By Caitlyn Golem, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

CHELSEY, ON. —Having your favourite player traded to a different team is a lot like dealing with a breakup. At first there is anger and sadness and you don’t want it to be true. You wake up the next day expecting it to have just been a bad dream, but it wasn’t. Then comes missing them and wishing they were there in all sorts of situations. The next stage is one of the hardest; seeing them with someone else before you are over it.

Then comes actually getting over it. Besides, with a hockey trade, you have a person to rebound on to. In the case of the P.K. Subban – Shea Weber trade, both teams certainly got a hell of a player that will be easy to learn to love.

Having Shea Weber now instead will save the Canadiens $1.2 million on their salary cap. That being said, Weber’s contract will take him into his 40’s and let’s just say there aren’t many guys who have the moves like Jagr at that age. P.K. Subban is only under contract until he turns 33 which means they have him locked up for his prime.

Weber does have more experience than Subban when it comes to the Olympic-level which may mean Weber is more reliable. Subban on the other hand, takes the risks to make big plays, and although they don’t always work out in his favour, a lot of the time they do in a very big way.

Both players have big booming shots and can rack up the points. The only slight difference in that regard being, Subban makes the plays more often and Weber finishes them. Canadiens’ fans are devastated that they lost their one of their core players but so are Predators’ fans. Once the season starts and both teams have a chance to witness just how much the man they got in return has to offer, there will be a lot less sad faces.

Something to comfort Nashville fans is you are getting a community guy who makes things better for those around him and a personality that will make being a fan so much more enjoyable.

Something to comfort Montreal fans, you are getting the hardest shot in the league and some free space under the salary cap that could be used to get that forward the team so desperately needs.

All that being said, I asked some hockey fans what they thought about the trade and here are a few of many responses:

Kennan Clarry explained, “I’m not a Habs fan, but that trade accomplished exactly what Montreal needed, Shea Weber combined with new addition, Andrew Shaw, makes them a much harder team to play against, which is what they needed. Carey Price aside, that team was pushed around last year and it’s going to be a lot harder to do so with those two and whomever they decide to add before September.”

John Robb gave his two cents, “from a hockey stand point I think the trade is a win for the Predators. They got a younger, more dynamic player with less term on his contract. The Habs get an amazing, stable number one defenseman in return. They have a contract though that will be tough to manage in a few years if things go poorly. From a Montreal city/fan point of view, I think this pulls the heart out a lot of fans and validates a bunch of others. It is a very divisive trade.”

Justin Maloney, a Flyers fan living just outside of Nashville shared his opinion, “watching the Predtors turn into a credible team has been awesome. A big part of the growing fan base has been players such as Weber, so it’s sad to see him go. His leadership, size, and ability to score in clutch times on his team have been vital. At the same time, Subban is high energy and younger. It might take some time for it all to click, but he will grow into a leader on this team and become a fan favourite. I really don’t think either team is a ‘winner’ in this trade.”

When it comes down to everyone questioning who won the trade, only time will tell. Nashville and Montreal are very different environments and have differing styles of play so it will come down to who can better adapt.

I think Edward Motley summed it up best when he said, “it’s easy to think about the players but these trades speak more about management. We fans will talk about this trade for years and years, it is how most will gauge the general managers as successes or failures.”

Fellow All Habs Writer, Marc Lescoutre also did an opinion piece on the trade.