The Nashville Predators have matched Philadelphia's 14-year, $110 million offer for defenseman Shea Weber, as announced by Nashville's official team site. The move ensures that Weber will remain with Nashville for the next 14 seasons, barring any sort of trade. 

It appeared that Philadelphia had all but priced Nashville out for Shea Weber but today's news signals that Nashville is willing to spend big money in order to keep their current captain locked up.

Jessica Ghawi, also known as @JessicaRedField on Twitter, was one of the victims of the devastating theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Ghawi, 24, had moved to Colorado in order to further pursue her dream of becoming a sports reporter / sports journalist. She shared an immense love of the sport of hockey - a feeling that you most likely share if you're visiting this site.

The Jessica RedField Sports Journalism Fund has been created to assist another aspiring sports reporter through school in Jessica's name.

A disclaimer: I was an Atlanta Thrashers fan. After watching eleven years of Don Waddell do God knows what (the Hossa trade? The Kovalchuk trade? come on now) with a hockey team has me paranoid regarding other teams' general managers. When teams in markets that aren't the biggest in the NHL do stupid stuff, it worries me. Columbus GM Scott Howson has had me on the edge of my seat all summer long in regards as to what he was planning on with the trade of Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash. I was hoping he wouldn't botch the deal, because I know how it feels to have your team's captain traded. Regardless of if the situation's become a distraction or not, there's still something sad about seeing the face of your franchise leave for admittedly sunnier pastures.

Howson did not bungle the trade. Sure, he didn't get what he wanted for at the trade deadline or even the NHL draft, but he also didn't get cogs. He wound up with two forwards in Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov who combined could replicate Nash's scoring. He wasn't going to get top youth from other teams like Jeff Skinner or Logan Couture. That just wasn't happening, and I think everyone knew it.

The Rick Nash saga has finally concluded. It took months for Columbus GM Scott Howson to find a deal he actually could agree to, accepting a deal from the New York Rangers (Darren Dreger). It's fitting that the Rangers are the team involved considering that they were believed to have offered the best deal for Nash before the 2011-12 trade deadline passed. 

The Rangers will be sending Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round pick to the Blue Jackets in return for their star forward. The Blue Jackets are also giving the Rangers prospect Steven Delisle and a conditional third-round pick.

Things are about to change in a big way for Rick Nash. Gone are the days where he played relatively sheltered hockey in Columbus. The base in Columbus is passionate but it's clear that the local tabloids have nothing on the notoriously ruthless New York reporting.

Nail Yakupov, the Edmonton Oilers first round pick (and the first overall pick) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft impressed sufficiently enough out of prospect camp to have a contract by the end. The Oilers released a press release today stating that Yakupov has been signed to a three-year entry level deal. In case you missed it, the kid's a bit of a huge offensive threat. He had 69 points in 42 games last year for the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. Despite a disappointing post-season that was caused by a nasty bout of mono, there's nothing to make one believe that the former OHL Rookie of the Year won't be able to carry over his offensive touch in the NHL. 

From the press release:

General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today the Edmonton Oilers have signed right-winger Nail Yakupovto a three-year entry level contract. 

Steve Tambellini says, "We're very happy to sign Nail to a three-year contract. He's an extremely talented and passionate young man who we feel will be an integral part of our team for many years to come."

He certainly has internal motivation that has to be confusing the "Russians are lazy!" crowd right now. From an interview with OilersNation.com earlier this month, Yakupov was very emphatic that he wants to make the team to start the season. He worked hard at camp, and he'll probably make the team to start. No harm in reinforcing that "hard work gives you rewards" mindset early on.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have fired their team doctor and the rest of the medical staff as of Friday. This might fall into the "delayed reaction" category of things. If you remember, Sidney Crosby's concussion occurred during the 2011 Winter Classic courtsey of an elbow from Dave Steckel. Crosby was allowed to play in the Penguins' next game despite concern, where he was slammed into the glass by Victor Hedman. Team doctors pointed to this as when Crosby got his concussion, but a good number of individuals wondered if it was not the Steckel high elbow that did the trick. Did Crosby exhibit signs between the games? The team was mum on it, but it was evident after the Hedman hit that the Penguins' star player was, in fact, concussed.

About a year and a half ago, hockey teams started putting sponsorship logos on their jerseys. The Detroit Red Wings began this disturbing trend with their Amway sponsorship, and fans weren't happy. At all. Soon this disturbing trend spread to other, non-cash strapped Original Six teams like the Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks. Hockey fans were in an uproar. Sure, these were just practice jerseys, but having a sponsorship on any jersey -- especially ones with Original Six logos -- was just cringe inducing. Fans worried if the next step was sponsorship on the regular jersey, a la teams in international leagues, which could probably be referred to as "NASCAR on ice." The trend continued to spread, to where a good chunk of teams all the way to the Florida Panthers are featuring corporate sponsors on practice jerseys.

Under the cover of night is about the time one would expect an offer sheet deal to go down. No one likes to discuss offer sheets in the NHL. They're often seen as poaching players, tempting them away from their rightful teams. General managers tend to stay away from them because it "paints them in a bad light," despite the fact that it's a perfectly legal and fine thing to do according to the CBA and every other owner and general manager in the league.

Consider Shea Weber poached. The Philadelphia Flyers, again without the services of Chris Pronger for the foreseeable future, need a star defenseman. Shea Weber finished a year of a deal that paid him $7,500,000 -- the salary decided not by the Nashville Predators, but by an arbitrator. Weber is now a RFA, which gives the Preds first negotiating rights to him. Would they sign him to a long term deal? Would they trade him in fear of him walking away for nothing? Or -- and no one expected this -- would another team swoop in and offer up a deal too good to pass up?

Reports are indicating that Dominik Hasek is contemplating a return to the NHL. Hasek, 47, hasn't appeared in the NHL since he called it quits following the 2007-08 season where he minded the net for the Detroit Red Wings. We aren't pulling your leg. Even at the ripe age of 47, Hasek is apparently extremely motivated to play again in the NHL.

Hasek admits that he isn't sure if a team would be willing to take a chance on him but he has stated that he believes he can complete if given the opportunity. If a team decides to take a gamble on Hasek what should they expect from the goaltender that hasn't seen any NHL action over the past four seasons?

Free Jonathan Bernier.

One can only imagine how frustrating Jonathan Bernier's career has been so far. The Los Angeles Kings selected the netminder 11th overall in the 2006 NHL Draft but have used Bernier sparingly thanks to the talented Jonathan Quick clogging the path from the bench to the ice. 

Bernier's frustrations have finally boiled over as the goaltender requested a trade to a new team in order to have a chance of seeing some real playing time. Bernier anticipates he will be dealt but believes a deal won't be reached until training camp gets a bit closer. For Bernier, a trade should bring an opportunity to finally prove himself at the NHL level.