NHL teams accuse the Habs of illegal move ahead of draft
When the Montreal Canadiens disclosed earlier this week that captain Shea Weber was suffering with ongoing health issues on his thumb, ankle, and knee that could end his career, it was a huge blow to the team. The Habs responded by announcing that they would not protect Weber ahead of the Seattle Kraken's expansion draught.
However, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Canadiens are now being accused of lying about their captain's status by some teams across the league. They claim it's "complete nonsense" and a ruse by the Canadiens to avoid the expansion draught.
While Weber is rumoured to be seeking a second medical opinion, no one, including the Habs, knows whether he will return to the lineup or not.
On the most recent episode of TSN's Insider Trading, Darren Dreger discussed what the Habs can and cannot do with the Weber situation:
«What makes it different is the timing and all that's going on in this offseason starting with the upcoming expansion process so there's no guarantee that the NHL is going to grant the Montreal Canadiens and Weber full LTIR but there's no guarantee they won't either.»
His colleague Pierre LeBrun also explained what it means for the expansion draft.
«In the aftermath of this, of course, it impacts the Expansion Draft. I think they were going to protect four defensemen, going the eight-skater route. Now they'll go 7-3-1, protecting seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie.»
This has apparently irritated rival teams, who believe the Habs are attempting to execute a move akin to... say, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Putting Nikita Kucherov on LTIR and having him return in time for the playoffs...
We all saw Weber cry as the Bolts celebrated their champion, and several Canadiens went out of their way to soothe him. It felt more emotional than usual, and it's easy to imagine he knew his career was coming to an end at the time.
Credit: HockeyFeed
| POLL | ||
Is this an illegal move by the Habs? | ||
| Yes | 68 | 44.7 % |
| No | 84 | 55.3 % |
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