Isles are gonna carry that Weight

So many different ways to go for a headline here. "The Weight is over." "Isles make Weight-y acquisition." "Dead Weight?"

We'll go with the Beatles reference and hope that Weight still has what it takes to actually carry the Isles now and again, now that he's here on a one-year deal and reunited with his buddy Bill Guerin.

Weight has been an All-Star in this league and has been one of the top players in the NHL, but is nearing the end of a solid career. He didn't do much last season, but the Isles figure he could regain some spark with Guerin and at the very least provide leadership and role model material for the younger players. He can start by coming to camp in shape.

Weight and Streit weren't the free agents I expected the Isles to get, but they make sense in their own way. With the eventual new contracts for Bergenheim, Gervais, Tambellini, et al, the Isles payroll will end up a couple million over the salary floor, and I'm on record saying the Isles owed it to their extremely patient and loyal fans to make more of an effort to be competitive.

But the situation is what it is. If patience is a virtue, Isles fans should have no worries about getting into heaven. Hopefully, they'll enjoy another championship before that happens.