Although the Islanders haven't announced it as of yet for salary cap reasons, they will sign Weight to a one-year contract. Why the rebuilding Islanders feel the need to sign a player who will be 40 years of age half-way through the season, is injury prone, is coming back from shuolder surgery, and scored only one goal last season is anyone's guess. Weight's only real value is that of a mentor to the younger players.
Coming off a career-low 25 points in 2007-08, Weight bested that before the All-Star break. He ripped off 35 points through 44 games before getting sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury. He still finished up third in team scoring with 38 points in 53 games for the season. He will turn 39 in January and it will again be difficult to stay healthy the course of a season. Despite the negatives that surround him, Weight should be able to fall in line around the same point level, especially if he is flanked by either Okposo or Tavares. Just don�t expect him to score at as high a pace as he did for most of 2008-09.
Weight scored a career-low 25 points in 2007-08, but odds are he may wind up outscoring most of the youth movement on the Islanders' roster. He'll see increased ice time and thus should be able to pad his totals with anywhere from 10 to 20 points. That being said, even if he notches 40 points, he'd barely crack the top 150 scorers in the league based off last season.
Weight got off to a slow start last season due to the nagging effects of a shoulder injury sustained the previous season. However, he finished the season strongly and led the Blues in scoring over the last 20 games (10G, 9A). At age 36, the classy centerman likely still has enough in the tank for at least one more 55-60 point season. Just beware the injury risk.
Weight returns to St. Louis this season after a late-season trade to Carolina in 2005-06 where he helped the Hurricanes win their first-ever Stanley Cup. Trouble was, he served more of a second-fiddle role behind guys like Eric Staal and Rod Brind’Amour. Now he’s back with the Blues where he will return to first-line status along with fellow old-timers Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin. From a fantasy perspective, Weight is less valuable in goals-only pools, since the bulk of his points come from assists. He has never cracked the 30-goal plateau and at this stage in his career, probably never will. He won’t do much for you in the PIM department either. As long as you keep these things in mind and don’t overpay for him, he should be a decent contributor for your squad.
Weight will provide your team with assists in buckets but he leaves most of the scoring to his linemates, likely Tkachuk and either Dallas Drake or Eric Boguniecki this year. Weight has averaged only 15 goals the last three years and doesn't provide much in the way of PIMs, plus/minus, power player points or shots either. If you are in a straight points pool, Weight has good value, as he should hit 70 points. However, those points totals often put him very high on the scoring leaderboard and therefore draft lists -- don't let this fool you. Centers are plentiful and you may be able to get someone a few rounds later that will provide your team with more overall than Weight will -- for example Daniel Briere, Olli Jokinen or Bobby Holik.
