Leaderboard

Weber has clearly declined, and significantly in the defensive end of the ice. The xGA stats show this. The shots he is giving up are coming from high danger areas more and more. Thats an issue with a nearly 8 million cap hit, so yes, I'd leave him unprotected.

LW C RW Forwards Corey Perry Rating: 70.8#101 LW Nick Suzuki Josh Anderson Rating: 73.4#42 RW FL1 Rating Rating: 72.09#28 FL1 Jonathan Drouin Rating: 73.0#48 LW Eric Staal Rating: 74.2#45 C Tyler Toffoli Rating: 75.9#25 RW FL2 Rating Rating: 74.37#12 FL2 Tomas Tatar Rating: 77.7#10 LW Phillip Danault Rating: 75.5#29 C Jesperi Kotkaniemi FL3 Rating Rating: 74.61#1 FL3 Paul Byron Rating: 71.8#78 LW Jake Evans Artturi Lehkonen Rating: 71.7#81 RW FL4 Rating Rating: 71.77#8 FL4 Defensive Pairings Defense Joel Edmundson Rating: 73.8#39 LD Shea Weber Rating: 76.5#15 RD DL1 Rating Rating: 75.13#11 DL1 Brett Kulak Rating: 73.4#46 LD Jeff Petry Rating: 76.7#13 RD DL2 Rating Rating: 75.07#3 DL2 Alexander Romanov Victor Mete Rating: 72.2#70 RD DL3 Rating Rating: 72.20#13 DL3 Goalies Jake Allen Rating: 64.2#59 G1

I don't think Foligno is an upgrade on Armia. I'd just keep Armia. I still think, even after Gallagher's injury, that the need is on defence.

Personally I’d like to see Romanov put Marner or Matthews into the 3rd row of seats

I didn’t say get rid of him, first of all. What I do say is that he should be treated like any other player, assessed primarily in light of what he brings to the ice relative to his cap hit. The leadership stuff is mostly overblown garbage; Perry probably provides 95% of the “leadership” Weber does for a fraction of the cost (plus, unlike Weber, he actually knows how to win). Second, the “confirmation bias” argument is a pile of crap. This has nothing to do with The Trade.The eye test suggests significant regression from Weber this year plain and simple. I don’t know what the advanced stats say, but there is no way the guy I’m seeing out there is a top-pairing D-man. At best he is a #3, but at this stage I see him more as a #4. He used to be much more than that, i.e., a legitimate #1 D-man - which, incidentally, is what he’s paid to be. Blaming the coaches for his declining PP output is comical. Your argument appears to be the same as Bergevin’s, i.e., Weber will somehow be exempt from the fundamental laws of aging. Because Weber.🙄 What I do expect to see from Weber is a spike upward in his play in the playoffs. Then he will actually be “tough to play against” in his own end. Right now, he is relatively easy to beat in his own end, and the only “tough” part is all the cross checks you have to take in the back. Declining guys like him can usually step it up for a series or two in the playoffs, though, and that’s what I’m hoping for.

Sorry, you don’t use $8 mil in cap space for a mascot, and I never believed in 50% of that mystical crap around Weber anyway. Mr. Leader has never won anything in 15 years in the league, nor even come close. You can get much cheaper veteran leadership (and what is Gallagher, chopped liver?) Weber’s value depends overwhelmingly upon his play on the ice.

Vellieux gives the good guys a 1-0 lead.