Big Money for a Small Market Club

Any minute now the Nashville Predators and its fans will find out the fate of captain Shea Weber's arbitration ruling. The Predators were going in with an offer of $4.75 million (all figures U.S) while Weber's camp was seeking upwards of $8 million. (Writer's Note: Chances are he lands somewhere in between -- think Dion Phaneuf's $6.5 million, give or take).

This decision will likely have severe ramifications for not only the short-term future of the Predators, but also the long-term viability of the franchise in Nashville. By all accounts, Nasville is a small market team working on an extremely tight budget (all the more reason to praise GM David Poile's work since the team's inception). They are hardly ever in the mix for high-profile free agents -- Paul Kariya being the exception.

Weber is the face of the Predators. They drafted him, they groomed him, and now he is one of the game's elite defenders. He has expressed a desire to stay long-term in Nashville, but chances are he won't give up reaping a huge pay day that may never come around again for him during his career if the team doesn't pony up. Nashville has the cap space to easily fit him in, but are they willing to pay him the coin he is looking for?

If not, how will that effect the team short-term as will pending UFAs next summer in goalie Pekka Rinne and defenceman Ryan Suter even bother considering staying with the team? I'd hedge they likely would not. Long term, the inability to sustain their high-end talent, namely their franchise player and captain, will only signify the team will be in a perpetual rebuild. And with that, would the fans even care anymore knowing they would never get over the hump and would that be the beginning of the end of hockey in the "Music City"?

We've seen this song and dance before and chances are the NHL is grimacing while waiting for Weber's arbitration ruling as it will be just another team who may be destined to back up the moving trucks and pack up to a new home.

EDIT: As this was being published the arbitrator awarded Weber $7.5 million (one-year deal). The benchmark has been set -- we'll see where it goes from here.