Montreal Canadiens Report Cards: Dale Weise

Dale Weise was an unknown role player when he was acquired for Raphael Diaz. In the end, he ended up being one of the best surprises for the Montreal Canadiens this season.

STATS: 17 Games | 3 G-1 A = 4 P | 17 PIM | +4 | 44.4% Corsi | 0.7 Point Shares
PLAYOFFS: 16 games | 3 G-4 A = 7 P | 4 PIM | +5 | 40.5% Corsi

STORY: Weise absolutely changed Montreal’s fourth line from the moment he stepped on the ice in a Canadiens uniform. Prior to the trade, they were a line that would often get trapped with no real chance of counter attacking. Weise, coming to the Canadiens changed all that. In his first few games before the Olympic break, Canadiens fans were already optimistic.

In the playoffs, he turned into an even better player. You know how every year some obscure role player scores huge goals and gets a big raise? This year, Weise was that player.

Quick. Think about some of the biggest goals for the Canadiens in this playoff run. Odds are, Weise probably scored it. I was surprised when I saw he only had three goals but I can vividly remember all three. There was the overtime winner in Game 1 against Tampa Bay. The opening goal in Game 7 of the Boston series (pictured above) and his breakaway goal against Boston in Game 3.

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Weise was great on the fourth line with Daniel Briere and made two very smart plays on Rene Bourque goals in Game 5 of the Rangers series. He definitely has some skill genes in his game and that will help the Canadiens go forward and was probably something that was missed in his stint in Vancouver.

GRADE: A
Weise was very good and exceeded anyone’s expectations. He wasn’t the reason the Canadiens lost Game 6 against the Rangers, but his absence didn’t help. I wouldn’t expect him to be as good as he was in the playoffs all the time, but even flashes of that brilliance is more than enough for his bottom six role.

FUTURE: Weise supplanted both Travis Moen and Brandon Prust on the Canadiens fourth line and one would expect him to start in that role next year. He is a restricted free-agent so he will be due for a little bit of a raise, but I would expect him to be in the same role next year when the season gets underway.