As we discussed earlier, the Predators are struggling to re-sign Shea Weber. Elliotte Friedman also points out that the team might have a hard time retaining the “Big 3" of Weber, Ryan Suter and Pekka Rinne, a subject many people tackled already. It’s no guarantee that the Predators will need to part ways with one of those players (nor is it a guarantee that they will retain any of them), but in the spirit of discussion, we thought we’d ask four of our favorite Predators bloggers a simple yet challenging question:
If you had to let one of Weber, Suter or Rinne go, which one would it be?
Here are their answers.
Buddy Oakes from Preds on the Glass:
I think Friedman’s numbers are a bit high for Suter and Rinne and I’m still thinking that Weber will come in about $7 million since he has told me specifically that he wants to leave money for others to keep the team together.
It’s probably an extreme minority view, but I would let Weber go if I had a choice. He would be the most marketable for a trade and would result in the greatest return. Suter is a better pure defenseman and would have an offensive upside if not paired with Weber. We have seen that Suter plays better without Weber than Weber does without Suter.
Also, the Preds have a good stockpile of young D-men to filter into the system. In spite of having other young goalies, Rinne should have several more years as one of the league’s best and is the true MVP of the team.
Amanda DiPaolo from Inside Smashville:
I fall in the camp of doing whatever it takes, including dumping salary, to keep Rinne, Suter and Weber, but I’d let go of Suter if one was going to leave.
While Suter is a great defenseman, Weber is the face of the franchise and better all around. People like to say that Weber is so good because he has a Suter playing with him - you need the stay at home d-man to allow for the power d-man like Weber to play his game - but it’s a role Blum could play, making Suter more replaceable.
Keeping Weber is also important to the franchise from an outside perspective since the Predators have a reputation for developing solid players and then losing them to free agency. Rinne has continued to improve every season in net. I’m just not ready to hand over the reins to Lindback (or anyone else for that matter).
Dirk Hoag, managing editor of On The Forecheck:
If forced to let one of the Big 3 go, my choice would easily be Pekka Rinne. As beloved as he is here in Nashville, he has a shorter history of elite performance than Weber or Suter, and when you look at the evolution of the goaltending market over the last few years, tying up something like $6 million annually seems like a poor long-term decision.
Besides, the real MVP of the Preds is goaltending coach Mitch Korn; the team has enjoyed superior play in net pretty much every season despite rotating through a number of players after Tomas Vokoun left in 2007. Whether it’s through the maturation of Anders Lindback, or the budget-friendly acquisition of a proven veteran, it would appear that if you need to make a financially-driven decision that least affects the overall quality of the team, Pekka has to go.
Jeremy K. Gover, managing editor of Section 303.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: Pekka Rinne is an all-world, elite goaltender (and those don’t just grow on trees). We know this not because he was runner-up for the Vezina, not because he should’ve won the Calder over Steve Mason in 2009 and not because he took fourth in the Hart voting either. We know this because he’s been giving the offensively-challenged Predators a chance to win every single game for the past three years. So Rinne’s out.
Shea Weber is the team captain. He’s the leader on and off the ice. He may not be the best quote in the locker room but he’s the closest thing the Preds have to a face of the league. So he’s out.
That leaves Ryan Suter. As much as he’s the first lieutenant in Weber’s army, he is the most expendable of the three. Nashville has other defensemen in the system who could eventually fill his role. So, while it would hurt (a lot!), the lesser of three evils is Suter.
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So that’s two votes for Suter and one vote for Weber and Rinne. Personally, I’d lean toward replacing Rinne since the team has such a strong track record when it comes to generating quality goalies (and supporting them with great defense). As you can see from this study, it wouldn’t be an easy choice either way.
