Ex-Habs analytics expert slams Subban trade and Shea Weber in recent interview.

The Montreal Canadiens fired analytics expert Matt Pfeffr just one year after hiring him, reportedly because of the passionate case he made to organization regarding their decision to trade P.K. Subban, and for the first time in a recent interview with The Hockey News, Pfeffr let the world know how he really felt about the deal.

“But I guess everyone knows now where I stood on the Subban-Weber trade. There are times when there’s some possibility that there would be another side to the argument, but this was one of those things where it was so, so far outside what could be considered reasonable. 

Not only does Pfeffr believe the trade was beyond the realm of reason, but he went on to effectively insult Shea Weber himself describing him in very unfavorable terms, especially when considering his status in the National Hockey League.

"He’s not pushing the needle in terms of how many goals the Nashville Predators score and get scored on when he’s on the ice. He’s good, he’s serviceable, but he doesn’t really push the needle on either side.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being average in the NHL,” Pfeffer said. “An average NHLer is worth a heck of a lot and that’s what Shea Weber is.”

Those are very strong words from Pfeffr, and they likely won't go over very well with many NHL organizations especially since Pfeffr believes that the bias against analytics he claims existed within the Habs organization is a league-wide problem.

“The person I reported (director of legal affairs/capologist John Sedgwick) to liked my work and the methodology behind it and believed in it,” Pfeffer said, “and there were others inside the team that didn’t believe in it and maybe had their mind made up about advanced stats. I think there’s been a bit of pushback from people in the NHL recently about this kind of stuff.”

[pub]