Possible Shea Weber trade: Kent Hughes responds and Friedman reveals important information

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Jeff Drouin
March 11, 2022 (4:07 PM)

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Sportsnet reporter Eric Engels recently caught up with the Canadiens' new GM, Kent Hughes. This interview ended in an excellent paper in the form of a question/answer. Of course, in this meeting, the status of the current club captain, Shea Weber, was discussed.

«Are we trying to trade him? No. But we got calls. There are a lot of speculations and rumours. I have red many things, but they are not necessarily accurate." -Kent Hughes

One such rumor (or speculation) was brought out by The Athletic reporter Michael Russo. The latter suggested that the Minnesota Wild might consider acquiring Weber in order to place him on the long-term injured reserve and thereby free up space to extend Kevin Fiala's contract.

From what we can understand, it's not that simple. As Elliotte Friedman mentions in his last 32 Thoughts, placing a player on the LTIR is not so beneficial.

According to what several payroll experts told the hockey insider, you don't want to have a player on the LTIR for years. The team that acquires a player on this list must also be able to activate him in his lineup before putting him back on the LTIR. Few formations currently have this luxury, and especially not the Wild.

«A lot of the comments on our podcast are about Shea Weber's contract, and whether or not it would make sense for Minnesota. The answer, according to several capologists consulted for this blog, is no � and don't expect the Wild to do so. "You don't want a long-term injured player, beyond the cap, for years and years," one said. "There's nothing good about that." It prevents you from accumulating space, robs you of flexibility. (I didn't realize you couldn't trade for a player on LTIR without activating them first. That would be problematic for most.) There's also the question of whether or not Minnesota could build a full roster before to put Weber's contract on the long term at the start of the season. So what seemed like a creative idea was anything but." - Elliott Friedman

If a trade with the Wild, or any other formation of the kind, seems impossible, however Friedman would not be surprised to see the contract of Weber leave towards a formation which wishes to reach the salary floor. However, we would have to wait until this summer before seeing this type of trade.

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