Maybe Babcock thinks that doing to Weiss what he did to Tatar at the start of last season will get him going (which I don't think being scratched for the first 9 games or so did anything positive for Tatar). Playing on the 4th line would do nothing for Weiss either. Really odd that Babcock played Weiss all pre-season with AHL players that didn't have a lot of scoring potential instead of giving him good scoring wingers.


Ericsson likely wouldn't play the same amount of minutes as Kindl since Ericsson is a main guy on the PK and Kindl isn't. Those pairings have a much more balanced look on paper and from what we saw last season...and to some extent this pre-season.
- dcz28

I don't think Weiss looked great in pre season...he got a lot of games and never really looked dangerous or hungry for the puck. But I do agree that he basically got shafted with line mates and maybe if he played with a young kid like Gus it could benefit him. Hard to say though and I don't mind nestrasil getting a shot tonight I think he's earned it.

As for the defence that is my fault I didn't consider the pk minutes but I just don't see babs taking Ericsson off the first pair

I don't think Weiss looked great in pre season...he got a lot of games and never really looked dangerous or hungry for the puck. But I do agree that he basically got shafted with line mates and maybe if he played with a young kid like Gus it could benefit him. Hard to say though and I don't mind nestrasil getting a shot tonight I think he's earned it.

As for the defence that is my fault I didn't consider the pk minutes but I just don't see babs taking Ericsson off the first pair
- HomestyleMelt

I agree Weiss didn't impress me either in pre-season and I wasn't a big fan of his signing to begin with but given that he has pretty much missed the last 2 seasons of play, I'm willing to give him a bit more slack. If he plays lots this season and still bombs then I would say scratch him and buy him out this summer or trade his ass back to Florida or something.

I don't expect Babcock to put those defense pairings like that either...too obvious for him and he likes to do weird combos that look bad on paper so that if by some miracle they do work, he looks like a genius for doing it instead of just doing the obvious.

I agree Weiss didn't impress me either in pre-season and I wasn't a big fan of his signing to begin with but given that he has pretty much missed the last 2 seasons of play, I'm willing to give him a bit more slack. If he plays lots this season and still bombs then I would say scratch him and buy him out this summer or trade his ass back to Florida or something.

I don't expect Babcock to put those defense pairings like that either...too obvious for him and he likes to do weird combos that look bad on paper so that if by some miracle they do work, he looks like a genius for doing it instead of just doing the obvious.
- dcz28

Well he's got a pretty good resume so I'll trust his coaching opinion lol as for Weiss idk he showed that he could be an effective gritty player in Florida but unfortunately some injuries have really changed him...it's obviously hind sight not signing filpula but I'm not gonna pretend I thought he was worth the money he wanted after one good season either....hopefully Weiss can work his time in the line up with some hard work in practice

Could you imagine if Filppula stayed and we had him, Mule, Z, Dats, Tatar, Riley, Jurco and Gus.... ugh. Unreal.