Can Stephen Weiss turn things around with the Red Wings?
Stephen Weiss has had some miserable luck the past two seasons, but are things finally starting to turn around for the Detroit Red Wings forward?
By
Adam Gretz
•
2 min read
Over the past couple of years the Detroit Red Wings have made very few additions to their roster from outside their organization.
The 2014-15 version of the Red Wings, for example, is made up almost entirely of players that were drafted and developed by the team, and in some areas it is one of the youngest rosters they have had in several years. With Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, and Tomas Jurco all seeing larger roles, they are slowly starting to turn the team over to a new generation of players.
But the one big move the team has made in recent years was the signing of former Florida Panthers forward Stephen Weiss prior to the 2013-14 season to a five-year, $24.9 million contract, a move that coincided with Valterri Filppula leaving to sign a similar deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
So far, it has not quite worked out as planned. Or anything close to what they may have planned.
Weiss' first year with the team was an absolute disaster. He was not only limited to 26 games because of a sports hernia, but he contributed only two goals and two assists in the games that he did play. That performance followed an equally disappointing year during his final season with the Panthers where a wrist injury limited him to only 17 games and four total points (one goal, three assists).
For a forward that played a strong two-way game and could be counted on for somewhere between 50 and 60 points every year, it wasn't just a noticeable decline, it was a complete collapse.
Things didn't start much better for Weiss in Year 2 with the Red Wings when he suffered a groin injury after the team sent him to the AHL on a conditioning assignment.
But since he's been back with the big club, something encouraging has started to happen for Weiss and the Red Wings. He's actually producing a little bit with five points in his past three games, including three goals. Just for some perspective on those numbers, again consider the fact that he only had four points in each of the past two seasons.
Is it just a fluke over a small sample size? Or is it something that might be a reason for optimism that maybe he and the Red Wings can still salvage something over the remaining years of this contract?
Weiss had spent most of the past two games playing alongside Pavel Datsyuk, something that could lead to improved production for any player. But during Saturday's practice, coach Mike Babcock had him on a third line with Darren Helm and Johan Franzen. At 31 and coming off two straight injury filled seasons, Weiss is probably never going to return to the same level of production he had during his peak years in Florida. But there still might be something of value here.
If his recent resurgence is for real and not just a short-term hot streak, it would be a huge development for the Red Wings, not only because they need to get some sort of a return on their investment (Weiss is currently one of the highest paid players on the team by cap hit), but because it would make what appears to be an already deep roster that much better.
