After a day off we're back! The countdown continues with Tyler Weiss! A prospect very different than the first few we have discussed. Weiss, the first American on the list is a lot smaller in the stature than any of the others on the list previous. While he is listed as a mere 5'10" 159lbs both of those might be generous, especially the height. Apart of last years 2018 draft class, Weiss was taken in the 4th round at 109th overall.





Weiss was drafted out of the USNTDP. At the development program, he primarily played on the third line and PK. The team was absolutely stacked and a complete power house, so while his 31 points in 58 games combined with his overall role on the team weren't overly impressive, at the end of the day he was competing for ice time with the likes of Oliver Wahlstrom, Joel Farabee, Jack Hughes, and Jake Wise just to name a few. So when you are looking at Weiss you need to know a lot more than just his stats in order to properly evaluate him.





He was far from the highest recruited player on the USNTDP, but after two very solid seasons in the program in which he posted 30 goals and 87 points in 171 games in both the USHL and and USDP, he did eventually sign his letter of intent and joined the University of Nebraska Omaha. While the UNO program is not a traditional powerhouse it might be one of the most underrated D1 collegiate programs in the country, so I was very happy with that decision personally. In reality I would've been very happy with him going anywhere in the NCAA as I thought that was the best route for his development given his size and overall skill set. UNO was just a cherry on top, a very competitive program over the last couple of years with a good reputation for developing players like Weiss. It was also one of the schools where he was going to get a good amount of playing time as a true freshman, something a lot of other schools would not have been able to offer him.

Entering his freshman year at UNO there were some question marks about his overall skill as well as what his role would be with the team from the jump. Pretty much the only thing that we knew for sure was that he was a speedster. He could absolutely blaze past guys on the ice. There was an expected learning curve for him, as for most true freshman especially of his size. He certainly hit that learning curve and had to adjust over the course of the season. He also ran into a lot of injury trouble during the first half of the season which did not help or make anything easier. In his freshman campaign, Weiss only ended up suiting up in 25 games for the Mavericks. You could see the frustration building on him at many times but that is to be expected. In those 25 games he struggled a little bit with consistency but after returning from injury and got his feet wet, you could see him find his footing. He only posted 3 goals but added an additional 8 helpers for 11 points. While that certainly does not jump off the page, I was satisfied with that production all things considered that he had to deal with as a freshman. He had enough hoops to jump through.





But as I mentioned previously, there was a lot more to Weiss' game than just the stats when he was at the development program, and that remains true for his time thus far in Omaha. For me personally I was not really looking for pure stats and production from him last year, obviously I would like to see some progress for himself this season but we will get to that later on. For now lets jump into his actual attributes when it comes to playing hockey. Something some fans may or may not miss. On the downside, one of the first things I notice is he's small, and while that itself really isn't that bad its more so the fact that not only does he not have really any physical aspect to his game, it's that I noticed him shying away from contact. Now that could have a lot to do with a combination of him being a true freshman with his physical nature as well as dealing with his injuries, but he never really has possessed that trait. That is going to be his biggest downfall when it comes to making the jump to the pro's, whether it be the AHL or NHL. He needs to get bigger and work on not getting pushed off the puck, especially against the wall and behind the net.





Now where he did a good job compensating for that this past season, and will have to continue to do so no matter what, is his passing, touch and vision. All great abilities that make him stand out in games as a play maker. When you watch this kid play you see a really creative player with the puck on his stick. And while he doesn't have a dominating shot like an Alex Beaucage, he doesn't need one. He puts his teammates in great positions when he gets the puck on their sticks.He see's and understands the game very well. When he was playing at his best last season you saw him do a great job on anticipating plays especially on the power play. He did a great job towards the end of the season avoiding contact with easy one touch passes, feeding streaking teammates in shooting lanes. In whatever league he plays in, if he wants to project as a top 6 forward its going to be his playmaking abilities that get him there. He does a great job of not hanging onto the puck for too long, he moves it quick but also makes great decisions with the puck on his stick. For a player that is looking to feed his teammates before he takes a hit he remains very calm on the ice which will be huge for him moving forward.





Moving forward and into his sophomore season, he will be another one of the Avs NCAA players to watch closely. I'm not a huge fan of using production and stats as a big way to measure players growth but for Weiss that's one of the things I really want to see out of him. Step 1 in order to do that, he needs to stay healthy. I'd like to see him put on a little bit of mass, a big reason why I liked the idea of him going to the NCAA where he could get some Division 1 strength and conditioning training. Even if he can put on a few more pounds and stay healthy that would be a great sign for him. If he can play a full season I'd like to see him around that 8 goal 22+ point mark. I think those are realistic numbers and would really show his jump forward in this team and taking the role he wants. Those are the main things I would like to see out of Weiss to keep him projecting upwards, definitely a prospect worth keeping tabs on.