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Nashville Predators name Shea Weber their new captain

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Shea Weber is one of the best (and most underrated) defenseman in the league. After Jason Arnott was traded, the Nashville Predators needed a new captain ... and it didn’t take them long to choose the towering defenseman with that powerful shot. Here’s more from the Predators and NHL.com.

“In addition to being one of the top young defenseman in the League today, Shea is a natural leader, and we are confident he has the respect of his teammates, opponents, the Predators organization and its fans,” Nashville GM David Poile said. “He becomes the first Predators draft pick to be named captain, and has been part of the culture and belief system we have worked hard to create.”

Former captain Jason Arnott was traded to the New Jersey Devils last month. Weber becomes the fifth captain in the franchise’s history.

Weber, a second-round pick of the Predators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, will be entering his sixth season with the team. He scored a career-high 23 goals in 2008-09 and in 320 NHL games has recorded 64 goals, 166 points and a plus-16 rating. His cannon of a shot from the blue line has helped him put up 30 power-play goals during that time.

Defense is the backbone of the Predators’ grind-it-out style, so it makes even more sense that they went with Weber (along with the fact that he is far and away the team’s best player). Being that the team allowed Dan Hamhuis to walk via unrestricted free agency, they’ll lean on Weber and fellow blueliner Ryan Suter even more than they did in 2009-10.

Weber saw a slight decrease in production from 08-09 to last season (53 to 43 points) but was a useful member of the gold medal winning Canadian Olympic team. At $4.5 million per year, he’s easily one of the biggest “steals” in the league.

Oh, he also shot a puck through a net at the Olympics. In other words, Weber is manly and awesome. NHL teams are naming young players their captains left and right these days, but in this case, it makes a lot of sense. Wise move, Predators.