Weber's hockey skills are definitely replaceable. Won't talk about his effect in the room - not there, but it's obvious he's highly valued. I guess we'll just have to see. I'm certainly not advocating for the Habs tying themselves up to brutal contracts - who would? - but until I am shot I'll say that a conscious tank in this offseason is a disastrous undertaking and something that only makes sense on HF.
It's not a conscious tank until you lose your two 'best players'
Shea Weber is done because of injuries. That's not tanking. That's life.
If Price is gone because of injuries, a self-imposed waive and exposure.. that's the business.
At that point, yes, you try to do what you can to replicate their impact but the players in the room know they aren't going to get another Price or Shea Weber. Plus with the reality of the market, and the absence of those two players, drawing in extra players will be a tough task.
Now sure you could look at trades, but the job of the GM is to build a team and if you suddenly lost the two of your veteran players, for which your entire plan was BUILT around, you have to make a complete shift in direction and philosophy.
That's just the business and it happens a lot, it's happened to them before. They went from a perennial play-off team to basement dwellers.. and they lost Markov, Plekanec, etc. in the process due to age and trading them.. yet the team survived, the players survived and a few years later they had a miraculous run.
You're thinking too much.