In the midst of his European vacation, Subban was dealt from the Montreal Canadians to the Nashville Predators, a move the all-star defenseman is already embracing.
Advertisement
Because of that, Subban is now a member of the Nashville Predators, a team he believes can contend for years to come. “What do you think of that?” He was the Canadiens’ best skater for the past five years straight.
Amazingly, because of the freakish way the Weber offer sheet was structured, Nashville actually took on more money over the six years remaining on Subban’s deal.
In a short release from Nashville, general manager David Poile said, “P.K. Subban is an elite offensive defenceman with tremendous skill and contagious energy that makes the Nashville Predators a better team now and into the future”. Each skates well and dishes the puck up the ice easily, while bringing some skill and offence to the table. All deserve contracts but I don’t think it’ll be with Tampa Bay especially with the uncertainty of the salary cap. Subban rates as a top-pairing defenseman in five of the six categories.
The hometown discount will help the Lightning keep electric 23-year-old Nikita Kucherov and 26-year-old Alex Killorn this summer as well as Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Jonathan Drouin, Victor Hedman, and perhaps Ben Bishop next summer. Over the past four seasons – dating back to 2012-13 – the 6-foot, 210-pound blueliner has amassed 203 points (42g-160a) in 274 regular-season games, third most among all National Hockey League defensemen.
Hall was the first overall pick in the 2010 National Hockey League draft. Underlying numbers also suggest that Weber, soon to be 31, has hit his peak and is trending downward in recent seasons.
In both cities, the respective fan bases hated to see their star defensemen be traded.
Is it even a question who won this deal?
Ellis is the smaller, feistier one of the two, a sparkplug from the back-end who moves frenetically across the ice, blocks shots and kills penalties. He is a former 43rd overall pick of the Canadiens back in the 2007 NHL Draft.
Subban finished with six goals and 45 assists this past season.
It was the presence of Ekholm and Ellis which allowed Poile to comfortably move Seth Jones last season in exchange for top centre Ryan Johansen. Coach Peter Laviolette had best buckle up for the ride. His personality and exciting style of play sells tickets and merchandise.
Subban was more than just a player. Weber is an 11 year veteran who has spent his entire career in Nashville.
“I’m hoping that shouldn’t be an issue”.
As far as the Predators are concerned, they may have just landed the new face of their team.
Verdict: The long-term implications of this deal could be costly for Montreal. He’s also a two time Olympic Gold Medallist with Canada.
Subban’s name was hot and heavy in the rumour mill leading up to last week’s draft, but when the dust cleared and he still remained in Montreal, it looked like the Habs might have avoided making a big mistake.
The counting stats also tilt in favour of Nashville: Subban is second only to Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson in scoring by defencemen since 2012 and is a possession-driving machine.
Advertisement
“With a lot of the chatter that kind of happened over the little while, I’m a firm believer that usually where there’s smoke there’s fire”, Subban said on a conference call.
