NHL Trade Rumors: Will the Predators Be Able To Keep Shea Weber and Ryan Suter?

With each passing day, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter's chances of returning are becoming more and more uncertain for Predators fans. Arguably the top defensive pairing in the NHL, they have contracts that expire at the end of the year and their names are starting to surface in rumors for the upcoming trade deadline.

If the Preds even have a chance of bringing a Stanley Cup home to "Smashville" in the near future, it will have to be through Weber and Suter. Keeping these stars will be a headache for general manager David Poile, and he will have to walk the tightrope to perfection in order to have a better team a year from now than he does today. 

Can Poile and the Preds lock down the league's most sought-after defenders long term?

No two players have been more crucial to their team's success this year than Weber and Suter, who are +15 and +11, respectively. Only four other Preds have a positive plus/minus ratio, and none are higher than +4. Not only do they plug up the defensive zone for Rinne, but they orchestrate the offense and create goals.

The Predators have the lowest payroll in the NHL this year with a little over $49 million. The defensive duo of Suter and Weber take up nearly 25 percent of that, with Weber making $7.5 million and Suter on the last year of a $3.5 million/year contract.

This franchise is known for refusing to lock down their best players to expensive contracts and being able to rebound with little-known young talent. The Predators will most likely have to let some budding stars go if they want to be able to keep Weber and Suter. 

This team is once again thriving off of low-paid forwards that are incredibly outperforming their contracts, and potential raises for these players will point to trouble when the offseason comes. Rookie center Craig Smith is tied for the team lead with eight goals and 16 assists (24 points) even though he has the third-lowest salary on the team ($715,000). 

Jordin Tootoo (13 points) and Colin Wilson (eight goals) are also having breakout years and will be free agents come season's end. To put it softly, Suter and Weber won't be the only ones asking for a big check this offseason. Thank goodness they already inked their stud-of-a-goaltender Pekka Rinne to the tune of seven years, $49 million.

One upside for Predators fans is that their most consistent forwards are signed for long-term contracts. David Legwand (signed through 2013-14) has been a Predator since the franchise began in 1998, and was in the top 10 in points for 12 of those 13 seasons (top five for seven of them). Martin Erat (signed through 2014-15) has been a major facet of the Preds offense for nearly a decade. 

While the Predators thrive off Legwand and Erat's consistency, they both eat up $4.5 million per year and are sticking around for a while. If the Preds sign both Suter and Weber to long term contracts, it would look to be about $7-8 million/year for Weber and $4-6 million/year for Suter. That would translate to these four players absorbing about half of the cap space for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons (see: Miami Heat payroll).    

It took arbitration last offseason for the Preds to agree with Weber on a one-year contract. The $7.5 million/year range should be ideal for Weber in the offseason given he's not traded, and Suter will be looking for a decent raise to keep him in Music City since he's performing at such a high level.

With the heavy contracts of Rinne, Legwand and Erat, the Predators will most likely not choose to sign both defenders to multi-year contracts. If Nashville wants to keep their stars, I expect them to re-sign Weber to a huge deal somewhere in the six-year, $45 million range and hope that Suter will be happy with a one-year deal. 

So far, Poile has done a great job of keeping the Predators afloat financially while still providing a competent team. The looming decision on what to do with his star defensemen could make or break the franchise.