Shea Weber says he’s ‘excited’ to return to Nashville, appears to mean it

Shea Weber addressed the media Wednesday afternoon, giving us some insight into how he felt about his $110-million offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers being matched by the Nashville Predators.

According to Weber, he's excited. "It's a very exciting time for the Predators organization and myself," he said.

(I guess if I woke up tomorrow and I was making 25 cents per second, I'd be pretty excited too.)

But, while we wouldn't expect Weber to act anything other than optimistic, even if he secretly isn't, the surprise was that his optimism seemed fairly genuine.

It certainly didn't mesh with the declarations of love and desire for Philadelphia espoused by Jarrett Bousquet and Kevin Epp after the offer sheet was signed. What about Weber's agents telling multiple outlets that Weber didn't want to be part of another rebuild? What about how he felt Philadelphia was a "destination city"? What about "69 Love Songs about Philadelphia", that Magnetic Fields-inspired album they released?

Hey man, that was just the agents speaking, and they don't speak for Weber (apart from when they're paid to).

"That was their feelings, I guess," Weber said. "I was never a part of any of that. I didn't make any statements publicly."

Weber's performance was convincing enough to leave some Philadelphians wondering if the Flyers had simply been used all along to score him a big fat contract before the CBA runs out. His own words definitely didn't belie the notion. "I think we utilized the CBA the best we could while it's the way it is," Weber said of why he signed the offer sheet.

The Flyers may be left wondering how Weber truly feels about them, but the Predators' captain made his feelings for the Nashville perfectly clear.

"I love the city of Nashville," Weber said. "I love my teammates. I love the fans. It's a very positive thing that the ownership has stepped up and they're going to be a team that's going to spend to the cap and brings guys in."

"The team stepped up and showed that they're going to bend with the best of teams, and now we can focus on the season, and hopefully get some more pieces of the puzzle and build a contending team for a long time."

See, this whole ordeal was just a test of your love and devotion, Nashville. And you passed, because you showed you can bend with the best of them.

"This is what we needed, ownership to step up, show we are stable," said Weber. "It's going to attract guys."

And now Shea Weber wants to marry you, Nashville. I mean, that's why he's down on one knee, asking for that no-movement clause.

"I'm comfortable staying there [Nashville] for my career," he said. "We've made that clear to the organization, we're trying to get a no-movement clause because we're committed to staying there … this is a place I could see myself for the rest of my career."