Beyond just Weiss, this is a great game for the
Rangers to scout because both teams are on the outside looking in, which might
make both amenable to making trades.
Each team has some potential targets that might interest the Rangers, but
let’s look at Stephen Weiss who is likely the most popular of those choices
from perspective of New York fans clamoring for a deal to help Marian Gaborik
at the center position.
Weiss, 27, is an
intriguing center to look at when it comes to the trade market. He has played first line minutes and against
top competition for a number of years in Florida, has back-to-back 60 point
seasons and has a very reasonable cap hit of 3.1 million for the next two
seasons. Weiss has 15 goals, 22 assists
and 37 points in 52 games for the Panthers this year.
On the ice Weiss is a
tremendous skater, has good vision and passing ability while being able to chip
in on the goal scoring front. His
ability to score goals is a little unsure because last season he put up a
career high 28, but is only at 15 thus far this year. It is tough to fully gauge whether that is a
result of the lack of overall talent in Florida or speaks to where Weiss
actually is.
In addition to his
regular offensive numbers, Weiss has the potential to help the Rangers in two areas that have plagued them this season; power play and faceoffs. On the season he has one power play goal and 12 assists, which would make him number one on the Rangers in both power play assists and points. He is also excellent on faceoffs, currently wining 54% of
his draws (25th in the NHL), which would be a considerable upgrade for the Blueshirts.
The question is not
whether Weiss would make the Rangers better than they currently are, but if the
cost to bring him in would be worth it long term? As always it depends on price, but the
intrigue of adding a player in his prime years with a low, fixed salary to skate with
Gaborik certainly has a lot of appeal. The reasonable cap hit would also make it much easier to keep their own players this summer than signing a bigger name like Brad Richards.
There is also a huge
caveat to the whole discussion; Stephen Weiss has a no-movement clause so he
would have to approve any deal. Maybe it
is weird, but I love the fact that up until a reporter told him,
Weiss had no idea he had the clause in his contract.
When talking about
the possibility of leaving the Panthers, Harvey
Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel, reports Weiss had the following to say…
“There are points where it really wears on you,” Weiss told NHL.com. “But at the back of my mind, I just want to try to play hard and when it does finally work here, it’ll feel that much better because you stuck it out. That’s not to say there haven’t been tough times, but this is where I got drafted and this is where I want to be.“When the calls stop coming in and nobody wants you, that’s when you’re in trouble,” he said. “If you’re playing the way you should be, the interest will be there.”
Have to love the attitude and the desire to want to see the work through, though it makes you wonder if he would even be willing to accept a trade out of Florida. In the end, while I really like Stephen Weiss and believe there is an upgrade over what the Rangers have right now, I do not see him as a true number one center on a contending team.
What would you give
up for Weiss? Is Weiss really a number
one center? Is center the biggest
need? Would you rather wait until the
summer and shoot for Brad Richards? As you can see the Rangers have a lot of questions right now, but Weiss might be a potential answer.
