Philadelphia Flyers Place Dale Weise On Waivers

Wednesday: Weise has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.

Tuesday: The Philadelphia Flyers have started to make some changes, beginning with Dale Weise. The veteran forward has been placed on waivers and is available for claim by the entire league.

Weise, 30, is a perfect example of how the Flyers have underperformed over the last few seasons. Signed to a four-year $9.4MM deal in 2016, the defensive winger has not been able to reproduce the level of offensive production he experienced in Montreal. With just 34 points in his 152-game Flyers career so far, there just isn’t enough reason to keep him in the lineup over some of the team’s younger players if GM Chuck Fletcher is looking towards the future.

Still, Weise is an extremely well-liked teammate and could very well find himself on a new team within the next few days. It may be a stretch for a team to claim him and his entire $2.35MM cap hit—that extends through 2019-20—but should he clear the Flyers could find him a new home with the added benefit of being able to go straight to the minor leagues. We’ve seen moves like this before after a player clears waivers, though there is no guarantee that is what Fletcher has planned.

If Weise does go to the minor leagues for Philadelphia, a pro-rated $1.025MM will come off his cap hit while he is buried in the AHL. That number actually increases to $1.075MM next season, meaning he would be even less of a cap liability if the team decides to keep him there.

The Flyers are moving in a new direction after a season that has seen them go 17-23-6 through the first 46 games and it is obvious that there will be other casualties. Most eyes will be focused on Wayne Simmonds next as the trade deadline approaches, given the apparent lack of any extension interest and his status as an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.