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Shea Weber

Atlantic Notes: Fabbri, Mrazek, Harrison, Weber

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Red Wings winger Robby Fabbri is unsure if he’ll be able to return from his torn ACL in time for next season, relays Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.  The 26-year-old underwent surgery in late March and recently was able to shed his crutches in April but as he knows from experience, it’s at least six months before he’ll have a chance at playing again.  This was the third ACL surgery of Fabbri’s career but the first on his right knee.  He will be entering the first season of a three-year, $12MM deal next season on the heels of a pretty good regular season aside from the injury as he had 17 goals and 13 assists in 56 games with Detroit last season.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Maple Leafs have activated goaltender Petr Mrazek off LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). Mrazek suffered a groin injury in late March which pressed Erik Kallgren into duty with Jack Campbell still injured at the time.  While he didn’t dress in the second game of their series against Tampa Bay, his return to health will at least give them some extra depth between the pipes.  Mrazek had a 3.34 GAA and a .888 SV% in 20 games this season, his first with Toronto.
  • The Bruins have signed prospect center Brett Harrison to an ATO, reports Mark Divver of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). The 18-year-old was recently eliminated in the OHL playoffs, paving the way for him to play in the minors with Providence in their playoff run.  Harrison was a third-round pick of Boston last year (85th overall) and he had a strong season with OHL Oshawa, notching 27 goals and 34 assists in 65 games with the Generals.
  • In an interview with TSN 690 (audio link), TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that an insurance issue prevented the Canadiens from moving Shea Weber’s contract to Arizona at the trade deadline. He cited there was some extra paperwork that had to be completed plus a payout; with so many moving parts in the hours leading up to the deadline, they basically ran out of time.  Dreger added that he believes a Weber trade will be able to be done this summer.  He has four years left on his deal with a $7.857MM AAV but just $6MM total in remaining salary over that span.

Montreal Canadiens Could Move Shea Weber’s Contract

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Earlier tonight on the 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman added another name to the list of potential Montreal Canadiens defensemen to be moved: Shea Weber (link). Friedman believes Montreal will look to move Weber’s contract to a team that either needs long-term injured reserve room or who needs to get to the cap floor and prefers not to spend much over the next few years.

The 36-year-old Weber has not played this year, having had his playing career likely come to an end due to injury. Weber last played in the Stanley Cup Finals for Montreal against the Tampa Bay Lightning last season before being placed on long-term injured reserve this season.

What is most notable about Weber’s situation is his remaining contract terms. While he has another four years left on his contract, carrying a $7.9MM cap hit each season, he is only owed $6MM total over those four years. In other words, a team that acquires Weber would only have to pay him $6MM, despite his contract having four years at $7.9MM each year. This would be an intriguing option for a team that is looking to take on cap for their own benefit or to alleviate another team’s salary cap concerns.

Montreal may not be inclined to move Weber, however, unless the terms were in its best interests. If the Canadiens are committed to a rebuild, then they might be the exact team that could benefit from having Weber’s contract on the books in the first place. Still, this idea has only thus far been reported and a market for Weber has yet to establish itself, and could carry on into the offseason potentially.

Atlantic Notes: Rask, Norris, Canadiens

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While Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was scratched from his scheduled start on Friday in Arizona, it’s not expected to be a long-term injury for the netminder, notes Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald.  Rask is dealing with a lower-body injury and it’s unknown if it’s related to his surgically-repaired hip.  However, the team hasn’t ruled him out for Sunday’s game against Dallas.  Jeremy Swayman was scratched from his AHL start on Friday and is expected to join the team by Sunday which would allow Troy Grosenick to return to the taxi squad after serving as the backup last night.

More from the Atlantic:

  • Senators center Josh Norris won’t be able to return to Ottawa’s lineup until after the All-Star break, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Instead, he’s set to undergo further examination on his injured shoulder.  Norris has been a bright spot for the Sens this season, notching 18 goals in 36 games while sitting third on the team in points with 26.
  • Canadiens goaltender Carey Price skated for the first time today since being shut down in his injury rehab last month, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). Price continues to work his way back from offseason knee surgery but has had multiple setbacks along the way which have prevented him from playing at all so far this season.
  • Still with Montreal, the team announced (Twitter link) that wingers Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher could return to the lineup tomorrow against Columbus. Byron has missed the entire season after undergoing offseason hip surgery while Gallagher has been out for nearly a month with a lower-body injury.  The Canadiens will need to activate Byron off LTIR but with Price and Shea Weber both still on there, they have enough LTIR space to still be cap-compliant with his activation.

East Notes: Canadiens, DeBrusk, Stamkos

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The Montreal Canadiens organization is in a state of tumult, seeing their entire front office overhauled over the weekend and losing at home to Vancouver. The news cycle around the team isn’t stopping, however. In today’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Darren Dreger says that Canadiens ownership has an interest in retaining defenseman Shea Weber in a long-term fit with the organization. Weber is currently on long-term injured reserve, and after dealing with injuries for much of the last few seasons, it’s unlikely that he’ll ever be fit to play again. While he hasn’t officially retired yet, if that move comes, it seems as though he’ll still have a place in the industry with Montreal. Pierre LeBrun also mentioned that there’s some uncertainty as to how new hire Jeff Gorton sees the fit of goalie Carey Price in the organization, and while it seems there’s nothing concrete, he notes that “there are teams around the league, some contenders, I can tell you already that are intrigued to find out where that all goes” if the Canadiens opted to rebuild.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • News surrounding Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk has evolved quickly over the past 24 hours, with news of his trade request breaking last night and rumors today that he was drawing significant trade interest. Now, on that same episode of Insider Trading, Dreger said that the Rangers, Canucks, Canadiens, Flames, and Coyotes have all expressed interest in the young forward. He also notes that while they haven’t necessarily called recently, the Blues have been historically involved in DeBrusk trade talks. Regardless, the situation seems favorable for a good return for the Bruins as a bidding war emerges.
  • Per the team, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos is absent from Tuesday’s game against St. Louis, returning home from the road trip to be present for the birth of his second child. While the team is now without their star trio of Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, they still sit in a good position with a 12-5-3 record. Stamkos leads the team with 24 points in 20 games this season, an underrated story considering his trouble with injuries in recent seasons.

Atlantic Notes: Weber, Murray, Tkachuk, Mrazek

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The NHL has permitted the Canadiens to place defenseman Shea Weber on LTIR, reports Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic in the latest Insider Trading segment.  Shortly following the playoffs, Montreal announced Weber would not play at all this season and may not play again but there were reports that the league wanted to take a closer look at his case since he was able to play for the entirety of the playoffs.  To that end, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told LeBrun that “We are not currently challenging that Shea Weber satisfied the CBA requirements necessary to qualify for LTI”, allowing for the possibility for them to re-evaluate the situation later on.  Montreal will need to make use of Weber’s LTIR assuming goaltender Carey Price returns at some point this season.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Senators winger Brady Tkachuk has been ruled out of Saturday’s contest against Toronto, relays Postmedia’s Ken Warren. However, he’s expected to make his season debut either Sunday against Dallas or Thursday against San Jose.  Tkachuk signed his seven-year deal yesterday and will need some time to get up to speed before suiting up.
  • Still with Ottawa, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve moved goaltender Matt Murray to injured reserve retroactive to October 12th. He has been dealing with a non-COVID-related illness that caused him to miss the opener and now it will keep him out through the weekend at the very least.  The retroactive placement makes him eligible to be activated for Thursday’s contest.
  • Given the fact that groin injuries can be longer-term than expected, Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star suggested in a recent appearance on TSN 1050 (audio link) that it’s unlikely that Maple Leafs goaltender Petr Mrazek will return in the near future. He left Thursday’s game against Ottawa due to the injury.  It sounds likely that a stint on IR is forthcoming which means they will need to call a goalie up from the minors, likely veteran Michael Hutchinson.

Canadiens Notes: Kotkaniemi, Roster Moves, Captaincy

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The Montreal Canadiens held a press conference this morning with general manager Marc Bergevin to discuss the loss of Jesperi Kotkaniemi and the subsequent acquisition of Christian Dvorak. Bergevin gave information on multiple aspects of the situation that had evolved over the past week, as well as some other pressing questions that Montreal’s offseason inferred. In terms of the Kotkaniemi negotiations, though, Bergevin mentioned that they were discussing a two-year bridge deal with the 21-year-old Finnish forward. While he didn’t mention any specific financial terms, it’s hard to believe that the total value of the contract would’ve eclipsed the $6.1MM he received from the Hurricanes, let alone the average annual value. A two-year bridge deal would still have left Kotkaniemi with two seasons of RFA eligibility, only taking him through his age 23 season.

More from today’s Habs press conference:

Canadiens Give Update On Price, Weber, Drouin

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The reports of Carey Price’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin took to the podium today to speak with the media and indicated that the veteran goaltender will see doctors to examine some injuries, but the team isn’t expecting anything major. Bergevin gave an estimate of six-to-eight weeks recovery and noted there was a “small percentage” that it would be longer, once they determined the extent.

Price was left unprotected in the recent expansion draft, and rumors had been swirling that he might miss part of next season thanks to hip and knee injuries. That seems unlikely now, though at his age–Price will turn 34 in a few weeks–things can obviously change quickly.

Bergevin also spoke about Shea Weber, with much less confidence he will ever return to the Canadiens lineup. As Eric Engels of Sportsnet tweets, Weber is dealing with injuries to his ankle, foot, knee, and thumb and will not play next season. Bergevin even noted that he “probably won’t be back for his career.”

If it is indeed the end for Weber, it comes directly after the longest playoff run of his career, captaining the Canadiens all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. The 35-year-old defenseman has played in 1,038 regular season games, racking up 224 goals and 589 points. Weber sits 15th all-time in goals from a defenseman and could very well be headed for the Hall of Fame when he officially retires.

That likely won’t be for some time though, as there are still five years left on Weber’s contract. His injury status should give the team grounds to move him to long-term injured reserve for those years, allowing Weber to collect the $12MM still owed to him. It would also give the team some added cap flexibility, but obviously takes an important piece of their lineup out.

His will still be a story to follow closely, if only because of the cap recapture penalties that could be enforced on the Nashville Predators if Weber retires before his contract expires. Remember though, recapture penalties were changed in the last CBA, meaning that no single-year penalty can be greater than the contract’s cap hit. It means, instead of the $24.5MM penalty that Nashville potentially faced if Weber retired in 2025, they would instead incur penalties of $7.85MM for three years, and then $1MM in 2028-29. Not exactly ideal still, but at least not completely crippling.

After Price and Weber were discussed, Bergevin moved to Jonathan Drouin, who took a leave of absence from the team earlier this year. The Canadiens GM was happy to report that Drouin is ready to return for the 2021-22 season, and specifically noted the connection between the talented forward and head coach Dominique Ducharme, going back to their days in the QMJHL. Drouin has two years left on his contract with Montreal and carries a $5.5MM cap hit.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Uncertainty Surrounding Shea Weber For Next Season

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Following a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, it would seem hard to believe at first that Montreal wouldn’t consider protecting their captain from Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft.  However, it appears that this will be the case.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that the Canadiens won’t protect defenseman Shea Weber after recent medical evaluations revealed that he could miss all of next season and potentially longer due to injury.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays that the issue is a left foot or ankle problem that has been lingering for several years.  He had surgery to repair a tendon in that area in 2018 and also missed time with that same issue two years later.  The injury isn’t going away and the team, the league, and the NHLPA are now doing due diligence to determine next steps for the 35-year-old.

On the ice, Weber’s absence would be a significant loss for the Canadiens.  While he had been slowing down in recent years, he still logged heavy minutes for Montreal and averaged 22:42 per game this season (second-most to Jeff Petry by two seconds) while recording 19 points in 48 games.  His ice time increased significantly in the playoffs despite playing through a thumb injury, logging more than 25 minutes a night while still chipping in with six points in 22 games.

On the expansion front, this situation creates some clarity as the team would simply protect Petry, Ben Chiarot, and Joel Edmundson with Brett Kulak serving as the notable rearguard left unprotected.

However, it creates a big hole on Montreal’s back end as well with no real certainty on what they’ll be able to do.  While he will be eligible to be placed on LTIR, the Canadiens may not be able to do much to replace him unless they can determine that he will miss all of next season.  In that situation, they’d be permitted to spend up to his $7.857MM over the Upper Limit of the salary cap but if they feel he could come back at some point, they’d be more restricted in what they could do and might only be able to fill his spot with a low-cost internal replacement.

Still on the contract front, Weber’s deal still has five years remaining on it but only $12MM in cash payments due to the front-loaded nature of the contract, one that is now illegal and subject to recapture.  PuckPedia has a Twitter thread about the short-term salary cap recapture potential for both teams if Weber was to retire.  (Montreal’s cap recapture potential ends after the 2022-23 season while Nashville’s will last the duration of the contract.)  However, the likeliest scenario at this point is that Weber doesn’t retire, collects his salary which sits at $6MM next season, and no recapture penalties would apply to either team.

The Canadiens were already eyeing down a busy offseason with several notable players in need of new contracts.  This development with their captain and one of their top blueliners could very well make it that much busier for GM Marc Bergevin.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Shea Weber Fined For Slashing

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The Department of Player Safety has decided that Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber will not face a suspension, but does have to fork over a few dollars. Weber has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for his slash on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov last night.

As Kucherov glided past the Montreal net, Weber delivered a slash to the back of his leg that sent the Lightning forward tumbling into the corner. There was no penalty on the play and Kucherov did not suffer a serious injury. A fine will go on Weber’s supplementary discipline record though, meaning in deciding punishment for any future incidents, this will be taken into account.

Just yesterday, commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the concerns expressed by many fans over the level of officiating in the playoffs this season, by saying that the NHL has “not only the best hockey officials in the world, they are the best officials in any sport.” It is these incidents that do not go penalized on the ice that frustrate so many fans, given they result in supplementary discipline afterward.

Seven penalties were called in a 5-1 Tampa Bay Lightning win on Monday. It will be interesting to see if this fine draws any increased attention on Weber from the referees in game two Wednesday night.

North Notes: Weber, Oilers, Tkachuk, Hamonic

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The Department of Player Safety announced that they have fined Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber $5,000, the maximum fine allowable in the CBA,  for cross-checking Toronto’s Wayne Simmonds Saturday during Game 2 of the playoffs.

The veteran forward was not assessed a penalty against Simmonds on the play, but did receive a two-minute minor for cross-checking on Toronto’s Pierre Engvall during the third period and later received a 10-minute misconduct. Montreal received seven minor penalties during their 5-1 loss to Toronto.

  • The Edmonton Oilers look to be making several lineup changes after falling 2-0 to the Winnipeg Jets in their first-round matchup, according to Oilers insider Bob Stauffer. With the hope of being faster on the ice, the team is scratching James Neal, Dominik Kahun and Alex Chiasson, while bringing Tyler Ennis, Gaetan Haas and Devin Shore. The team has also split up defensemen Tyson Barrie and Darnell Nurse, while demoting forward Kailer Yamamoto to the third line.
  • Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is eligible to sign an extension with the team, tells Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg that he hasn’t spoken to Flames’ management about a new contract. The 23-year-old has one more year remaining at a $7MM AAV, but also will have a qualifying offer of $9MM when he becomes a restricted free agent. That’s a lot of money for a player that hasn’t taken that next step the team was hoping for. Tkachuk scored 34 goals and 77 points during the 2018-19 season and looked to be developing into a star player. However, those numbers have dropped to 23 goals and 61 points in 69 2019-20 and then 16 goals and 43 points in 56 games this season. There’s even been talk of Calgary making major changes this year, which could, in theory, include Tkachuk as well.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have high hopes they can re-sign defenseman Travis Hamonic to a new contract for the upcoming season. Hamonic, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, played 38 games for Vancouver, mostly pairing with Quinn Hughes and fared well, despite dealing with injuries and rust. However, The Province’s Ben Kuzma reports that general manager Jim Benning said that there is interest in bringing back Hamonic, assuming the two sides can reach a reasonable deal. The 30-year-old signed a one-year deal worth $1.25MM in hopes of staying in Western Canada, suggesting a deal is legitimately possible.

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