Is Shea Weber a Philadelphia Flyer?

Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Philadelphia Flyers continue to believe that something like a 14-year contract worth about $100 million is a necessary price to pay.

That’s roughly the equivalent to what Robert Johnson paid the Devil in return for legendary guitar skills: his soul. Sure, it’s Shea Weber. He’s good. But, that’s a lot of money. And, worse for Philly, it’s over a lot of years.

Immediately, my first thought was this: “Oh damn, he won’t be a Vancouver Canuck.”

Because, if Nashville doesn’t match that behemoth offer, then Weber becomes a Flyer. Of course, even worse for Nucks fans would be if Nashville does match it, because then he becomes a Predator for life. Either way, Shea is staying awea (get it?) from Van City.

Of course, maybe the Canucks dodged a bullet here. If a team like Vancouver already has a core group of players that the rest of the league envies, then why does it need Weber? Certainly, Shea would trump anyone else on Vancouver’s defensive roster, but it doesn’t mean he can replace all of them. Now, Vancouver can focus on re-signing Edler, and getting somebody else in case Keith Ballard doesn’t deliver in 2013, which we can all agree is his last chance year.

So, really, maybe this is good for the Canucks?

Weber instantly makes the Flyers better on the back end, but this is also a team that has probably lost Chris Pronger forever, and will lose Kimmo Timonen soon (either through 2013 unrestricted free agency, or through death, because he’s 37).

And, on Pronger, isn’t that just another case of how bad these long-term contracts are? By the time Pronger’s “new” contract finishes, he’ll be completely bald. Philadelphia’s just lucky the dude will retire with chronic concussion problems, or else they may have to actually pay the man or, even worse, keep him on the payroll.