It’s easy to forget Shea Weber still technically “plays” in the NHL as a member of the Utah Hockey Club. After all, he hasn’t actually played since the Montreal Canadiens lost the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, all but officially retired at this stage of the game due to injury, as he officially gets inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this Monday.
Weber’s Lasting Canadiens Legacy
In sharp contrast, it’s probably hard to forget his days with the Nashville Predators, the team that drafted him in 2003, with whom he played literally a decade. Both literally and figuratively, you’ve got his five seasons with the Canadiens somewhere in the middle.
Obviously Habs fans will have an easier time remembering his tenure, which started with a bang, with the P.K. Subban trade. Granted, Weber’s Canadiens tenure technically ended with a whimper, as general manager Kent Hughes traded the injured player’s contract for Evgeny Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights (who eventually dealt it to the Arizona Coyotes, now Utah).
Now, Dadonov didn’t find any semblance of success in Montreal, failing to last even a single season. Combined with the fact Weber was for all intents and purposes already out of the league at that juncture, it’s easier to focus on the controversy surrounding his arrival… or the collective elation felt throughout the city of Montreal as the Habs, captained by Weber, made their Cinderella run to the Final. For obvious reasons, people tend to choose the latter.
Weber vs. Subban Once Again
In at least that one way, Weber enjoyed significantly more success with the Canadiens than with the Predators. Prior to the big trade, the Preds had never made it out of the second round. Sure, their first season with Subban they beat the Canadiens to the punch by reaching a Final of their own, further causing doubt to seep in. Maybe, just maybe the Canadiens got the shorter end of the stick.
By the point at which both players left the game, Weber in 2021 and Subban a year later, the gap between the impacts each had made since the deal went down had closed considerably, effectively making the infamous one-for-one swap in 2016 a wash. There’s no taking away the fact Subban helped the Predators take their franchise to the next level (or earn a James Norris Memorial Trophy nomination in 2018), nor is there the fact Weber helped the Canadiens return to glory through his leadership and hard-nosed defense in 2021.
Related: Canadiens Fans Get Closure as Ex-Hab Subban Retires
Neither team may have won it all in the end. However, each may have won the trade, with recency bias playing an undeniable role in many Canadiens fans seeing things having turned out in their favour. Weber’s Hall of Fame induction will further play into that notion.
Weber a Fitting Hall of Famer
At the very least, Weber undeniably enjoyed greater longevity in his career. He reached 1,000 games played while with the Canadiens (even if he played “just” 275 contests with the team), even if in the end it’s ironically, tragically chronic injuries that forced him out of the game earlier than expected.
What’s also ironic/tragic? Many in Montreal envisioned Weber making a hero’s return the next playoffs, in the process channelling Nikita Kucherov, who had missed all of the 2020-21 season only to return for the 2021 postseason to help wreck the Canadiens’ chances at a championship.
It’s in part Weber’s inability to return at all that resulted in the Canadiens missing the playoffs altogether and finishing in last place the ensuing regular season. His absence indirectly prompted ownership to go in a different managerial direction and rebuild the team effectively from the ground up.
Meanwhile, nothing at all should be considered ironic about the theory that, even in the midst of this rebuild, were Weber healthy enough to play and the Canadiens still owned his contract, he’d be welcomed back with open arms. As their inexperienced defense struggles to earn a level of consistency Weber had made one of his trademarks, they need all the help they can get.
It’s a testament to Weber’s legacy that, even in “retirement,” he has a great deal to offer the next generation. Maybe that’s no surprise, considering the place to where he’s being inducted. Looking at it another way though, it’s one more sign he’s where he belongs. As if there was ever any doubt.
