Red Wings' Weiss on second season outlook: 'I'm a threat on the team as a No. 2 center'
Detroit Red Wings center Stephen Weiss was one of the most heavily sought after free agents on the open market last summer. That was 13 months ago though and after a brutal, oft-injured showing in his inaugural campaign in Detroit, the once highly-regarded pivot will go into his second season in Motown as a major question mark.
"I really have tried not to think about last year at all," Weiss said in an interview with Dan Rosen of NHL.com this week. "I don't really know why that happened. I try to do everything in my power to make sure those things don't happen, and when they do it's pretty frustrating."
Weiss spent the majority of the season hurt, or trying to play hurt after undergoing sports hernia surgery in December. It should probably be mentioned that he was ineffective in the fall before his injury derailed his season.
"I'm back to normal, not having any pain," said Weiss of his status this summer. "And I'm slowly starting to get explosive again. It's tough to compete at this level when you're not 100 per cent."
Those sentiments – that Weiss's injury was largely responsible for his struggling to keep up in his first Red Wings season – were echoed by his coach Mike Babcock.
"Sometimes when you go to a new team and you've got a big contract, you're so busy trying to prove yourself and earn your contract that you don't want to make any excuses and you don't want to make anyone think you're bailing," Babcock said. "Well, it's not bailing, it's called injured, and when you're injured you can't play in our league. You've got to get fixed. Stephen didn't help himself and in the end ended up with a setback."
The 31-year-old center has eclipsed the 40-point mark six times in his career, and has twice managed 60 points or more. Over the past two seasons though, he's managed just eight points in 43 games.
With four years remaining on a contract with an annual average value of $4.9 million per season, if Weiss doesn't bounce back this year, his deal threatens to become a major albatross for the Red Wings.
Weiss doesn't seem to think that's a likely outcome, though.
"I'm confident," Weiss said. "I know I can play the game and I'm a threat on the team as a No. 2 center with those two guys [Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg] coming out first. We should be able to do some damage if we're healthy."