With the last-place Islanders clearly in rebuilding mode, Doug Weight would seem to be a logical asset for the team to parlay into getting younger.
The resurgent Weight leads the Isles in points and has played better than he had in recent years. The only problem: He’d rather not go anywhere.
“I don’t want to be traded,” Weight said yesterday after the team practiced in Syosset in preparation for today’s home game against the Panthers. “I’ve been treated great here. I love the coaching staff, I love the team.”
But the veteran has been around long enough to understand how the business works. He signed a one-year deal with the Isles and has shown through the first half of the year that he still can play at a high level – and that he could help a team with more realistic postseason hopes.
“It’s always a possibility, seeing how the team started,” Weight said. “We’ll see what kind of position we’re at in the new year. But it puts you in a sour mood when you start hearing about it for the first time.”
He’s been through this before, having been shipped from St. Louis to Carolina, before re-signing with the Blues after that season. That would be unlikely to happen this time around, but the Isles likely would still be better off trading the soon-to-be 38-year-old for draft picks.
“It’s a weird situation,” Weight said.
Weight sounds like a man who would rather be a part of the Islanders’ building process than a missing piece for a playoff team.
“I see the maturation of young guys, I see picks and trades that could be made and maybe all of a sudden, next year at this time, the Islanders are in fifth place, fourth place, you never know. Do you jump ship . . . and join some other injury-riddled team?”
That figures to be determined soon enough.
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Rick DiPietro returned to the ice after missing two straight with a strained groin. “I would have loved to play at Madison Square Garden, but we’re trying to do this the right way and be ready for the long haul,” he said. “The knee felt good and that’s obviously the main issue.”
Trent Hunter was held out of practice yesterday after slamming through an open door at the Garden and into a metal post. Radek Martinek skated, but there’s no timetable on his return. Joey MacDonald left practice after being hit in the neck by a puck.