Montreal Canadiens: What to expect from Dale Weise in his Laval debut

Coming off three games with the Montreal Canadiens, Dale Weise is back in the AHL making his Laval Rocket debut against the Syracuse Crunch.

Dale Weise‘s debut with the Laval Rocket was delayed the last time he was with the team, but now he’ll get an opportunity to play tonight. The Montreal Canadiens reassigned Weise to the AHL to make room for Paul Byron to come off injured reserve. Given the lack of roster space on the Habs at the moment, the 30-year-old will likely stay in Laval until after the Trade Deadline adding another new face to the team.

Weise has played AHL games this season as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers organization putting up a goal and assist in three contests with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Joël Bouchard will have many options to play the veteran.

He could choose to break up the top line of Daniel Audette, Jake Evans, and Alex Belzile or slot Weise in next to Michael Chaput on the second line. The latter option seems more plausible at this moment, but we won’t know for sure what the combinations are until puck drop. That said, Weise will likely be given a bigger role than what he would see on the Montreal Canadiens.

Playing higher in the lineup could give him more offensive opportunities. Weise did put up good numbers when in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack before beginning his NHL career in 2010. Granted that was eight years ago. The NHL production may not be as grand as it used to be, but the minors could be a different story.

Weise is also another voice on the bench to help when the team starts to get in their own head. The Laval Rocket are out of the playoff picture, but they can still take some moral victories and lessons from the remainder of the season. Perhaps Weise plays a role in that as well.

Laval has had a rough outing in February so far. They went on a seven-game losing streak that started at the end of January that was put to rest thanks to a 4-3 victory over the Binghamton Devils. Unfortunately, the Rocket have returned to the losers column for the last two games and will have to defeat one of the better teams in the league.

Laval Rocket

• Leading goals: Belzile – 13 goals
• Leading assist: Belzile –  17 assists
• Leading points: Belzile – 40 points

Syracuse Crunch

• Leading goals: Carter Verhaeghe – 23 goals
• Leading assist: Carter Verhaeghe –  33 assists
• Leading points: Carter Verhaeghe – 56 points

The Crunch are on a similar streak as of late losing their last two games to the Toronto Marlies and Rochester Americans. One of their strengths remains to be their powerplay which is fifth in the AHL at 21.6%. Additionally, there is a lot of scoring depth in that locker room with Alex Barre-Boulet, Andy Andreoff, and Cory Conacher chipping in.

Laval needs to do a better job at limiting scoring chances and stay out of the penalty box. Otherwise, Syracuse will give them a reason to regret it.

Crunch at Rocket 

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Broadcast: AHLTV