Shea Weber’s reign is over in Vegas. The Golden Knights traded the veteran defenseman to the Arizona Coyotes for Dysin Mayo and a fifth-round pick in the upcoming draft.
Those who follow the activities of the NHL know that Weber will never wear the uniform of the Coyotes, as he never wore that of the Knights either. It is known that the former captain of the Canadiens, following multiple injuries, including knee and foot, will probably no longer play hockey. However, he is still under contract for three seasons after the current one.
By acquiring him last summer, the Knights wanted to put him directly on their long-term injured list and thus benefit from a certain salary flexibility conferred by this management method with complex rules.
However, these same Knights have meanwhile added the names of Robin Lehner, Nolan Patrick and, most recently, Mark Stone to their long-term injured list. So they no longer “needed” Weber, strictly speaking.
In Arizona, we could well use Weber’s contract, with an average annual value of 7.8 million, to reach the salary floor next season. All teams on the circuit must indeed spend a minimum amount, set at 61 million during the current campaign. Currently, the Coyotes have just $52 million invested in NHL contracts for 2023-24, including Weber and Bryan Little, who is in the same situation.
This administrative maneuver will be done, moreover, at a low price, since Weber’s real annual salary (and not the one that counts for the calculation of the payroll) will be only 1 million over the next three years.
The former star defender was traded from the Canadiens to the Knights last summer in return for Evgenii Dadonov. The Habs found themselves at the time in the current situation of the Golden Knights, already dealing with a long-term injured list overloaded by the contracts of Carey Price and Paul Byron.
PHOTO ADAM HUNGER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Dysin Mayo
Moreover, in Dysin Mayo, the Knights acquire a support defender, still under contract for two more seasons. He played little in the NHL this season, and was also with the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes’ school club in the American League, at the time of the trade.