NASHVILLE – The wait is over. Ryan Suter and Zach Parise have officially joined forces with the Minnesota Wild.
This signing shouldn’t come as a surprise. For quite some time it’s been rumoured that the good friends would like to play together, and Minnesota was always a logical fit. They will get a chance to do that close to home for the next 13 years.
Predators general manager David Poile was optimistic (naïve?) throughout the whole process of trying to re-sign Suter. When you looked at Suter’s personality and wants, Nashville was the best fit on paper. As much as Suter kept them in the mix, though, his desire to play with Parise was a bigger factor than most of us believed.
“It would be an understatement to say that the Nashville Predators are disappointed at this time. Not only am I disappointed, but very surprised,” Poile said Wednesday. “We met Ryan’s desires on every front. So today it is very, very disappointing.”
Now we’re going to see what Poile is truly made of.
Dating back to last summer, everyone knew that this particular off-season would be Poile’s true test. At that time, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Pekka Rinne were entering the final year of their respective contracts. Rinne re-signed for seven years, but Suter, due to family reasons, has left for greener pastures in Minnesota.
So what does this mean for Weber?
“We want him to be in Nashville for years to come,” Poile said of Weber. “Shea certainly hoped that Ryan would re-sign. I know if Ryan re-signed that would have made it a lot easier to have Shea make a commitment.”
Poile also said Weber was “totally on board” in the team’s attempts to get Suter re-signed.
Weber likes it in Nashville. He really does. He is homegrown in the organization, the franchise’s first superstar and its captain, so the Predators’ desire to keep him long-term is difficult to overstate.
Until Weber signs on that dotted line, though, there will be lingering doubts that the desire to stay in Music City for the long haul is mutual – and Suter’s decision to leave won’t help.
Knowing that the 2011-12 season could have been the Predators’ last with both Weber and Suter patrolling the blue line, Poile went all-in. Truthfully, keeping Suter for the duration of this past season was a risk worth taking, even though the Predators got nothing in return.
Although hindsight is always 20/20, teams must take their shot at some point. Last year was Nashville’s time to load up and make a real push. The team was built to succeed in the postseason and had a legitimate chance to win their first Stanley Cup – they just flat-out fell short.
Moving forward, though, Poile must have a different mindset when it comes to Weber.
Weber, a two-time Norris Trophy finalist, is currently a restricted free agent. If he signs a one-year contract, he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next July 1. The worst-case scenario for the Predators would be watching Weber leave for nothing, just like Suter did.
That is not a risk worth taking.
Poile said today that the next step post-Suter is to speak to Weber’s camp about a possible long-term contract. But if the Predators cannot get that done prior to the start of 2012-13, Poile must entertain trade offers for his captain. He has to. Not only can he not watch Weber walk scot-free next summer, but having him signed to only a one-year deal would result in season-long questions (and possible distractions) about his future.
It’s unknown what the Predators would seek in a trade for Weber, but let’s assume they would receive a king’s ransom. Though dealing Weber would be a tough pill for Poile to swallow, getting a bevy of talent in return could set the Predators up nicely for the future – especially if a bidding war ensues.
However, the Predators are nowhere near ready to give up on Weber. They must do everything in their power to get him re-signed. He is way too important to a franchise that has gained a lot of off-ice momentum in the last two years. What kind of signal would it be to the fan base if they traded Weber after losing Suter? Some (if not a lot) of that momentum would be lost.
They can survive without Suter, but they simply cannot afford to lose Weber on top of that.
Theoretically, if Weber signs a long-term deal, the Predators could use the money allotted to Suter elsewhere and retain their status of being one of the Western Conference’s toughest teams to play against.
“I need to talk to Shea and his representatives to go over all the dynamics of what (Suter’s leaving) does. I’m sure they want to know what we’re going to do going forward,” Poile said. “I feel really good about Shea. I know he feels really good about Nashville. This is not a perfect day to be talking about that either to me or Shea right now.”
Money is no longer an issue for the Predators. They offered Suter a 13-year contract reportedly worth $90 million, just $8 million short of the contract he signed with the Wild. Even if the Predators matched that offer of $98 million, Suter wasn’t going back to the Predators; his heart was set on teaming up with Parise in Minnesota.
Could the Predators offer more than $98 million over 13 years to Weber? Probably, and they might have to. If they don’t go all-in with their homegrown face of the franchise, then he could be the next star to leave Music City in the dust.
What will the Nashville Predators do with Shea Weber next season?
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