Written by Liam McGuire at Bloguin
With the NHL season currently underway, many players have gotten off to unexpected starts. The first 15 games of the season usually aren’t representative of a player’s season-long performance, however, as hot starts usually fade. Here are three players who are off to great starts and a quick debate whether their performance is sustainable.
Dale Weise
With the Canadiens off to a strong 12-2-1 start, Weise surprisingly has a team-leading eight goals. He’s found real chemistry on the third-line with Tomas Fleischmann and David Desharnais, who lead all NHL line combinations with 13 goals. He’s earned time on the power play and has the trust of head coach Michel Therrien.
Weise’s hot start has positioned him well for unrestricted free agency, but don’t expect his production to last at least at this rate. Weise is on pace for 44 goals, which is about twice as much as he should top out with. That’s 13 more than he has in his entire career. He’s getting more opportunities, shooting the puck at a career-high rate, but he’s also scoring at a 22.2 shooting percentage and averaging just under 14 minutes a night. He can’t continue to score at those rates. He’s not a great possession player and while he’s a valuable piece to the Montreal Canadiens, he’s not suddenly going to become a 30-goal scorer. Twenty goals? It’s possible, but there’s no way he continues close to this pace for much longer.
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