Report: Montreal Canadiens plan to leave Shea Weber exposed in expansion draft

The Montreal Canadiens will not protect captain Shea Weber in the upcoming Seattle expansion draft, according to a report from Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.

“I’m hearing the Canadiens won’t protect Shea Weber for the expansion draft. Following the latest medical evaluations, he could miss all of next season. If not more,” Lavoie wrote in a tweet. “Obviously Shea Weber won’t miss time only because of his thumb injury. He has some issues with a foot, ankle and a knee. So that’s why he won’t be protected for the expansion draft and you have to expect he’ll be out for a long period.”

This gives the Canadiens’ the ability to protect defencemen Jeff Petry, Joel Edmundson, and Ben Chiarot, all three of which would have certainly been enticing names for Seattle to call on come expansion draft day.

If Weber goes to LTIR, the Habs will be able to spend $7.857 million over the cap. However, if he retires, things get ugly cap-wise.

But not for the Montreal Canadiens.

The Nashville Predators, who signed Weber to his current 14-year deal, are at risk of facing a pretty hefty cap recapture penalty.

The cap recapture penalty was brought in as a way to punish teams who signed players to contracts later deemed unfair by the league. While perfectly legal at the time, the current CBA doesn’t allow teams to sign players for more than eight years.

So far, the Vancouver Canucks are the only team who have been affected by the recapture penalty ($3.035 million for three years) but Nashville’s bill for Weber retiring could be even greater.

We will keep you updated as this situation continues to develop.