I am greatly saddened by the trade. Subban was my favourite Habs player and I truly thought only an idiot would trade such a charismatic, generous, and fantastic player.
Sigh...
So, first things first:
1--I was wrong when I said Subban was unavailable. I posted that in many threads leading up to and following the draft. I truly believed he would not be traded, but I was wrong.
2--I still think Subban is a top 5 defenceman in this league. I do not care what jersey he wears, he is a 27 year old Norris winning and multi-Norris nominated defender. He is awesome offensively, and is very good defensively. The Predators are getting an astounding talent and anyone trying to diminish Subban in any way from any fan base just does not know anything about hockey. Preds fans will fall in love with him so fast that it will stun them all.
3--Weber is still an elite #1 defenceman in the NHL. He is a solid player who will bolster Montreal's defence and will protect Carey Price. He will clear the front of the net and keep Price as safe as possible. He is also a terrific point producing player and brings some amazing leadership qualities with him to our team. Montreal fans should wait to see him on the ice and will understand how good he actually is.
4--We lose the trade. Period. Weber is 3.5 years older than Suban, and will slow down sooner than Subban will. There is no shame in admitting that we lost this deal, overall. However, it does not mean we are not still contenders. Weber will help us to contend over the next 3-4 years, as long as Price stays healthy. Losing Subban hurts, but Weber will still be awesome enough to help our team to go far as long as Price remains healthy. Of course, that might be what Bergevin is banking on Weber ensuring with his physical presence around the net. I do not like this trade for the Habs. I do like Weber, though, and he is not the hot garbage some people have tried to portray him as since he was traded.
5--This trade simply solidifies my belief that Bergevin and Therrien are incompetents and, quite possibly, racists. DSP and Subban gone within months of each other. Why? I know that shills like Marinaro and Nilan are going to trot out all of the supposed problems in the locker room, but the players themselves never seemed to indicate any such problems. As Pacioretty pointed out, the only way to eliminate those BS rumours would be for Subban and Him to make out in public. Every time I hear "Subban was too much like an NBA or NFL guy" to be in the NHL it screams "racist" in every language. Subban was too flamboyant, too NBA, too individual, etc, etc... Another way of saying "too black". I have lived 48 years on this planet, and come from a biracial home. I have lived through all of the polite catch phrases that all add up to the same thing: "racism". I do not care if he IS flamboyant, has his own sense of style, promotes himself, or goes to parties with public figures and posts photos about it. This lie about him being selfish or not about the "team" is proven every single time he steps on the ice. He has put it out there every single game throughout his entire Habs' tenure. People in the media started using the term "Planet P. K." as a way to try and soften the blow when that imbecile Bergevin decided he was going to trade him. It was a marketing technique used to try and get the fans on board with moving Subban. It is a shame that it has worked with some people.
6--Bergevin and Therrien need to be fired. Molson needs to grow a pair and do the right thing: hire the best GM and Coach available without any regard for language or nationality. If this organization wants a return to the days of winning Stanley Cups, we need to be able to have a guy like Stanley Cup Champion at every level Larry Robinson coaching our players in place of a nothing like J. J. Daigneault. When Bergevin hired Daigneault over Robinson I knew there was a problem, but had hopes it would be a minor one. Seeing Bergevin trade Subban in order to keep his "foxhole" buddy happy makes me sick. Bergevin and Therrien are failures and will not help our team win. Anything our team does will be in spite of them, not because of them.