to make deals with and after a few years these things are forgotten.

[Flyer Fan]

Holmgren wouldn't have hurt his relationship with Nashville for nothing. It was either a favor [which conveniently helps the Flyers by keeping Weber in the west], or the Flyers will end up with Weber.

I think there's a lot of merit in the argument that Holmgren is seeking to guarantee that if Weber comes East it's to the Flyers and no one else.

It could also be construed as a motivational ploy forcing Weber to commit one way or the other now, while the Preds can still get compensation for him rather than continuing to negotiate with an undecided player approaching unrestricted free agency when he can walk without Nashville getting anything in return, ...from that perspective, if Poile sensed that Weber wasn't ready to commit, then having another team present an offer sheet he can match would be a great way to secure his asset.

But, given Holmgren record, and the Flyers ultra-competitive front office, I think the more likely scenario is that the Flyers were attempting to obtain Weber via trade, and were at an impasse with Poile.

From that point of view, presenting an offer sheet eliminates other competitors, and obviously the Flyers felt they had reason to believe Weber would sign it (watching Suter cashing in for 100 million almost certainly reinforced to Weber that he's got over 100 million riding on his next contract, ...and would also be risking about 93 million of that by attempting to play to unrestricted free agency, ...the bird in the hand thing)

I think where the Flyers might see an opportunity of Nashville declining to match, is probably not so much in the front loading of the contract, which would be surmountable if problematic for the Preds; rather the key to motivating the Preds to decline to match, would be to appeal to their ownership rather than their GM (making it a financial rather than a hockey issue) by offering a heavily front loaded contract, with a good deal of the up front load being in the form of bonuses which would be due and payable to the player even in the event of a work stoppage.

Suddenly the ownership is in a position to commit a sizable amount of cash immediately with the prospect of no revenue coming in. Money that would essentially never be recoverable if the season were lost as has happened in the recent past.

From a financial point of view, the Flyers may feel that the risk to the Preds ownership would be sizable enough, and unattractive enough that they direct their GM to trade the player for the best possible compensation package, ...which the Flyers have now capped the price of at 4 first round draft picks.

Years ago when the Flyers signed Chris Gratton, Clarke had reached an impasse with Tampa's GM at the time in his attempts to trade for the player, and figured he'd rather pay the four first rounders than the players Esposito was demanding.

Gratton signed the offer sheet, and Esposito was essentially screwed, desperately needing on ice talent for a bad team in a failing market, not draft picks.

Tampa's owner appealed to both the league and to Flyers owner Ed Snider, telling them that if his team lost Gratton for draft picks that couldn't play for years, it would essentially kill his franchise.

Snider wound up calling Clarke and telling him to try to work something out, but as was pointed out earlier, Gratton belonged to the Flyers, and it was their own four first round draft picks that the Flyers negotiated a deal with Tampa Bay for in exchange for Michael Renberg

[BOB SOLORIO]

This is NOT an easy Nashville match...word is that in the first 12 months the Flyers will pay him 26 Million, NOT an easy match for a smaller market team...I do however think IT WILL NOT BE DRAFT PICKS, the Flyers and the Preds will work out a trade to save face for Nashville, just like the Flyers and Tampa Bay did years ago.

[doulos]

Outside of Phily fans (who must be elated at this) does anyone else actually want to see Philadelphia with Weber on their team? Barf.

[Ross The Boss Palmer]

Outside of Phily fans (who must be elated at this) does anyone else actually want to see Philadelphia with Weber on their team? Barf.

Hahaha tha was my thought reading through all the posts. All Philly fans have a silmultaneous boner right now, while the sentiment of other fans seems to be of utter disgust. Either way, entertaining summer!

[3rtpaper]

Flyer Fan got it right, Holmgrens view was that the relationship with Nashville isn't worth the risk of Weber going to anyone besides Nashville or Philly. Philly couldn't make a deal straight up for Weber so they eliminated every other team by making an offer. Although Nashville probably will match and hold onto Weber there is still an outside chance Weber could be a Flyer. I have said before and I will say it again, the fact that an offer sheet was signed doesn't mean Weber wants to play with Philly at all. He wants his money up front and is now garenteed that no matter what team he is on.

Philly gains:
Certainty Weber isn't playing for a rival
Slim chance to land Weber
Philly loses:
Relationship with Nashville