With Steve Stamkos wrapped up by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the big name dangling out there (especially for us!) is Shea Weber. With arbitration scheduled and the possibility of a deal being struck at any time before thedecision is handed down, PredNation is holding its collective breath to seewhat the outcome will mean – now and down the road.

Stamkos took $37.5M over the next five years, and in the final year of his contract he agreed to go to $5.5M in an obvious concession to the salary cap hit of the contract, keeping the total cap hit at $7.5M Many people are reading this as Stamkos wants to win, and he’s willing to put the team’s needs ahead of his own. Of course, now you have to wonder if this logic might be applied by Shea Weber, David Poile, the arbitrator, or anyone else involved in the case.

What we can take comfort in at the end of the day is that Shea Weber will be wearing Predators gold once the season starts. Nashville is poised for a very good season of youth development alongside the continuation of success bred by last year’s playoff run. The returning players are another year on in experience, and the new kids are going to make a serious push in training camp for spots this year. Training camp might be pretty interesting!