Florida Panthers could Lose Stephen Weiss due to Lockout -NHL Special
A number of players are suffering due to the lockout, especially those who have not been able to sign with a team abroad, either by choice or due to the unavailability of an opportunity. Florida Panthers just might face a loss themselves when the dust settles,
and when thinking about possibly losing Stephen Weiss, nothing small comes to mind about the impact it will have on the team.
Losing a player like Stephen Weiss would be devastating to any National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, especially the Florida Panthers who have just begun making their mark in the North American major league.
Weiss is currently in the final year of his six-year, $18.6 million contract with the Florida Panthers, and burning that away to a lockout which could last through the entire 2012-2013 NHL regular season, may just allow any team to take him away once he
enters the free agency on July 1st, 2013.
While the veteran forward has indicated a number of times and on various forums that he would like to stay with the Southern Florida franchise, there is no telling what the future might hold, in terms of opportunities for him once the time comes.
They failed to lock a deal with Stephen Weiss, due to some undisclosed issues during the offseason, while some termed the Florida Panthers wanting to postpone the deal making process due to the pending lockout and see what they could benefit from once a
deal came into play.
“Things got stalled during the summer,” Weiss said after yet another informal workout at the Glacier Ice Arena in Lighthouse Point, according to the Miami Herald.
Obviously, if the season gets off to a start and a new labour deal is in place, Stephen Weiss is for certain not going to be in discussions on a new deal before everything comes to an end and the proper time to discuss comes around.
He added that the next offseason would be the proper time to consider a new deal, which could be devastating for the Florida Panthers if another team manages to pick him up with an offer he just might not be able to refuse.
“I don’t want to do anything during the season. I just want to focus on the season and take care of business. We’ll revisit it during the summer and see what happens.”
The 29-year-old centre player is a native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was picked up by Florida Panthers as the fourth overall back in round-one of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.
In a total of 637 games played, Stephen Weiss has 144 goals and 246 assists to his name for 390 points.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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