Shea Weber could be a trade deadline chip for the Canadiens: report

Shea Weber hasn’t played in the NHL all season, but that hasn’t stopped his name from popping up in trade rumours.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday night that the 36-year-old Montreal Canadiens captain Weber could be available via trade before the March 21 NHL deadline.

Weber has been sidelined all year with a litany of injuries to his foot, knee, ankle, and thumb, but his hefty contract could be of use to a few teams across the league. Weber signed a monstrous front-loaded 14-year, $110-million contract with the Nashville Predators in 2012, with the majority of his contract already having been paid out.

“It’s a possible move,” Friedman said of a trade. “Weber, of course, is likely not going to play in the National Hockey League ever again. He’s got four years left after this year, the cap hit is $7.9 million, but the cash is $6 million total. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some teams who need either long-term injury room or want to get to the cap floor and aren’t looking to spend a ton in the next couple of years take a look at that Weber contract.”

Weber, essentially, would be a paper transaction for the acquiring franchise, similar to trades like Pavel Datsyuk to Arizona in 2016.

Since joining the team in the summer of 2016 in a one-for-one trade for PK Subban, Weber has put up 58 goals and 88 assists in 275 games for the Canadiens in his career.

Weber’s greatest success with the team came in last year’s surprise run to the Stanley Cup Final, with the Canadiens falling 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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