Shea Weber: sell or hold?

[maya has the knife]

Coming into this season I was pretty high on the guy... the past 2 seasons he's averaged around 20 goals, 48 points, 20 powerplay points, decent PIMs, and loads of hits and blocks, all of which are counted in my league (not in sig). I guess my question is, will he pick up the pace soon despite his poor start? 2 goals thus far is simply unacceptable... I value this guy alongside the likes of Phaneuf and Chara given their peripheral stats, yet he has underperformed more than most defenseman to this point. Will he rebound or should I try to upgrade my forwards/goalies? Here is all of the info:

full keeper (dynasty)
start 4 C, LW, RW, 6 D, 2 G, 1 UTIL
stats: G, A, PPP, SHP, +/-, PIM, FW, SOG, HIT, BLK, W, GAA, SV%, SV, SHO
C: Malkin, Kopitar, Gomez, Jokinen, Couture, Gagner
LW: Neal, Hartnell, McDonald (C), Huselius (IR), Torres, Vasyunov
RW: Gaborik, Simmonds, Clarkson, Wheeler, Caron
D: Weber, Chara, Carlson, Edler, Carle, Shattenkirk
G: Rask, Niemi, Bernier, Lindback
farm: Granlund, Smith, Holtby, Palmieri

Thanks for reading and any advice or insight.

[SPOILER]

There is no question that Weber is a top defenseman despite his slow start. At this point you won't get true value given the sluggish start. You are pretty deep on the back end and you could use a little help between the pipes (its great but young) and on the wings.

All that being said, for me, it would have to be a sweet deal to move Weber

Good luck with your choice

[Antrocop]

Hold.....you'd be selling low, and get a garbage return.

[NoWayOut]

Put me down as another vote for sticking with Weber. It's not a case of if, but rather when he'll get back on track. When he does you'll want to be there to reap the benefits both this year and in the future.

Right now you'd be bucking long odds to get anything even remotely close to what Weber's truly worth, so keep the faith and hang on to him.

[You Know]

I would hold on to Weber as well, unless I got a major upgrade somewhere else, and given his current value that's not likely to happen.

[gonzo80]

I'm a Weber owner and believer as well. He is one of my 3 keepers and I have little doubt he'll pick it up eventually.

[MJ Flex]

Yah Weber is much too valuable in your league to give him up 'cause of a slow start.

Mjf

[Antrocop]

If anything, Weber's actually one of the best 'buy-low' targets in any league.........making him one of the last people you should sell, if you're one of his owners.

[PMeya]

Hold him, no question! I'm trying very hard to get him in all of my leagues.

[fungchen3]

I traded Weber this afternoon for Enstrom. Team and league info in my sig. While I think Weber is clearly the better defenseman (and scores 15-20 goals in a G-bonused league) there are a few reasons why I pulled the trigger:

1.) When it comes to fantasy hockey, the Preds make me sick. They are dull and have no flavor whatsoever. They are not offensive-minded enough for my liking.

2.) Weber, while a monster more often than not, is way too inconsistent for me. This is a weekly H2H league and Weber has a history of being feast or famine.

3.) Enstrom is steady. His biggest problem is that my league has BIG bonuses for goals and he scores under 10 per year. But, I can count on him for points each week. He should be a lock for 50-60 points (which = 100-120+ bonus in my league).

4.) Weber being named captain most likely means that he will re-up with the Preds for the long haul. I think that is bad news for his owners. On most teams he would be a constant 50-60 threat. On the Preds, knock 10-15 off that.

All of that said, I think Enstrom is a quality return for Weber. But I would not endorse just giving Weber away for nothing because you (or anyone) are frustrated with him. Enstrom scored 50 points last year and is poised for 50-60 this season.

I think Weber will pick up the pace quite a bit (I think he has 5 points in his last 8 GP) and end up with 14G/30A this season but it will be a dip for him this year. Get him the hell out of Nashville and you are sitting on fantasy gold!!

[maya has the knife]

I can likely package Weber with another player to land Downie, and my RW depth isn't great. I'm thinking if I can get a solid across the board contributor like Downie, who is blossoming alongside Stamkos, dumping Weber might make it worthwhile. Would it make sense to do this, as Weber and Downie are similar type players in terms of fantasy production (hits, PIMs, decent offense)?

[PrairieDog]

Weber has the talent to be a 55+ point defenceman. But that won't happen with the Preds, they seem to have no interest whatsoever in offense. Unless he gets traded (not likely) his actual value is far lower than his potential value. As long as he is with the Predators, I can't see him getting over 50pts anytime soon. On a team like TB or Van, he would be over 60.

[CommittedToTheIndian]

When it comes to defensemen, I look at two stats: power-play time and shots on goal. Weber is #1 on the Preds in the former and #2 among all d-men in the league (behind Byfuglien) in the latter. His points will come. They won't come in Nashville at the same rate as they would on a more offensive-minded team, but they will come.

[blunas]

I traded Weber this afternoon for Enstrom. Team and league info in my sig. While I think Weber is clearly the better defenseman (and scores 15-20 goals in a G-bonused league) there are a few reasons why I pulled the trigger:

1.) When it comes to fantasy hockey, the Preds make me sick. They are dull and have no flavor whatsoever. They are not offensive-minded enough for my liking.

2.) Weber, while a monster more often than not, is way too inconsistent for me. This is a weekly H2H league and Weber has a history of being feast or famine.

3.) Enstrom is steady. His biggest problem is that my league has BIG bonuses for goals and he scores under 10 per year. But, I can count on him for points each week. He should be a lock for 50-60 points (which = 100-120+ bonus in my league).

4.) Weber being named captain most likely means that he will re-up with the Preds for the long haul. I think that is bad news for his owners. On most teams he would be a constant 50-60 threat. On the Preds, knock 10-15 off that.

All of that said, I think Enstrom is a quality return for Weber. But I would not endorse just giving Weber away for nothing because you (or anyone) are frustrated with him. Enstrom scored 50 points last year and is poised for 50-60 this season.

I think Weber will pick up the pace quite a bit (I think he has 5 points in his last 8 GP) and end up with 14G/30A this season but it will be a dip for him this year. Get him the hell out of Nashville and you are sitting on fantasy gold!!

As a Weber owner, I am envious of that trade. Weber is killing me so far and I could not agree more that the Preds are a very annoying team when it comes to fantasy. As time goes on, I worry that Weber is just not going to turn it around this season, which really sucks since I drafted him really high. (I drafted Streit as my top D in my other league, meaning I have really struck out this season when it comes to my D choices!)

[fungchen3]

As a Weber owner, I am envious of that trade. Weber is killing me so far and I could not agree more that the Preds are a very annoying team when it comes to fantasy. As time goes on, I worry that Weber is just not going to turn it around this season, which really sucks since I drafted him really high. (I drafted Streit as my top D in my other league, meaning I have really struck out this season when it comes to my D choices!)

Yeah, tough pills to swallow. The Streit injury is a gutshot but anyone could go down with injury. The Weber thing eated away at me this season and most of last year. He is just way too inconsistent on that Preds club.

Shea has value. Any defenseman who can bag 15-20 goals in a given year is a deadly weapon. The thing is, do you want to carry the weapon while it's shooting blanks? That's what you got with Weber.

Weber won me weeks in the past. He's been one of my better defensemen over the last few seasons but I became too frustrated and jumped on the Enstrom offer.

Go ahead, shop Weber around and see what you can land. You might find an owner who will give you fair market value for a top D goal scorer. Don't undersell him though.