Wake Up Hockey Fans!

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Late last week Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren rocked the sleeping hockey community with news that Nashville’s Shea Weber had signed an offer sheet for $110 Million over the course of the next 14 years.  This shook awake all the Flyers fans and got their hopes up. Some were getting ready to go out and buy their Weber Jerseys, but then Nashville decided to just match the deal.

Since Weber is a restricted free agent, so he has to stick to the deal, unfortunately for the Flyers. This also means that Weber will be with the Predators for the long haul. He can be traded after a year, but he said he wants to stay with the franchise and that his interest in not being with a rebuilding team was the opinion of his agents alone. It sounds like someone was trying to smooth over any bad blood with their team. Regardless of Weber’s intention, he will remain a Predator for a long time.  This crushed the Flyers who have lost out on a lot of top players in the off season, but Holmgren might have just another card up his sleeve. We just don’t know what that is yet.

In other news, the saga of Rick Nash in Columbus has ended as he was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first round pick. Nash is a strong forward and really carried the Columbus Blue Jackets during his time there despite the team not having success. Which is one of the reasons that he signed with the Rangers.  They are a team that have been successful and are a top contender for the Stanley Cup. With Nash putting up 30 goals and 59 points last season his addition to the team is only going to help them remain a top contender, as well for other Eastern Conference teams to continue to hate them.

The breaking news has been regarding Nash and Weber, but the hockey world has had news of some re-signing deals as the off season continues. The Ottawa Senators have resigned Stephane Da Costa to a one year two contract now that his entry-level contract is up. The Senators believe Da Costa has room to improve but believe he can refine his talent for their franchise. The Vancouver Canucks also have resigned a player in this off season. The team and Dale Weise have agreed to terms and signed him for another year pending a salary arbitration hearing.

About D.Vasso

I am a recent graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where I hold a BA in English with a minor in creative writing. My career aspirations lie mostly in novel writing, but I also have an interest in sports journalism. I wrote soccer and hockey articles for my University's student newspaper and I currently write for two other sports blogs in addition to Ballhyped. I am the NHL beat writer for Ballhyped, and pretty much live and breathe for the sport of ice hockey.

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Tags: Colombus Blue Jackets, Dale Weise, nashville predators, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Rick Nash, Shea Weber, Stephane Da Costa, Vancouver Canucks