Welcome to LWOS Hockey’s summer series, Call to the Hall, where we take a look at the next great player from each NHL franchise to get called to the Hockey Hall of Fame. There are a few caveats, the player must be active, and must have played 300 games (or 150 for goaltenders) with the franchise.
Check out the previous Call to the Hall articles HERE.
Call to the Hall: Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators are still a fairly new team, coming into the NHL in the 1998-99 season as an expansion franchise, so they haven’t really had any sure-fire Hall of Fame candidates come through the City of Music. The team is on the rise with many promising young players on board so maybe in 20 years we may be having a different conversation. But for right now, my pick for the Nashville Predators Call to the Hall is the Preds #1 defenseman and slap shot connoisseur, Shea Weber.
Shea Weber
Weber has been a familiar face on the Preds blueline and franchise since being drafted 49th overall in one of the most famous and talent-laden drafts, the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He played an extra year with the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL upon getting drafted. After the messy NHL lockout in 2004-05 wrapped up and play resumed in 2005-06, Weber split time between the Preds and their farm team, the Milwaukee Admirals, but ended the year in the NHL and played four games in the playoffs, where the Preds were defeated by the San Jose Sharks. Weber had two goals in the short series.
The next year, Weber stepped his game up by scoring 17 goals and 40 points, finishing tied for fifth in goals for defensemen and also tied fellow sophomore defenseman Dion Phaneuf as the youngest highest scoring defenseman that year. What’s more interesting is that Weber got his 17 goals in 152 shots on goal, whereas Phaneuf put up 78 more shots, 230 in total, for the same amount of goals.
In 2007-08, he had the worst statistical season of his young career, going 6-14-20 in 54 games played. He missed six weeks due to a dislocated kneecap in the season opener, then later on in the year he injured his leg and missed a handful of games. Despite his low offensive totals, he was still a force to be reckoned with on the Preds blue line.
Over the next few seasons, Weber solidified himself as a bona fide #1 defenseman in Nashville playing alongside Ryan Suter. He scored a career high 23 goals in 2008-09 and was named to the NHL All Star Game for his efforts. He had two more 40-plus point seasons after and was still the best player on the team. In the summer of 2010, he was named captain of the Predators after Jason Arnott was traded. He is the first homegrown player to be named captain in Preds history.
After becoming a restricted free agent in the summer of 2011, Weber and Preds GM David Poile were at a stalemate and the team elected to go to arbitration. They were unable to find a deal prior to the hearing on August 2nd and the hearing went as planned, which was the first time that a team electing arbitration went to a hearing in NHL history. Weber was awarded a one year, $7.5 million dollar, and he responded with a 19-goal, 49-point season. The next summer, the contract drama resumed in full force. The Philadelphia Flyers gave Weber a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet. Weber signed it and waited for the Preds decision. After already losing Suter to free agency, they decided to match the monster contract, keeping Weber in Nashville for a long time.
Weber has since matched his career high for goals in a season, broke Kimmo Timonen‘s franchise record for points in a single season by a defenseman, and has been a great veteran presence for Roman Josi and Seth Jones. To this point Weber has scored 146 goals and 392 points in 685 games (a 0.57 points-per-game average) and hit the 40-point plateau seven times.
Weber has also had immense success in international hockey, owning two Olympic gold medals from the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2014 Sochi Games, a gold from the 2007 World Championship in Russia, a silver from the 2009 Switzerland World Championships, and a gold from the 2005 World Junior Championships in the United States. He is near a point-per-game player at the senior level, with 26 points in 28 games.
While he may be missing a Stanley Cup and a James Norris Memorial Trophy , two criteria that would greatly help a defenseman make the Hall of Fame, it should be noted that Weber has finished top-five in Norris voting five times (and runner-up twice) and he is still only 29. He has also been named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team twice and Second All-Star Team twice. He is still one of the best defensemen in today’s game and has a slap shot that is rivaled by a select few. If Weber can put together a Norris or two and a Cup, along with a productive career, the Hall of Fame may not be a huge stretch after he retires.
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