- Elliotte Friedman via twitter: Shea Weber won’t be filing for salary arbitration, and Nashville can’t file since they did so last year. He’s a RFA and will be open for offer sheets.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN:Predators Shea Weber is still in disbelief:
“He’s still in disbelief,” Kevin Epp, one of Weber’s agents at Titan Sports Management, told ESPN.com Thursday. “They were so close this year in terms of the team’s chances. They really had a shot. Shea believed there was a good chance that Ryan would stay there. So, right now, Shea is still processing this news.”
Weber still may think the Preds can contend, especially if they add someone to replace Suter, and sign a multi-year deal. He also may decide that it’s time to move on, which then the Preds would have to look at trading him.
“We’re not in any hurry,” Epp said. “There’s no deadline to this. We’ll take our time and figure out the right thing to do.”
The Red Wings may now go after Keith Yandle now, but LeBrun isn’t sure if there is a fit. If the Coyotes are going to move Yandle, they may want to move him to the Eastern Conference. The Wings and Predators may have some interest in Carlo Colaiacovo. The Penguins will inquire about Yandle and Rick Nash. The Panthers and Canucks can come together on a Roberto Luongo deal, it’s likely that the Canucks would ask for Jose Theodore as part of the package. Theodore has a limited no trade clause where he has 10 teams he can be traded to without asking him. Source says the Canucks are not part of that list. LeBrun was told that Zach Parise had 16-17 official offers, while 20 teams inquired.
- Jim Diamond of the Examiner: There is about 2 months until the CBA expires, and they could be changes to the way deals can be structured. So, there may be only 2 months for Weber to get a really big deal. He’s at the negotiating table regarding the CBA, so he’ll see first hand what the contract changes could be. Under the current CBA, the Predators would have to go above the $100 million mark to surpass Suter’s 13 year, $98 million deal. Weber has mad at the Predators last summer for taking him to arbitration. He could sign an offer sheet, but the Preds would have the opportunity to match.
- Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: The Predators have said they would match any Weber offer sheet.
“We’re not really proceeding with anything right now,” said Weber’s agent, Jarrett Bousquet. “David (Poile) said they want to sign him long term, so we’ll just wait.”
- Darren Dreger via twitter: The Hurricanes are no long going after Rick Nash as the cost was too high. The Blue Jackets were after Jeff Skinner, which is a non-starter. Aaron Portzline via twitter: Blue Jackets trade talks involving Nash are in the holding pattern, told nothing is close.
- Chip Alexander via twitter: Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford said they could have interest in Shane Doan and Alexander Semin. They will continue to look at trades, and have the financial wherewithal to look at bigger names.