First, congratulations to Shea Weber on being selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame! It takes a lot of commitment and hard work to reach that point and you made it look flawless. Cheers to you and an incredible career. But that's only a part of why this is being written.
Believe it or not, he has some history with the Vegas Golden Knights. The Montreal Canadiens traded him to Vegas for Evgenii Dadonov on June 16, 2022. Then, he was traded with a fifth-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes on February 22, 2023, for Dysin Mayo. The NHL is certainly a funny league, isn't it?
The purpose of the trade will be highlighted a bit later. But here's a breakdown of what the defenseman did during his NHL tenure. First, he is an absolute rarity: Being selected to the Hall of Fame while under contract with another team.
Shea Weber is going into the Hall of Fame.
Shea Weber has two years left on his 14-year, $110 million contract.— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) June 25, 2024
Now that's certainly remarkable from a hockey standpoint. Imagine if Weber was inducted and suddenly had a change of heart. It would be like Edge being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, only to come back and win the Royal Rumble. The only difference is this would be unscripted, which makes it even funnier.
Still, the former Nashville Predators defenseman has had a remarkable career, contracts or not. He provided grit and some offensive bite to the two NHL teams he stepped on the ice for (the other is Montreal). He's also earned numerous accolades, including seven All-Star games, two NHL first All-Star teams (2011, 2012), and the Mark Messier Leadership Award (2016). On top of that, he's won two Olympic gold medals for Canada.
Many people will remember him for being a fantastic on-ice leader for the Predators. However, Shea Weber is being remembered for being yet another obscure piece of Vegas Golden Knights trivia. What happened during the short-lived tenure for the newest member of the Hockey Hall of Fame?
As mentioned, the legendary blue-liner was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to Vegas in 2022. The purpose was to provide salary cap relief, a chess move by Kelly McCrimmon. The expectation was that Weber wouldn't step on the ice with them for a single shift. It was a financial move that coincided with their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Because of that, there is no stat line to cover regarding the defenseman. He was never expected to be tenured, especially in his old age. Of course, he was traded to Arizona after, who have developed a reputation that they'll take on any contract. Just ask Pavel Datsyuk when his time in Detroit was winding down. (bizarrely enough, Datsyuk is also in Weber's Hall of Fame class).
Aside from having two years left on his current deal and being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, he's taking it easy. His friend, Jonathan Drouin, stated he was "moving on" from hockey and relaxing. Being traded to Arizona for salary cap reasons will do that for a player.
In any case, congratulations on earning this prestigious honor. It's a big achievement to be placed in the same ranks as Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, and Maurice Richard. Here's to Shea Weber living a prosperous life after hockey, where he can finally rest his older bones.
