Mackenzie Weegar is Good

[Paulie Walnuts]

He has been good all season.

His offence is starting to turn around but either he gets really excited or feels the pressure but handling the puck on the blueline is not his thing he has fumbled the puck or just plain whiffed on it. To his credit he works just as hard when he does make a mistake to get back on his check.

[CroFlames]

Huge fan of Weegar.

Tkachuk will come close to Huberdeau's point total from last season, and they are in 9th.

Huberdeau is NO WHERE near Johnny or Tkachuk's point total, and we are in 9th.


I wish we still had Tkachuk, but Weegar has been great. Happy with that guy.

[robertsfanatic]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Over the last two weeks I've seen too many posts where Mackenzie Weegar is grouped into the Huberdeau, Markstrom, and Kadri contracts and that's just not the case.

He's great value at $3.25M, and will be good value at $6.25M. 45 dmen will make over $6M next year and I'm perfectly fine with the Flames paying Weegar that much.

People are disaapointed in his points but he's played no PP time, so that was always going to reduce his numbers. And as a whole this team isn't as prolific as the Panthers from last year either.

Overall though he's still a pretty great d-man at 5v5.

Goals: 1 (Team D Rank: 6th)
Assists: 13 (2nd)
Points: 14 (3rd)
Shots: 86 (2nd)
Hits: 108 (1st)
Blocked Shots: 59 (3rd)
Individual xG: 4.3 (1st)

Corsi For %: 61.6% (1st)
xGF/60: 2.87 (4th)
xGA/60: 2.05 (1st - 3rd in the entire NHL)
xGF%: 58.4% (2nd - 7th in the whole NHL)

GF/60: 2.25 (5th)
GA/60: 2.13 (1st - remarkable when you have a on ice .899 SV%)
GF%: 51.4% (5th)
On Ice Shooting %: 6.41% (6th)
On Ice Save %: .899 (5th)

Him and Tanev have had horrible shooting and save percentage luck this season, but overall they still have been our two most reliable dman. And IMO Weegar has been good with and without Tanev, where I feel like Hanifin and Andersson can really struggle when Tanev is out.

On top of that he's been good on the PK. Has been flexible to play with different d partners, and bounce from the LH to the RH side of the ice.

If not for a terrible on ice shooting percentage and individual shooting percentage his counting stats would look a lot better. Wouldn't mind him getting more PP time too.

Much like TJ Brodie in the past people will fixate on the bad giveaways every couple games, but overall he more than makes up for that.

Personally I'm happy Weegar is part of the team and have no issues with that contract.

And as an extra here is his JFresh player card.

Out of thanks...but thanks.

[Paulie Walnuts]

I don't understand what WAR is and how it is used?

Are those percentages the percentile he is in?

[Sylvanfan]

The useless old eye test tells me that he's been getting better as the season progresses and is playing his best hockey of the season right now.

I'm not too worried about his contract moving forward.

[Jiggy_12]

Given that situation the Flames were in, even a return of just Weegar, Schwindt, and a 1st would have been a decent return. I know we are sour on Huberdeau but that’s mostly the contract.

Still was a great trade from an asset standpoint and Weegar has been as advertised

[Classic_Sniper]

Have to give big credit to Weegar for his performance lately. He has stepped up big time with Tanev out. I remember saying I'd be much more comfortable re-signing Weegar than Huberdeau after the trade happened because he had an underrated defensive game/physicality and I think he's displayed exactly that. He's been terrific defensively this season and his offensive game has come along nicely. Good player.

[jayswin]

Love Weegar, he's been my favourite Flame this season. Just plays the game the right way, with a no bull**** mentality.

He breaks up plays before they start, which doesn't always show up in advanced stats or the minds of the average fan. But he is really, really great.

[Goriders]

Weegar has had a handful of brutal games and has a weird penchant for randomly losing the puck off his stick.

But he’s a solid defenseman. Not the biggest guy. But plays big. I was surprised that he has a bit of a mean streak. He’s a pretty good skater and can generate offense.

All in all a solid contributor. Good pickup. Look forward to watching him improve as time goes on.

[Rutuu]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

Given that situation the Flames were in, even a return of just Weegar, Schwindt, and a 1st would have been a decent return. I know we are sour on Huberdeau but that’s mostly the contract.

Still was a great trade from an asset standpoint and Weegar has been as advertised

Who's not picking Huberdeau as a "sleeper" next year in the 4th round of their fantasy draft though?

Get him for pick 30 - 40 and watch him end up top 15 in points...He's 119th right now.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Rutuu

Who's not picking Huberdeau as a "sleeper" next year in the 4th round of their fantasy draft though?

Get him for pick 30 - 40 and watch him end up top 15 in points...He's 119th right now.

The good news is 119 is close to how many points he got last year.

[GreenLantern2814]

Give him the C.

[Erick Estrada]

In tight games he fails the eye test to me. Lots of bad passes and poor plays with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone. However he's an advanced stats darling so I guess he's not that bad.

[Vinny01]

He has been noticeably better down the stretch here. The offensive game is coming and he is now over 30pts. Definitely a key reason the team is on a 9-3-2 run since early March.

I really liked him with Rasmus so hopefully Tanev is back soon so they can reunite that top pair.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

In tight games he fails the eye test to me. Lots of bad passes and poor plays with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone. However he's an advanced stats darling so I guess he's not that bad.

I'd like to demystify "advanced stats" in his case.

He's a defense first defenseman so you only truly notice him when a mistake happens. But the numbers suggest bad things just don't happen when he's on the ice.

Nothing fancy or advanced about that (not speaking to you directly).

3rd in the league for shot attempts against
1st in the league for shots against
4th in the league for expected goals against (a touch fancier)
6th in the league for scoring chances against
8th in the league for high danger against

Those are just counts, no bias, no magic.

Elite defenseman.

[Erick Estrada]

I can't disagree with the stats. He just doesn't look elite at times to me as he seems to have his moments of rumbling, bumbling, stumbling that are hard to ignore.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I can't disagree with the stats. He just doesn't look elite at times to me as he seems to have his moments of rumbling, bumbling, stumbling that are hard to ignore.

Absolutely.

I don't think he's elite offensively at all. His biggest mistakes are offensive decisions at the blueline.

Think his recent points run is good fortune after a season of mostly bad fortune.

[ForeverFlameFan]

He’s been so good on the back end that I am ecstatic he’s a Flame for another 8 years.

I don’t usually get players on the back of my jersey because players come and go, but Weegar is likely my next jersey.

[HighLifeMan]

Analytically he's the best defensemen in the NHL at five on five and on the PK, and the only comparable across the board is Jacob Slavin who's widely regarded as a top 10-15 defender in the world.

These #'s were prior to the game on Friday, so they have only gone up since.

five on five (minimum 500 minutes played)

1st among all NHL defensemen in CF% at 61.46%
1st among all NHL defensemen in SF% (by a longshot) at 62.09%
1st among all NHL defensemen SA/60 at 21.64/60
3rd among all NHL defensemen in CA/60 at 42.77/60
7th among all NHL defensemen in CF/60 at 68.21/60
7th among all NHL defensemen in xGF% at 59.26%
7th among all NHL defensemen in SCA/60 at 22.92
8th among all NHL defensemen in SCF% at 58.44%
10th among all NHL defensemen in HDCA/60 at 9.95/60
14th among all NHL defensemen in SF/60 at 35.43/60
24th among all NHL defensemen in GA/60 at 2.02/60
T-24th among all NHL defensemen in points at 24
172nd out of 202 eligible defensemen in PDO at 0.979 (500+ minutes played)

Penalty Kill (minimum 100 minutes played)

1st among all NHL defensemen in SA/60 at 39.92
1st among all NHL defensemen in HDCA/60 at 14.87
1st among all NHL defensemen in xGA/60 at 5.18
1st among all NHL defensmen in CF% at 27.98%
1st among all NHL defensemen in SF% at 34.40%
3rd among all NHL defensemen on CA/60 at 75.29
3rd among all NHL defensmen in HDGA/60 at 0.96
4th among all NHL defensemen SCA/60 at 44.1
110th out of 114 eligible NHL defensemen in on ice SV% at 80.49%

You don't lead the NHL in the vast majority of these categories "by accident". He's an incredible player, and truly underappreciated league wide for what he provides. Ekblad's play this year should speak volumes to his importance.

[Huntingwhale]

Weegar is a stud and certainly makes the decline of Huberdeau a bit less painful. Don't want to imagine where the team would be without him. Steadily has gotten better as the season has gone on.