Doug Weight as an Oiler

[whcanuck]

So I remember Doug Weight being a pretty decent player on an Oilers team that despite finishing just inside the playoffs most years, tended to be very plucky in the first round...upsetting Dallas and Colorado in back to back years with Cujo a big reason why.

But I remember Doug Weight being the catalyst up front. He had a really good knack for playmaking and I always thought he was underrated and that the Rangers shouldn't have let him go...that they still could have won the Stanley Cup with him, even though Tikkanen was pretty good for NYR in that '94 Cup run.

When the Oilers acquired Bill Guerin in '98, I thought that was an especially dangerous duo. They tore Colorado apart in that first round series that year.

What did you guys think about Weight when he was an Oiler? Underrated, accurately rated?

 

[K Fleur]

Last Oiler to have a 100 point season before McDavid in 16-17.

Some useless bar trivia

 

[McRpro]

Still my favorite player ever. If only the salary cap had come in a decade earlier...

 

[streitz]

He was very good but he wasn't a superstar, probably the 7th or 8th best center in the western conference in the later 90's. Good all around player.

 

[knifer]

He was very good but he wasn't a superstar, probably the 7th or 8th best center in the western conference in the later 90's. Good all around player.

Sakic, Forsberg, Yzerman, Fedorov and maybe Modano. You say 7th or 8th like he was decent. The guy had skills , he was a great player.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

poor man's Joe Thornton

 

[streitz]

Sakic, Forsberg, Yzerman, Fedorov and maybe Modano. You say 7th or 8th like he was decent. The guy had skills , he was a great player.

Sakic, Yzerman, Fedorov, Forsberg, Modano, Reonick, Nieuwendyk(when healthy).

That's 7, you could also argue Turgeon but I preferred weight to him.

 

[The Panther]

There was a three or four year period when he was one of the top centers. He sure was fun to watch! Maybe the "slickest" puck carrier. Great vision and IQ.

If nothing else, he was the only Oiler to score 100 points in a season between Messier and McDavid, which was during the 29-year period when the Oil failed to have a single .600 season.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I'd say he was more than "pretty decent" player

 

[tony d]

Always liked him as well, had quite the career. Was one of the better centres of the post Gretzky pre Mcdavid Oilers franchise.

 

[Neutrinos]

Brad Richards vs Doug Weight would make for an interesting discussion

 

[Nick Hansen]

His numbers are actually more impressive than you'd think.

1238 games and 1033 pts. Better than Kovalev and Patrik Elias, for instance. 100 games more than St. Louis but the same amount of points.

 

[FerrisRox]

He was very good but he wasn't a superstar, probably the 7th or 8th best center in the western conference in the later 90's. Good all around player.

I'd love to know who those eight centres ahead of him in the Western Conference would be.

Yzerman, Fedorov, Forsberg, Sakic and Modano... Then who?

Only three centres in the West outscored in 1995-96. The following year five outscored him. In 97-98 only two outscored him.

EDIT: Just read the later response. Can't imagine anyone taking Joe Nieuwendyk over Weight in those years, but to each their own.

 

[FerrisRox]

Brad Richards vs Doug Weight would make for an interesting discussion

I'll take Doug Weight, and quite easily.

 

[Sticks and Pucks]

Brad Richards vs Doug Weight would make for an interesting discussion

I think the Conn Smythe puts Richards ahead.

 

[Neutrinos]

I think the Conn Smythe puts Richards ahead.

That's irrelevant in a discussion about who was better

 

[mrhockey193195]

I'd love to know who those eight centres ahead of him in the Western Conference would be.

Yzerman, Fedorov, Forsberg, Sakic and Modano... Then who?

Only three centres in the West outscored in 1995-96. The following year five outscored him. In 97-98 only two outscored him.

EDIT: Just read the later response. Can't imagine anyone taking Joe Nieuwendyk over Weight in those years, but to each their own.

I'm very partial to Weight, but it'd be hard to not take Turgeon in the late 90s over Doug. Roenick was right there as well, I could see someone going either way. Ditto for Nieuwendyk. Also, if we consider Toronto was in the West until 1998-99, then Sundin is definitely in the group.

 

[FerrisRox]

I'm very partial to Weight, but it'd be hard to not take Turgeon in the late 90s over Doug. Roenick was right there as well, I could see someone going either way. Ditto for Nieuwendyk. Also, if we consider Toronto was in the West until 1998-99, then Sundin is definitely in the group.

I definitely take Weight over Turgeon, and it's not particularly close for me. Turgeon was supremely skilled offensively, but was soft as wet tissue paper and generally clueless without the puck.

I would also take him over Nieuwendyk (in that time frame) again quite easily. In the first half of the 90's, I'd take JR over him, but a after the trade to Phoenix, JR wasn't quite the same player.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

If this gives Weight some "credit" I remember him as being the kinda only "good" player on the Oilers for NHL 94, probably had the highest rating on that team (maybe mid 70s or so). I cant remember specifically, but I imagine maybe he was the best player on a below average team between 1992-1993 and 1995-1996 (since I don't believe they made the playoffs in 95-96, cant remember if Guerin, Cujo etc were there yet or if that wasn't until 96-97).

 

[mrhockey193195]

I definitely take Weight over Turgeon, and it's not particularly close for me. Turgeon was supremely skilled offensively, but was soft as wet tissue paper and generally clueless without the puck.

I would also take him over Nieuwendyk (in that time frame) again quite easily. In the first half of the 90's, I'd take JR over him, but a after the trade to Phoenix, JR wasn't quite the same player.

Very fair. I can't argue too hard with those opinions, Weight was a hell of a player. I'd just say that I respectfully disagree though!

Out of curiosity, would you take Sundin over Weight?

 

[FerrisRox]

Very fair. I can't argue too hard with those opinions, Weight was a hell of a player. I'd just say that I respectfully disagree though!

Out of curiosity, would you take Sundin over Weight?

I would peg Sundin ahead of Weight, but the difference is slight. Sundin was an incredibly consistent player, one of the most consistent players I've seen in the last twenty years.

 

[Neutrinos]

[QUOTE="Jim MacDonald, post: 148719637, member: 291917"]If this gives Weight some "credit" I remember him as being the kinda only "good" player on the Oilers for NHL 94, probably had the highest rating on that team (maybe mid 70s or so). I cant remember specifically, but I imagine maybe he was the best player on a below average team between 1992-1993 and 1995-1996 (since I don't believe they made the playoffs in 95-96, cant remember if Guerin, Cujo etc were there yet or if that wasn't until 96-97).[/QUOTE]

You forgot about Dave Manson

Also, I think Petr Klima had a higher ranking as well

 

[Zegras Zebra]

It's pretty fair to say that Doug Weight was the best Edmonton Oiler between the time of Messier being traded to McDavid being drafted if you ignore Cujo and Pronger who weren't with the organization for a long period of time.

 

[yukoner88]

Weight was the quintessential Oiler in his time here. He had great fast hands and was top notch at being creative and unpredictable with the puck. His compete level was off the charts and I truly think it was infectious towards the team and help create a strong and close atmosphere in that lockerroom. Not only was he passionate about the game, but he became a great ambassador for the City of Edmonton and to this day, I don't think Doug has ever said a bad thing about Edmonton.

I understand the Oilers brass have a rule about needing to be inducted into the HHOF to have your number retired, but he's the one player whom it would be nice to see an exception made for. Or at the very least raise his number and "honor" it.

When other players in Canada and other markets were holding out for more money, or leaving teams for bigger paychecks, Weight was the one guy who stuck around and gave us his best years at a discount, elevating the team around him as much as he could.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

I think the loose consensus would be that he was behind Sakic, Forsberg, Yzerman, Fedorov, Modano, and Sundin, in the west. Leaving him as the 7th best centre in the conference.