Faceoff Factor

What does D Mike Weaver mean for Pens?

Kyle Dreibelbies | Pittsburgh Penguins

Aug 10, 09:47 AM | Hype this story!

As most of you have seen by now, the Pittsburgh Penguins have signed 29-year-old right-handed 5’9” 180 lb defenseman Mike Weaver to a one-year, two-way contract. Weaver is known as a two-way defenseman who can hit (despite being undersized) and has a decent breakout pass. He is a 6th or 7th defenseman, at best, on most teams. So why was he signed?

The top 2 defensive pairings are pretty well set with Gonchar, Eaton, Whitney, and Orpik. Weaver will not beat out Darryl Sydor for the 5th d-man spot, so that leaves Letang, Scuderi, Weaver, and Nasreddine to fight for the 6th and 7th spot.

The Weaver signing gives the Penguins some options with Letang. If they decide that Letang would be better served by developing in the AHL and playing first-line minutes along with time on the power play and penalty kill, then Weaver, Scuderi, and Nasreddine can rotate in as the 6th defenseman alongside Sydor for a half-season or so while Letang is learning. This may be what Weaver is hoping for, considering that he hasn’t spent any time in the AHL since the lockout, except for a 2 week conditioning stint.

The other, and perhaps more likely, option is that Letang starts alongside Sydor with Scuderi and/or Nasreddine as the healthy scratch(es). This would put Weaver in the AHL to mentor Goligoski, a highly-rated offensive defenseman prospect. Weaver would be the leader on a very young blueline in Wilkes-Barre in this scenario.

To summarize, it is a very low-risk signing that will benefit the Penguins’ depth on the blueline. These types of signings prove valuable in case of injury, trades, and even development issues (Letang).