NHL team tried to sign Shea Weber: “We really wanted to get him.”

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber has spent the past two seasons with the club, but what if fate lead him to a different franchise?

Mike Gillis, former President and General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks made a rare appearance on TSN 1040 and may have said just a little too much. We have not heard much from Gillis since his firing in 2014, but Gillis had much to say during his radio appearance.

Management personnel never want to tip their hand to other teams, especially moves they have in mind. However, Gillis let listeners in on who he wanted to acquire during his tenure with the Canucks.

Gillis admitted that they went after Shea Weber “really hard,” hoping to add him to the Canucks’ blueline.

https://twitter.com/TSN1040/status/1050179367672807424

During the interview, Gillis mentioned that Canucks personnel visited Weber at his house in Kelowna, BC. Weber was apparently really receptive to what the Canucks offered as a team.

“When we visited him at his house in Kelowna, he was really receptive to the way we played and the way we did things, but then he got that offer and it really knocked us out of the box.”

Weber would ultimately take a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers worth $110,000,000 over 14 years. The Predators matched the offer, keeping Weber in Tennessee.

https://twitter.com/TSN1040/status/1050177009501052934

Of course, Weber would then be traded to the Montreal Canadiens.

Weber is from Sicamous, BC, which is more northern BC compared to Vancouver. The overall trek is roughly 5 hours south from where Weber was born.

It would have been epic to see Weber play for the Canucks, but at the time, Vancouver couldn’t match the financial side of the deal.

Weber becomes a free agent in 2026 if the Canucks are eager to sign a 41-year-old defenseman.

How big of an impact would Weber have made if he signed with the Canucks in 2012?