From Meltzer's Musings.... I corresponded yesterday with a longtime NHL pro scout about Nashville's Ryan Suter. His take on the All-Star defenseman is that while Suter would be an asset on any team in the league, Suter is not a franchise player like Shea Weber. Thus, if it comes down to keeping one player or the other for the long haul, it would be Weber he'd hand a blank check to and work the team's cap management around both him and Pekka Rinne. As for Suter's pronouncement that he wanted to wait until after the season to talk contract and focus only on hockey, the scout gave a very blunt assessment. "That means he's as good as gone this summer," the scout wrote. "When a player really wants to stay and just focus on hockey, he has his agent negotiate an extension before he hits the free agent market. But this is a business. He's going to make a lot of money, and get paid like a franchise player." I asked the scout if he would consider Suter an upgrade on Matt Carle if the latter were to depart Philadelphia via free agency this summer. "Yes, Suter is better but Carle's pretty good, too. I think he's stepped up without Pronger this year," he said. "He's another guy who is line for a big payday." food for thought from a Meltzer trusted scout. Almost what most of us are thinking here, at least the threads i've been reading. Let's hope Homer doesn't empty the cupboards on suter, maybe we can make a run at weber the next year, when the cap gets some relief from timmonen's deal expiring.