NHL allegedly shut down trade of Shea Weber’s contract at the deadline!

It was expected that the Montreal Canadiens would look to move Shea Weber’s contract to a team that either needed long-term injured reserve room or needed to get to the cap floor and prefers not to spend much over the next few years.

As you know, the 36-year-old defenseman has not played this season, having had his playing career likely come to an end due to injury. Weber last played in the Stanley Cup Finals for the Habs against the Tampa Bay Lightning last summer before being placed on long-term injured reserve in 2021-22.

Weber has another four years left on his contract, carrying a $7.9M cap hit each season, but he is only owed $6M total over those four years. In other words, a team that acquires Weber would only have to pay him $6M, despite his contract having four years at $7.9M each year. This sounded like it could have been an intriguing option for a team looking to take on cap for their own benefit or to alleviate another team’s salary cap concerns.

And Steve Dangle revealed on Tuesday that the Arizona Coyotes attempted to get Weber’s contract in a trade with the Canadiens, but were allegedly shut down by the league. Dangle explained on his podcast that the Coyotes look to get Weber’s deal but were told by the league that it would be bad PR for the NHL. Instead, the Coyotes turned to the Winnipeg Jets to acquire the contract of Bryan Little, along with the rights to unsigned NCAA player Nathan Smith in exchange for a fourth-round pick.

“I guess they figured because it was Winnipeg and not Montreal, the blow back wouldn’t be as huge. If it’s Shea Weber, it’s a giant story, it’s Bryan Little, no one talks about it.”

Here is the segment below:

After the trade deadline, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes admitted in his presser that a deal for Weber’s contract in order to alleviate cap space came close to happening.

I guess Dangle heard right and the NHL is the one that didn’t want to see it happening.