Dale Weise signs with the Philadelphia Flyers on the day of NHL Free Agency on a four year deal just shy of $10 million.
@daleweise22 welcome to the fly guys. @NHLFlyers. #reunited
— Michael Del Zotto (@MichaelDelZotto) July 1, 2016
Weise is four years, $9.4M with Flyers
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 1, 2016
Weise, 27, most recently played for the Chicago Blackhawks. He scored only one assist in 15 games after being traded to Chicago at the trade deadline and added only one more goal in four playoff games. Dale Weise was acquired by Chicago from the Montreal Canadiens along with Tomas Fleischmann for a 2018 second round pick and forward Phillip Danault.
The 6’2″, 205lb right winger made a name for himself on the Montreal Canadiens after two mediocre outings on the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. After twice having negative experiences with head coach John Torterella, Weise was traded for defenceman Raphael Diaz to the Habs. The trade was heavily criticized among the NHL community, especially Canadiens fans who believed Diaz had the potential to be a top four defenceman and that Weise was on his way to the waiver wire.
Weise became a playoff hero for the Canadiens in 2013-14 with seven points in 16 games, with a major performance against the Boston Bruins in the second round. “Dutch Gretzky” showed speed, physical prowess and enough annoyance to knock forward Milan Lucic off his game so much he threatened to kill Weise in the end of series handshake. In the 2014-15 and 2015-16 regular seasons with the Canadiens, Weise proved himself to not just be a bottom six forward but show some top six scoring ability with 29 points in 79 games and 26 points in 56 games, with a good number of points coming from his stints in the top six with Max Pacioretty.
After two and a half seasons of strong performances as a bottom tier top six winger, Weise was rumoured to be looking for a big payday this summer. Unfortunately, his disappearing act with the Chicago Blackhawks hurt his value considerably, with word that Weise contacted the Montreal Canadiens camp for the possibility of returning.
Weise will join Ryan White on the Flyers as former Habs on the Philadelphia bottom six.
