Ron Hextall became Flyers GM three years ago and, over that time, he’s been praised for a number of his moves.
The Dale Weise contract? Yeah, that’s not one of them.
Weise -- signed to a four-year, $9.4 million deal last summer -- has been a huge disappointment thus far. He’s had repeat trips to the press box as a healthy scratch, lost three games to suspension and, all told, has just four goals and eight points in 53 games played.
Yesterday, Hextall addressed the Weise signing (among other topics), and confirmed the obvious: Weise has fallen way short of expectations.
“If you’re evaluating right now, you’d probably say he hasn’t put up the type of numbers that we hoped,” Hextall said, per Philly.com. “He’s playing pretty well lately. He’s certainly a better player than he’s shown over the course of the year.
“I think at the time we added depth to our lineup and we expected 12 to 15 goals and he’s nowhere near there. In a nutshell, we all know Dale can play better.”
Hextall was clearly hoping Weise could regain the form shown in Montreal. The 28-year-old had 14 goals and 26 points in 56 games for the Habs in ’15-16 (this after scoring 10 goals and 29 points in ’14-15).
But there were warning signs his statistical outburst was an anomaly, rather than the start of something big. Weise’s time in Chicago following a deadline deal from Montreal was, as he put it, a “disaster.” He went scoreless with just one point in 15 regular-season games, and was a non-factor in the playoffs.
Looking ahead, one wonders how big an albatross Weise’s contract could become. He turns 29 in August, and is owed $2.35 million annually through 2020. It’s not a crippling cap hit or anything, but for a guy that’s only found the back of the net four times this season, it’s a significant chunk of change.