Breakdown and Reaction to the PK Subban-Shea Weber Blockbuster

The Montreal Canadians traded all star defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for fellow all star Shea Weber. This past season was a tale of two different stories. Weber helped the Predators make the playoffs, but struggled toward the end. Subban and the Canadians surprisingly missed the playoffs.

In 68 games last season, Subban had 6 goals, 45 assists with a plus minus of +4. Subban last season played well despite missing the playoffs. He played a big role on the Canadians defensive core. Subban is a great two way defensemen. He has great hands, great passing ability, and he also has a great shot. He is more known for passing the puck getting assist more than getting goals. Subban is also great defensively as well, but some feel he’s better offensively.

In  78 games last season, Weber had 20 goals, 31 assists with a plus minus of -7. Weber last season played a big role on the Predators defense, helping the team have a successful season. Weber is one of the top offensive defensemen in the league. He has great hands, a great shot, decent speed, and the ability to put up over 30 points consistently every season, which is good for defensemen.

On the Montreal side of things, General Manager Marc Bergevin has been having problems with Subban in the past (although Bergevin denies it), so the relationship between the both of them is not good. Getting rid of him right now is a relief for Bergevin in the sense that Montreal will not be strapped with Subban’s no movement clause that kicks in on July 1. Webber will be put on the 1st line defensive pairing, and will be putting up over 30 points a season. One problem with Webber is his contract that has a big salary which the team will have to deal with until the 2026-27 season. So it is surprising that the Canadians would pick up that contract, but it is worth it for how Webber plays on the ice.

On the Nashville side of things, the team will be losing a great defensemen in Weber. Even though the team is losing Weber, the team is getting a good return and replacement in Subban. Subban will be on the 1st line defensive pairing same with Weber, and he will be putting up over 30 points a season. The good thing about Subban is that his contract is a lot more team friendly than Weber’s. Before the trade was done, the team was locked up with Weber until 2026-27 season, but with Subban the team is locked up with his contract until 2021-22.

At the end of the day, both teams are getting a good deal out of this. Nashville is getting a great top 2 defensemen in Subban, who the team can put on the power play and penalty kill. The team also gets a lot of salary off the books. Montreal is getting one of the top defensemen in the league in Weber, who can play on the power play and penalty kill. Subban is three years younger than Weber, and his best years are about to come.

It will take a few seasons before we can decide who really won this trade. The Predators are going to be looking to repeat last year success while the Canadians will be hoping to forget all about last year’s horrible season and make the playoffs. Both defensemen will be getting a lot of ice time. It is only a matter of time before we see who becomes the better defensemen with their new team Subban or Weber.

For right now, Predators will get an edge over the Canadians in this trade. Coming off a great season last year, making the playoffs, and getting a guy like Subban makes your team better and in my opinion, he is better than Weber. Weber is coming to the Canadians straight after a horrible season, so there will be a lot of pressure on Weber to lead the defense back to the playoffs. The Predators are also getting the better contract so that also plays a factor into this deal.

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