THEY DON’T LIKE PERSONALITIES ... THEYTAKE PLAYERS LIKE THAT AS A DISTRACTION.

Bergevin acquired Weber — at 32, four years older than Subban — for the present more than for the future. Weber has eight more seasons remaining on his 14-year, US$110-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $7.85 million, while Subban has four more years on his eight-year, US$72million deal with a $9 million cap hit. The present and the future look much brighter for the Predators.

Weber will miss his 22ndstraight game Saturday with a foot injury and has 6-10-16 totals in 26 games this season along with a minus-8 rating while averaging 25:20 of ice time. Subban leads the Predators in scoring with 15-28-43 totals in 53 games and is plus-11 while averaging 24:01 of ice time. Subban leads all NHL defencemen in goals, ranks third in points and is in contention to win his second Norris Trophy. He has tied his career high in goals and has 10 more points than Max Pacioretty, who leads the Canadiens with 16-17-33 totals.

The Canadiens certainly seem to be missing Subban much more than the Predators are missing Weber. Dealing Subban was the first in a series of moves Bergevin made — or didn’t make — that have resulted in the Canadiens being in the position they are now.

Weber has come as advertised — a solid defensive defenceman with a booming shot — but he doesn’t bring fans out of their seats the way Subban did and the Canadiens still appear to have leadership issues. It will be interesting to see, with Subban in town, if there are any empty seats at the Bell Centre on Saturday, something that has become a regular occurrence this season.

Former Canadien Georges Laraque, one of Subban’s friends, probably hit the nail on the head about Subban’s problems in the Habs locker-room when he said the other players didn’t like his big personality and were jealous because of his popularity with fans and his huge contract. Laraque, who hosts a weekday radio show in Montreal, also hit the nail on the head about Subban’s problems with Canadiens management when he said Subban was becoming bigger than the team.

“When a guy becomes bigger than the team, they’ve always done that,” Laraque told me about the Canadiens trading Subban and Patrick Roy. “They don’t like personalities ... they take players like that as a distraction. They want a player that just plays the game and has no personality. In Montreal, you have to fit a certain profile and that’s why they like Carey Price. He doesn’t talk ... he has no personality.

“I’m happy for P.K. in Nashville,” Laraque added. “It would be nice if he won the Cup and brought it back here to Montreal. That’s the only way Canadiens fans are going to see it.”