Stephen Weiss and his poor play
I am going to start this article where it began and that is on July 5th 2013. July 5th was a very exciting day for Red Wing fans as they signed Alfredsson and Weiss, huge additions for the Red Wings.. so they thought. I will leave Alfredsson's name out of this article because my main focus is to talk about Forward Stephen Weiss, there are many problems with Weiss so far this season.
First I would like to begin by saying on July 5th only hours after signing Alfredsson we added Weiss so fans were all excited due to the offensive forwards that signed with the Red Wings and so they should be. However Stephen Weiss was ridden by injuries the year previous during the half lockout year as he only played 17 games accumulating only 4 points. The year before that (2011-2012) he only missed two games as he played in 80 games as he put 57 points on the board that year. Which brings me to this season, Weiss has played 25 games so far for the Red Wings this season he only has 4 points. Now if you were to ask any Red Wings fan what is the biggest thing that he has done so far with his stint in Detroit most would say he is only known for scoring the Overtime winner against Carolina near the beginning of the season. Since then it is clear cut obvious that he has done virtually nothing since then because stats don't lie. It would be another thing if he brought some physicality but he doesn’t even do that, he loses important faceoff’s constantly.
Secondly the reason why the Red Wings brought Weiss into Detroit was in hope to add some secondary scoring to Datsyuk and Zetterberg, so far it hasn't happened and honestly I don't see it happening anytime soon. Weiss almost looks lost out on the ice in my opinion, I say that because he never seems to be in the right place at the right time. Weiss knows what he was brought in for maybe it is too much for him to handle but I highly doubt that would be the case since he has been one of the few offensive players in Florida over the past few years.
My last thing that I will be talking about is the money that the Red Wings are paying Weiss... At first glance this contract doesn't look any better even after you dissect the contract and everything that comes with giving a player a contract. Stephen Weiss is earning just south of 5 million this season and will continue to earn that amount each year for the next 4 seasons after this one. It is scary that the Red Wings will be eating this salary as his play does not match the contract what so ever.
Weiss knows that he has to step up especially with all the offense that is being held out of the Red Wings lineup currently due to injuries. Let's hope for the Red Wings sake that he starts to find his game as quick as possible.