Update on prohockeytalk.com...
According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, the financials are in on Philadelphia’s offer sheet to Nashville defenseman Shea Weber — and they are staggering.
Kypreos reports the per-season breakdowns of the 14-year deal work like this:
First four seasons (2012-16): $1 million in salary, $13 million in signing bonuses
Seasons five and six (2016-18): $4 million in salary, $8 million in signing bonuses
Seasons seven to 10 (2018-22): $6 million in salary
Season 11 (2022-23): $3 million in salary
Seasons 12 to 14: (2023-26): $1 million in salary
Phew.
Okay, what it means for you non-mathletes out there…
– It’s a $7.9 million annual cap hit.
– The deal will pay $68 million in total signing bonuses.
– In the first six years, the deal will pay $80 million.
– Weber will be the only current NHLer under contract until 2025-26. (Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Ilya Kovalchuk are currently signed until 2024-25.)
As Kypreos notes, the structure of the deal might make matching difficult for Nashville. The prospect of shelling out $80 million over the next six years might be too much for the organization (which, it should be noted, was sold in 2007 for $193 million.)
We’ll have more throughout the day.
I don't think the 4 #1's concern Clarke all that much. He's in a "win now at all cost" mindset. It sounds like Clarke is forcing Nashville's hand into trading Weber to Philly rather than watching him walk away as a RFA. Either way, if the league approves the offer, I don't see how he doesn't end up in Philly. I was kind of hoping Shero would do something like this but he has too much integrity. Bobby Clarke, not so much.
