Flyers Sign Dale Weise And Boyd Gordon

The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t have much cap space to work when the NHL‘s free agency period opened up at noon on Friday. It was thought that the Flyers could get a mid-level free agent that would help in the scoring department, but instead they added some depth players.

Dale Weise agreed to a four-year, $9.4 million contract with a $2.3 million cap hit per season. Boyd Gordon agreed to a one year contract worth $950,000.

Dale Weise

Weise split the season between the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks last year. He played in 71 games with 14 goals, 13 assists and had 27 points. The forward averaged 13:25 of ice time per game and added three power play goals. In four postseason games with the Blackhawks, he had one goal that just happened to be a game-winning goal. In 329 games, he has 37 goals, 29 assists, 86 points, 260 penalty minutes and five game-winning goals.

He will help to improve the Flyers’ bottom six, which didn’t contribute much offensively last season. Weise has decent size to go with a good work ethic. He is good on the forecheck, which should help the Flyers to be in the offensive end a little bit more this season. If he needs to, he isn’t afraid to drop the gloves. He tends to score goals in bunches, but can also go without a goal for stretches.

Weise needs to be engaged physically in the game to be useful. He isn’t afraid to throw his weight around. The forward tends to be inconsistent on the offensive side of the puck. He will most likely get third to fourth line minutes with the Flyers next season. He adds size and some speed and will bring some depth to the bottom six.

He scored 10 or more goals in each of the past two seasons. He will most likely play at even strength and may even get some power play time on the second unit.

Boyd Gordon

Boyd Gordon was specifically brought in as a face-off and penalty kill specialist. He has a career 56.9 face-off win percentage. In 65 games last year, Gordon had two goals, two assists and four points. He also won 57.8% of face-offs taken. The center is an effective defensive players that works hard.

Gordon does lack offensive zone consistency and is somewhat injury prone. He can play either center or right wing. By bringing in Gordon, Claude Giroux won’t be tasked to take as many defensive zone face-offs during the penalty kill. Gordon should be a help to the Flyers’ PK, which was awful last year. He will most likely take Ryan White’s place on the fourth line and he will block shots.