Why would any Flyers fan want a contract that is that long?

Good cause we don't intent to loose him .

Because he is still an elite dman and the likelihood of him playing out the full contract is slim to none. Get a good 4-5 years out of him and the LTIR or he retires and NSH is hit with the recapture penalty.

*clears throat*..........................................No

I agree he doesn't play that contract out, but MTL would never retain salary for the next 7 years, why would they especially when you're handing them Voracek's contract. I don't necessarily hate this idea, but I wouldn't want to take that risk that Weber is still playing at 40 or 41 like a Chara, but not as good. Chara still brings something to the table with his absolute size, and Weber could with his shot, that's not going to go away, but still not enough for me to want to keep him at that age if he refuses to retire. Also don't really want Shaw for 3 years because he's going to be blocking a Farabee, Ratcliffe, Frost if Hayes signs because Frost will be a wing in the NHL then or they'd never have a spot for him.

I'd much rather work a trade with this same package to Nashville for Subban and say Craig Smith. Serviceable RW, 1 year left on his deal, then let the kids come up and take over for good.

Weber's contract really isn't that bad at all, even in the later parts of it. He has one of the grandfathered contracts that are now illegal for teams to give out (he signed a 14 year $110mil deal, remember.). If ever Weber declines to a stage where he isn't worth his $7mil cap hit, his actual salary for the last 3 or 4 seasons are just $1mil. Teams seeking to reach to cap floor will take him.