Quoting: Flynnster
Why would montreal give Nashville a 3rd & 6th pick. We’re doing Nashville a Hugh solid because Nashville is on the hook for Weber’s contract Montreal gets a 2nd and Nashville gets Weber who retires and is bought out.
Ok so there is some things that need to be laid out with this statement just to clarify for others who see it and repeat it.
First off, just to get this out of the way, that 2nd rounder is worth more than that 3rd and a 6th together. So just right there, the Habs are getting more than they lose here. Not that that's the point here but its just important to note.
Secondly, Weber's recapture penalty would be around 6M in cap for Nashville and 1.8M for MTL if Weber officially retires at seasons end. (The NHL amended a rule that changed the rule that would have resulted in Weber's cap hit penalty being like 27M/year to Weber's max AAV/year). While 6M would definitely suck for Nashville, they're currently 10M under the cap ceiling already this year and have historically been a team that does not spend all the way up to the cap anyway. (Unless they absolutely went for the cup) So the cap hit they would be hit with might not even affect their roster at all really as its currently constructed. In addition to that, Nashville is not actually paying any of Weber's recapture penalty so they are not paying any real money here. Only cap hit penalties but as I mentioned, this probably wouldn't affect them
really.
Thirdly, Weber is still owed 6M in his contract and chances are he'll still want that money. His contract is insured so he will still receive most of that money as long as he doesn't officially retire. He has injuries bad enough that he can milk the rehab for like the rest of his contract if he really wanted to. No doctor is going to force him to play because its the team doctor that does the evaluation. So there isn't really a benefit to Weber retiring. He still gets his money, Nashville and Montreal don't get a cap penalty. Everyone's happy if he doesn't retire. If he retires, MTL and NSH get slapped with cap hit penalties and he forgoes that money remaining on his contract.
Now, with this all said, Weber DOES have value still. Just not
really to Nashville anymore. Because Weber's contract has a high cap hit but low salary, teams who don't want to have to spend up to the cap floor every year, like Arizona, would be wise to acquire Weber and take him off LTIR and just keep him in the press box. This way they'll have 7.8M of cap helping them reach the cap floor but also not have to pay that much actual real money. They'd be paying 1M in actual money so that they don't HAVE to spend another 6.8M is actual money. Considering Arizona is having problems with cashflow, this would save them tons of money they'd have to spend to reach the cap floor every year.
Also Weber's contract will never be bought out. Its hurts the team buying him out more than it helps them. Its what people call a "buyout proof contract" so that will never happen.