Advertisement

Shea Weber bobblehead night trumps Lavy's match up against Philly

Photo via phillip_maxwell on reddit
Photo via phillip_maxwell on reddit

NASHVILLE – Claude Giroux said “I totally forgot about that” when he was asked about Shea Weber’s offer sheet situation with Philly over two years ago.

When he said it, the Flyers captain sounded so sincere. And then you listen to the audio … and whoa was that sarcastic.

“Obviously he’s a good player and any team he would be on … he’s a good player,” said Giroux in an extreme understatement. “He kills penalties, power plays, he’s a pretty physical player.”

The Weber mega offer sheet, when he signed a 14-year $110 million front-loaded deal with Philadelphia which Nashville matched, will always be part of the hulking defenseman’s NHL story. And while some Predators staffers have privately wished the story would go away, the team decided to push its troll job, with Weber’s own bobblehead night Saturday against Philadelphia.

“It really looks like me … not,” Weber laughed ... party on Webs! Nice Wayne's World reference.

“Honestly I didn’t think about that until you mentioned it. I didn’t know bobblehead night was tonight. I just saw the picture of it and thought that was funny, and then … so. I guess that was their choice to do it and you have to ask them what the purpose was.”

But what about Peter Laviolette coaching his old team for the first time? Isn’t that a big deal? Not when the Preds are using cuddly kids toys to jab at other teams – for example James Neal bobblehead night was against Pittsburgh.

For Weber, the most important part of the doll involves the advertising on the bottom for his charitable fund with the Predators, which benefits research for pediatric cancer.

“I think that’s the biggest thing is having the ‘365’ fund. It lets people know a little bit more about that and contribute as well,” Weber said.

But the doll night also involves a ‘close the door’ moment for both organizations. The offer sheet essentially ruined both teams’ plans for two years. The Predators suffered through an awful 2012-13 lockout shortened season as did the Flyers, who always seem like they needed some more blueline help.

Last season both teams made strides, but there were still questions – how would Weber have helped the Flyers, and did the Nashville blueliner really want to stay in the ‘Music City?’

While Philadelphia could still use some defense help, Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux have taken sole control of that team. Weber is happy under new coach Peter Laviolette (who would have been his coach in Philly), and Nashville is one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

His contract is still a massive pill for the Predators to deal with (since they’ve had  to pay a $13 million lump sum bonus the last three summers). But this upcoming offseason is Weber’s final mega-bonus. And when his deal starts to go down in bonus numbers, Nashville’s young stars such as Filip Forsberg and Seth Jones will be up for bigger deals, helping the Preds’ salary structure.  His AAV is a very manageable $7,857,143

And also, the ultimate troll on this might be David Poile, the general manager who saw his captain try to bolt. The doll looks just like him.

- - - - - - -

Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY