Shea Weber drawing extra scrutiny from the NHL over injury and people are wondering why

The NHL seems to be taking extra measures to ensure Shea Weber's injury is bad enough to keep him out of the Montreal Canadiens' lineup and it has some people questioning why. During his latest 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman stated Weber was recently in Montreal for a physical, his second one since the announcement that he wouldn't be playing this season, and possibly never again.

"Generally, players on long-term injury who aren't expected to play are only required to get checked out at the start of training camp, but Weber's drawn extra scrutiny from the NHL," said Friedman. "I think he'd be playing if he could, but this is where we are."

There's some speculation on social media that the recapture penalty for Nashville should Weber retire may have led to more physicals to make absolutely sure Weber can't play, but there's been no official statement from the league. Weber's current contract was signed while he was a member of the Predators. It was for 14 years, something the league has since outlawed, While the initial amount of the recapture penalty for Nashville has since been reduced, there could be a penalty of around $3 million per season until 2026 is Weber retires.

Weber played in every game of the Habs' run to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but it was announced shortly after that he would not play this season due to lingering knee and ankle injuries. Montreal has stated the chances of him ever playing again are very low.