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No movement in Weber situation

The clock continues to tick for the Nashville Predators, who must decide by 11:30 p.m. Wednesday whether to match the Flyers' 14-year, $110 million offer to restricted free-agent Shea Weber.

"We have no clue what's going to happen," Kevin Epp, one of Shea Weber's agents, said Monday night. (Joe Howell/AP file photo)
"We have no clue what's going to happen," Kevin Epp, one of Shea Weber's agents, said Monday night. (Joe Howell/AP file photo)Read more

The clock continues to tick for the Nashville Predators, who must decide by 11:30 p.m. Wednesday whether to match the Flyers' 14-year, $110 million offer to restricted free-agent Shea Weber.

"We have no clue what's going to happen," Kevin Epp, one of Weber's agents, said Monday night. "We're all in a state of limbo."

Epp believes that the size of Nashville's ownership group - 10 people - may be slowing the process.

"There's a lot of owners who have to get together to make the decision," he said. "It's not like the Flyers with one owner."

After last season, the leader of the local ownership group told the Tennessean newspaper that ownership members had been forced to put $60 million of their own money into the operation over the last five years, largely to cover losses.

On Monday, the teams' general managers did not talk, according to someone familiar with the negotiations.

Since Weber signed the offer sheet late on Wednesday, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren and Nashville GM David Poile have had just one conversation.

If Nashville matches the offer, it retains Weber, one of the NHL's premier defensemen. If it doesn't match, the Flyers get him and send four No. 1 picks to the Predators.

The teams could also work out a deal in exchange for Nashville's agreeing not to match the offer sheet. In that scenario, Nashville would get the four No. 1 picks and might send some back for players, such as Matt Read and Andrej Meszaros. Erik Gustafsson and Marc-Andre Bourdon are also among the candidates.

It is unknown whether Holmgren gave Poile a list of available players.

According to Epp, Nashville has not talked to Weber since he signed the staggering deal with the Flyers. Epp said the star defenseman was antsy in the beginning to learn where he would be spending the next 14 years, but has now resigned himself to the fact he probably won't know until late Wednesday.

The Predators have less than two days to decide. Hanging in the balance is the direction of two franchises until the 2025-26 season.