If he decides he no longer wants to play for Nashville, then he’d probably try to force a trade to a team he wants to play for, like Nash and Luongo are doing. Signing an offer sheet takes away his control and makes it an either/or situation. Either he signs with Team X, or Nashville matches and he’s in Nashville.

Signing a short-term deal also doesn’t make much sense for Nashville. Why would they sign him for one year (or even two or three) and let him get to UFA status? Then he can leave and they would get nothing (like with Suter). A long-term deal also has the added benefit of lowering the cap hit for a player like Weber. As a comparison, Suter is going to make $12 million next season. Weber, as a superior player, could probably ask for more and get it. So in order to get his cap hit to a manageable number, and make sure Weber gets paid, it has to be a long-term deal.

If they decide to trade him, how big of an offer in terms of players, prospects and picks would you have to give to get a player like him? If I gave up a first-liner, my top prospect(s) and a few top draft picks for Weber, I’d want to make sure I had him locked down to a long-term deal, or I will have given away a ransom for a single season.

Of course, it’s all speculation on my part. I’m just an idiot with a computer. But this situation only makes sense to me is if Nashville signs a long-term deal with Weber, or they trade him. And since Team X is going to have to pay a ransom to acquire Weber, they’re going to want to get full value for that ransom by locking up Weber until he retires (or something happens to force a trade later).

If he refuses to sign a long-term deal with the Preds, then they have to move him as soon as possible to get the max value and whoever signs him will have to work very hard to get him signed to a long-term deal. No one will want to pay a King’s ransom for Weber only for him to leave next year. Should be interesting.