NHL Trade Talk: How Will Lack of No-Trade Clause Affect Shea Weber's Future?

Shea Weber's 14-year, $110 million mega deal will likely keep the 27-year-old defenseman in a Nashville Predators sweater for the rest of his career.

However, if the team decided to trade him after next season, there's nothing in the contract that would prevent general manager David Poile from shopping his captain to any of the other 29 teams.

Josh Cooper of The Tennessean talked to Weber's agent on Wednesday, who shared the last details of his client's enormous contract.

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Per Shea Weber's agent Jarrett Bousquet, contract is finished, registered with the league. No no-trade clause or no movement clause though

— JoshuaCooper (@JoshuaCooper) September 5, 2012"

The lack of a no-trade and a no-movement clause isn't a surprise at all, and was fully expected to happen, but it does mean that the Predators will never have to deal with a Rick Nash-like disaster that the Columbus Blue Jackets went through for most of last year and into the summer.

Nash's deal had a no-trade clause that made it difficult for the Blue Jackets to get rid of him. He submitted a list of teams he was willing to be dealt to, and Columbus could only make a trade with one of those clubs. This really hurt the Blue Jackets' ability to get the most in return for their captain, and when we finally saw the value they got for Nash when he was dealt to the New York Rangers, it was obvious that the NTC was a real problem.

Luckily for the Predators, they will be able to get the best possible deal for Weber if they ever want to trade him. The Predators are not allowed to trade Weber for one year, which is standard with offer sheets that are matched. However, when that period of time is up, it's possible that several teams could be interested in acquiring him.

Even if there was significant interest in Weber around the league, to trade a player of his importance, the Predators would be need to be blown away with a trade offer they simply couldn't afford to refuse.

From a salary cap standpoint, Weber's cap hit of about $7.85 million (via Capgeek.com) would be tough to trade under the current salary cap of $70.2 million, but if the owners' proposal of a lowered salary cap (via Darren Dreger of TSN) comes to fruition in the next CBA, trading Weber could be even tougher, especially in the first few years.

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Proposed Salary Caps: all projected and fixed: 2012/13 - $58M 2013/14 -$60M. 2014/15-$62M. 2015/16-$64.2M. 2016/17 - $67.6M 2017/18 - $71.1M

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) August 29, 2012"

The chances of the Predators trading Weber are slim, but if they ever wanted to, at least they will have the freedom to find the best deal for the franchise because there isn't a no movement or a no-trade clause in his contract.

Nicholas Goss is an NHL lead writer at Bleacher Report. He was also the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Final in Boston. Follow him on Twitter.

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