Shea Weber Remains Nashville's Favorite Despite Montreal Trade

More than five years had passed since Shea Weber left Nashville, but when the Montreal Canadiens advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, the Predators faithful found themselves doing something unexpected: rooting for the team that took their captain away. Weber had been traded to Montreal on June 29, 2016, in a blockbuster swap that sent PK Subban to Nashville in return—a deal that shocked both fan bases and left even the most optimistic observers wrestling with the loss. Now, with Weber on the verge of winning hockey's ultimate prize, the city that had watched him build something from nothing was watching him chase it elsewhere.

Weber's imprint on Nashville ran deep. He arrived as a draft pick in 2003 and spent 11 seasons with the Predators, playing 763 games and accumulating 443 points. The numbers alone told part of the story: 80 power-play goals, the most in franchise history, and 2,052 shots on goal, a record that still stood. But the statistics missed the larger point. Weber was named the organization's sixth captain in 2010, and he wore that "C" for six seasons, becoming the face of a franchise that had been searching for legitimacy since its inception. He shaped the blue line, mentored younger defensemen like Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis, and established a standard of professionalism that outlasted his tenure. Roman Josi, who would eventually inherit the captaincy, had learned the position by watching Weber work.

What made Weber's departure sting was not just what he had accomplished on the ice, but who he had become off it. In 2009, he and goaltender Pekka Rinne founded the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund, which had since donated more than three million dollars to cancer research. Weber was a regular at Children's Hospital, often arriving without cameras or press in tow. He spent time with patients and their families, with doctors and staff, building relationships that extended far beyond the ceremonial visit. One of those friendships was with Mike Maguire, a 51-year-old Special Olympics athlete with Down syndrome whom Weber had met through Best Buddies Tennessee. When Weber learned he was being traded, Maguire was one of his first calls. Years later, the two remained in contact—texts answered almost immediately, FaceTime calls maintained across the distance. "He's so happy that Shea keeps in contact with him and is a part of his life," Maguire's mother, Dee, said. "Mike doesn't have a lot of friends because he's one of the older Special Olympics athletes. He counts Shea as one of his good friends."

The trade itself had been a shock to the system. On a single day in June 2016, the NHL landscape shifted: the New Jersey Devils sent Adam Larsson to Edmonton for Taylor Hall, and within the same hour, Montreal sent Subban to Nashville for Weber. Both fan bases reacted with a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. Subban had been Montreal's darling; Weber had been Nashville's anchor. General manager Marc Bergevin acknowledged the weight of the decision. "It was also one of the most difficult decisions I had to make as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens," he said at the time, adding that Weber was a "top-rated NHL defenseman with tremendous leadership" who would strengthen both the defense and the power play.

In Montreal, Weber settled in quickly. He was given an alternate captain's letter upon arrival and joined a leadership group that included Brendan Gallagher, Andrei Markov, and Tomas Plekanec. In his first season, he posted 42 points in 78 games—respectable production for a defenseman in his mid-thirties. Gallagher, his new teammate, spoke to what Weber brought beyond the statistics. "The leadership that he brings, the experience that he brings, it's had a settling component to our group," Gallagher said. "He has that presence. He has that respect of his teammates in this locker room that if he says or does something, people are going to want to follow him."

By 2021, when the Canadiens made their improbable run to the Finals, Nashville fans had made peace with the trade. The Predators themselves had been eliminated in the first round by Carolina, leaving them free to invest their emotional energy elsewhere. Weber, now 35 years old, was being given a chance to win the thing that had eluded him in Nashville—the Stanley Cup. The city that had built him up, that he had shaped in return, was now watching from a distance, hoping he would finally get there. It was a strange kind of loyalty, the sort that transcends the uniform and the transaction, rooted in something deeper than the scoreboard.