Flyers Sign Dale Weise, Four Others
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
July 1 is here, and free agency is underway in both the NHL & NBA. As usual, money is being thrown around, like it's going out of style. In the NBA, there are multiple $100+ million contracts being handed out, while the NHL is giving contracts to players, that'll make you cringe. While other teams are busy throwing out albatross contracts, that they'll come to regret in a few years, our Philadelphia teams have sort of flown under the radar. As mentioned in an other piece, the Sixers have signed guard Jerryd Bayless to a deal. The cap-strapped Flyers also made a number of moves today, although they were mostly on the smaller scale of things.
PHI is front runner for Dale Weise. Could be a four-year deal.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2016
As seen in the above tweet, TSN's Bob McKenzie reported earlier this morning that the Flyers were the front runners to sign former Montreal Canadiens winger Dale Weise to a four-year contract. It took quite some time, and fans were left to sweat it out for a bit, but the Flyers official Twitter account later confirmed the signing.
The #Flyers have signed free agent forwards Boyd Gordon and Dale Weise → https://t.co/RftiAEKKS9 pic.twitter.com/F2Sx8wY1DT
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 1, 2016
After lengthy speculation by fans, and false reports surfacing, McKenzie took to Twitter once again addressing the Flyers/Weise situation, this time clarifying terms. It's a four-year contract, worth $9.5 million ($2.35 million per year). A very team-friendly deal.
Not sure what is or isn't out there, but Weise's deal in PHI is four years, $9.4M total, which if my feeble math is right, $2.35M AAV.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2016
By signing Weise, the Flyers have made it clear that Ryan White will not be back next season.
Hexy tried to re-sign White this morning but failed.
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) July 1, 2016
Weise will add a unique combination of size and speed to the Flyers. The 6'2, 206 lb winger has primarily served as a third or fourth line winger, and figures to serve in that role during his time with the Flyers. He's known for his physical-style of play, but has recently started finding the back of the net more often, a trait that the Flyers could use desperately. Over the past two seasons, Weise has compiled 24 goals.
He's essentially going to take White's position on the team, and is in a position to serve as an upgrade over White. In six NHL seasons, the Winnipeg-native has accumulated 27 career goals. He's also accumulated only 260 penalty minutes in 329 career games, as opposed to Ryan White, who has 363 career penalty minutes in 248 games.
Additionally, the team also confirmed that they signed a number of players for organizational depth, including the aforementioned veteran Boyd Gordon.
The #Flyers have signed forwards Greg Carey, Andy Miele; defenseman Will O’Neill → https://t.co/Y5P8r2IuR8
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 1, 2016
The Flyers currently sit with approximately $9.5 million left in available cap space, but still need to re-sign RFA's Brayden Schenn, Nick Cousins, and Brandon Manning. Ron Hextall has also mentioned that he wishes to keep a $2 million cushion on the salary cap, in the event that prospects Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecky both make the team out of training camp. With such little space left, it's hard to imagine that the Flyers could have much left in store for the summer. However, we are talking about Ron Hextall, here. So, I advise all of you to stay tuned.
