Earlier this week, Dale Weise cleared waivers but was not immediately assigned to the AHL. Instead, it was reported he was staying up with the Flyers for the time being. That appears to have changed. Head coach Scott Gordon told reporters, including Dave Isaac of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post, that the winger would not be accompanying the team on their road trip to Montreal and that he would be starting their bye week early. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels adds (Twitter link) that Weise has been told to stay home and await a trade.
Considering he has now passed through unclaimed twice already this season, his trade value can’t be high. It’s likely that the Flyers would need to retain close to the maximum 50% of his contract which carries a $2.35MM cap hit through next season and/or take a similar contract back as part of a return. The 30-year-old is only three years removed from a 14-goal season but he has struggled since joining the Flyers back in 2016. This season, he has just five goals and six assists in 42 games.
More news from Philadelphia:
- A pair of Flyers goalies are making good progress in their respective injury recoveries. The team announced that Brian Elliott has resumed on-ice workouts but there isn’t a timeline yet for his return. He has been out of the lineup since suffering a groin injury in mid-November. Meanwhile, Michal Neuvirth is expected to resume on-ice activities sometime next week although, like Elliott, there remains no timetable for his return. The team also updated defenseman Samuel Morin’s situation, indicating that he’s likely a month away from returning following offseason ACL surgery.
- NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Boruk notes that there could be an early trend to follow when it comes to new GM Chuck Fletcher’s trades. Their movement thus far (which could also extend to Weise’s waiver placement) has been either to remove players that aren’t playing with much physicality or to bring someone in with some size that is more apt to playing that type of role. Considering they soon have a decision to make on winger Wayne Simmonds, it will be interesting to see if Fletcher’s apparent desire to play a more physical style will have any kind of impact on their contract negotiations.