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MacKenzie Weegar

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MacKenzie Weegar
Weegar with the Portland Pirates in 2015
Born (1994-01-07) January 7, 1994 (age 30)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Calgary Flames
Florida Panthers
National team  Canada
NHL draft 206th overall, 2013
Florida Panthers
Playing career 2014–present

MacKenzie Weegar (born January 7, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). Weegar was drafted by the Florida Panthers with the 206th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

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Amateur

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Weegar played major junior hockey with the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. After his selection to the Panthers, Weegar was signed following his second season with the Mooseheads in 2013–14 to a three-year, entry-level deal on May 29, 2014.[1]

Professional

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Florida Panthers organization

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Following the signing, Weegar participated in the 2014 Prospect Tournament alongside fellow Panthers rookies Logan Shaw and Vincent Trocheck.[2] After participating in the Panthers' five preseason games, Weegar was re-assigned to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, to start the 2014–15 season.[3] Although he missed a few early games due to an upper-body injury,[4] Weegar earned his first AHL point with an assist on October 24, 2014.[5] He would later score his first professional goal during a 3–0 win over the Iowa Wild on December 12.[6] Within his first 19 games with the club, Weegar accumulated one goal and four assists.[7] In late January, Weegar was re-assigned to the Panthers ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones. In his first five games with the Cyclones, he tallied one goal and three assists for four points.[8] Weegar added one more assist in his next six games and was recalled to the AHL on February 5.[9] He was returned to the ECHL a few games later[10] but quickly returned to the AHL. Upon rejoining the Rampage, he played alongside Shayne Taker and Josh McFadden.[11] Weegar finished the 2014–15 season with two goals and eight assists for 10 points through 31 AHL games.[12]

During the 2015 offseason, the Panthers signed a multi-year player development deal with the Portland Pirates to make them their new AHL affiliate.[13] Weegar again participated in the Panthers' rookie tournament[14] before being assigned to the Portland Pirates for the 2015–16 season.[15] He scored his first career goal with the Pirates on October 30 in a loss to the Rochester Americans.[16] Although the Pirates qualified for the 2016 Calder Cup playoffs, Weegar remainder a healthy scratch as they were eliminated by the Hershey Bears.[17]

Entering the final year of his entry-level contract, Weegar returned to the Panthers' new AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, for the 2016–17 season.[18] Despite missing 10 games during the season, Weegar proved to be one of the Thunderbirds' best players and most prolific goal scorer.[19] He scored his first goal and assist of the season on October 16 to help lead the Thunderbirds to their first regular season win in franchise history.[20][21] On October 26, Weegar scored the game-winning goal in overtime to add to his team-leading four points to lead the Thunderbirds to their first home victory.[22] By January 10, Weegar had accumulated eight goals and six assists for 14 points. As a result of his accomplishments, he became the first Springfield Thunderbird to participate in the AHL All-Star Game.[23] Following the All-Star Game, Weegar continued to produce points and led all team defensemen with 12 goals and 29 points through 51 games.[24] On April 3, 2017, Weegar received his first call up to the NHL level as a replacement for Aaron Ekblad.[25] He subsequently made his NHL debut with the Panthers that night in a 4–1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. He recorded one shot on goals, two hits, and served a minor penalty while playing 16:45 of ice time.[26] After playing in three games with Florida, and recording four penalty minutes and three shots on goal, Weegar was returned to the Springfield Thunderbirds.[27] He finished the season leading all team defensemen with 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 and points through 60 games.[28] Ahead of the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, the Panthers left Weegar available to be chosen by the Vegas Golden Knights.[29] After he remained unpicked, they signed him to a one-year, two-way contract on August 3.[28]

In the first year of his new contract, Weegar stayed at the NHL level for the entirety of the 2017–18 season. Although he was named to their opening night roster, Weegar served as a healthy scratch through the first five games of the season.[30] He eventually made his season debut on October 20 and subsequently scored his first career NHL goal that night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.[31] While he struggled to score again, Weeger worked with former NHL defenceman Chris Pronger to improve his defensive game.[32] As he began to improve, coach Bob Boughner responded by gifting him time as the second defenseman on the second power-play unit.[33] Although he was inconsistent with his scoring, Weegar's defensive play continued to earn him praise from Boughner. During a 3–2 road win over the New Jersey Devils in November, Boughner moved Weegar up to the second defensive pairing with Mike Matheson and he played 20 minutes of ice time.[34] As the season continued, Weegar and Ian McCoshen rotated through the Panthers third defensive pairing with Alexander Petrovic. Overall, Weegar played 8:19:10 minutes of ice time with Petrovic and they both finished the season with two goals apiece and combined for 17 assists.[35] As a restricted free agent, Weegar signed a one-year, one-way contract extension with the Panthers on July 25, 2018.[36]

Weeger improved offensively for the Panthers during the 2018–19 season and set new career highs in goals, assists, and games played while also averaging a career-best 16:58 of ice time.[37] Although he missed the majority of training camp due to a shoulder injury,[38] Weegar was named to the Panthers opening night roster for the second consecutive season.[39] However, he was scratched for the first two games in favor of rookie Jacob MacDonald.[38] Throughout the majority of the 2018-19 campaign, Weegar played a lot on the bottom pair but was occasionally rewarded with some playing time in the top four.[37] While playing alongside Bogdan Kiselevich on the Panthers third pairing, Weegar averaged just over 14 minutes per game and was absent from the power play or penalty killing unit.[40] However, after the NHL All-Star break, Weegar began consistently playing alongside Keith Yandle on the Panthers second defensive pairing.[37] On January 15, Weegar suffered a concussion and missed four games after a hit by Candadiens left winger Paul Byron.[41] Upon returning from the injury, he began to hit his stride and tallied three goals, five assists, 49 hits and 41 blocked shots over his final 18 games.[40] During the 220:04 that Weegar and Yandle shared the ice at 5-on-5, the Panthers led the opposition in goals (11-6), shots (116-100) and attempts (226-200).[37]

Although the Panthers began the 2019–20 season dropping two out of three games, Weegar was strong from the start. When new head coach Joel Quenneville put Weegar and Aaron Ekblad on their top unit, they combined for 5 points, 14 shots on goal and a plus-6 rating over three games.[42] By the end of October, he led all Panthers defensemen with three goals and nine points while playing on their top pairing with Ekblad. Weegar's 58.43 Corsi-for percentage was also the third-best among defenseman at 5-on-5 play.[43] However, he shortly thereafter suffered an upper body injury and subsequently missed eight games. At the time of the injury on November 10, Weegar had accumulated three goals and seven assists while averaging 19:57 of ice time over 17 games.[44] He returned to the Panthers roster on November 30 and recorded two hits, two blocks and a plus-2 rating over 19:51 minutes of ice time.[45] However, Weegar suffered another upper-body injury on December 28 and subsequently missed another 15 games to recover. When he returned to the lineup on February 4, 2020, he recorded one shot, two hits, one block and one takeaway in 13:29 of ice time alongside Keith Yandle.[46] He immediately resumed his scoring touch and quickly set new career-highs with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points.[47]

Once the NHL resumed play for the 2020 Stanley Cup qualifiers, Weegar returned to the Panthers for their series against the New York Islanders. Although he sat out for their exhibition loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Weegar and Ekblad were expected to return to the lineup for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.[48] Weegar made his NHL postseason debut on August 1, 2020, during Game 1 of the Qualifiers. He tallied an assist in that game as the Panthers fell 2–1 to the Islanders.[49] After the Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention, Weegar signed a three-year contract extension to remain with the team.[50]

Calgary Flames

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Weegar (left) as a member of the Calgary Flames in a game against the Seattle Kraken in 2023.

On July 22, 2022, Weegar was included in the blockbuster trade for the Panthers along with Jonathan Huberdeau, Cole Schwindt and a conditional 2025 first-round selection to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Matthew Tkachuk and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2025.[51][52]

International play

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Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Finland/Latvia

Following the Flames not qualifying for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Weegar accepted his first invitation to join Team Canada for the 2023 IIHF World Championship. Recording three goals and eight assists in ten games, he led the team and all defencemen in the tournament in points on the way to winning a gold medal.[53] He was named Best Defenceman of the event by the IIHF directorate, as well as to the Media All-Star Team.[54]

Personal life

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Weegar is the first cousin of former NHL player and current broadcaster Craig Rivet.[55] Weegar wears uniform number 52, the same number Rivet wore during his career.[citation needed]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11 Winchester Hawks EOJHL 40 10 23 33 94 — — — — —
2010–11 Nepean Raiders CCHL 5 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2011–12 Nepean Raiders CCHL 53 13 37 50 61 18 2 4 6 24
2012–13 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 62 8 36 44 58 17 0 5 5 10
2013–14 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 61 12 47 59 97 16 5 17 22 14
2014–15 San Antonio Rampage AHL 31 2 8 10 40 — — — — —
2014–15 Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL 21 1 12 13 13 — — — — —
2015–16 Portland Pirates AHL 62 7 17 24 60 1 0 0 0 0
2016–17 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 60 14 22 36 70 — — — — —
2016–17 Florida Panthers NHL 3 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2017–18 Florida Panthers NHL 60 2 6 8 32 — — — — —
2018–19 Florida Panthers NHL 64 4 11 15 64 — — — — —
2019–20 Florida Panthers NHL 45 7 11 18 33 4 0 1 1 4
2020–21 Florida Panthers NHL 54 6 30 36 45 6 1 2 3 6
2021–22 Florida Panthers NHL 80 8 36 44 81 10 0 1 1 10
2022–23 Calgary Flames NHL 81 4 27 31 43 — — — — —
2023–24 Calgary Flames NHL 82 20 32 52 51 — — — — —
NHL totals 469 51 153 204 353 20 1 4 5 20

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2023 Canada WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 10 3 8 11 6
Senior totals 10 3 8 11 6

Awards and honours

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Award Year Ref
AHL
AHL All-Star Game 2016–17 [19]
CCHL
Rookie of the Year 2012
Second All-Star Team 2012
Top Prospect Award 2012
QMJHL
All-Rookie Team 2013
Best plus-minus (+55) 2013
Memorial Cup champion 2013
Second All-Star Team 2014
International
World Championship Best Defenceman 2023 [54]
World Championship Media All-Star Team 2023 [54]

References

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  1. ^ "MacKenzie Weegar agrees to entry-level contract with Panthers". Florida Panthers. May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  2. ^ Lewis, Mike (September 17, 2014). "Young Guns Fire on all Cylinders at Rookie Tournament". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  3. ^ "Army Strong? Florida Panthers heading to West Point to finish prepping for NHL season". National Hockey League. October 3, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  4. ^ "Rampage Fall to Utica 3-0 for First Loss of the Season". Our Sports Central. October 17, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Lewis, Mike (October 27, 2014). "In the Pipeline 10.27.14". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  6. ^ Lewis, Mike (December 15, 2014). "In the Pipeline 12.15.14". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  7. ^ "Rampage Recall D Mackenzie Weegar". Our Sports Central. February 5, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  8. ^ Lewis, Mike (January 20, 2015). "In the Pipeline 1.20.15". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  9. ^ "Rampage Recall D Mackenzie Weegar". Our Sports Central. February 5, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  10. ^ "MacKenzie Weegar Reassigned to Cyclones". Our Sports Central. January 6, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  11. ^ "San Antonio Rampage Weekly Update". Our Sports Central. February 17, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  12. ^ "MacKenzie Weegar". Elite Prospects. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  13. ^ "Florida Panthers, Portland Pirates Announce Multi-Year Affiliation". Our Sports Central. March 18, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  14. ^ Lewis, Mike (September 15, 2015). "Panthers Prospects Fall 4-1 to Tampa Bay in Final Game of Rookie Tournament". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  15. ^ "Florida Panthers Announce Roster Changes". National Hockey League. September 30, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  16. ^ Lewis, Mike (November 2, 2015). "House of Crouse & Panthers in the Pipeline". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  17. ^ "Bears Eliminate Pirates in Another Tight Contest". Our Sports Central. May 1, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  18. ^ "Florida Panthers Reduce Roster to 27 Players". National Hockey League. October 6, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  19. ^ a b "WEEGAR NAMED TO AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC". Springfield Thunderbirds. January 5, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  20. ^ Lewis, Mike (October 19, 2016). "In the Pipeline: A Weekend of Firsts". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  21. ^ "Weegar, Sutter Pace T-Birds To First Ever Win". Springfield Thunderbirds. October 16, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  22. ^ Lewis, Mike (October 26, 2016). "In the Pipeline: Storybook Start for Springfield". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  23. ^ Lewis, Mike (January 10, 2017). "In the Pipeline: Hey Now, You're an All-Star". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  24. ^ "Florida Panthers Recall Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar". National Hockey League. March 13, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  25. ^ Richards, George (March 13, 2017). "Star defenseman is out with concussion so Florida Panthers rookie gets his shot". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  26. ^ "WEEGAR SKATES IN FIRST NHL GAME". Cincinnati Cyclones. April 4, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  27. ^ "Panthers Reassign Weegar, McCoshen, Brittain To T-Birds". Springfield Thunderbirds. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Panthers Agree to Terms with Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar". National Hockey League. August 3, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  29. ^ "NHL Announces Protected, Available Lists". National Hockey League. June 18, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  30. ^ "Defensemen MacKenzie Weegar Confident, Excited To Make Season Debut For Panthers". CBS News Miami. October 20, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  31. ^ DeFranks, Matthew (October 21, 2017). "MacKenzie Weegar scores first NHL goal, remains in lineup on Saturday". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  32. ^ DeFranks, Matthew (November 2, 2017). "Panthers enlist Chris Pronger to help young defensemen with 'little things'". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  33. ^ DeFranks, Matthew (November 10, 2017). "Without forward depth, Panthers tweak second power-play unit". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  34. ^ DeFranks, Matthew (November 28, 2017). "MacKenzie Weegar accepting more responsibility, played best game Monday, Bob Boughner says". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  35. ^ DeFranks, Matthew (April 16, 2018). "Examining the Florida Panthers' top defensive pairings this season". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  36. ^ "Weegar agrees to terms on one-year contract with Panthers". National Hockey League. July 25, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  37. ^ a b c d Olive, Jameson (May 28, 2019). "2018-19 Season Rewind: MacKenzie Weegar". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  38. ^ a b Richards, George (October 15, 2018). "Florida D Mike Matheson gets two games from NHL after rough hit on Vancouver rookie Elias Pettersson". The Athletic. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  39. ^ "Florida Panthers Announce 2018-19 Opening Night Roster". National Hockey League. October 3, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  40. ^ a b Ellis, Steven (March 13, 2019). "AFTER OVERCOMING INJURIES, WEEGAR STARTING TO PROVE HIMSELF ON PANTHERS' BLUELINE". The Hockey News. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  41. ^ Warren, Ken (March 28, 2019). "WARREN: Weegar-Byron fight, resulting injury re-ignite debate about troublesome NHL issues". Ottawa Sun. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  42. ^ Dwork, David (October 18, 2019). "Dynamic Duo: Quenneville may be on to something with Ekblad-Weegar pairing". Local10. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  43. ^ Ellis, Steven (October 31, 2019). "BREAKOUT DEFENDERS: FIVE UNDER-THE-RADAR REARGUARDS STEPPING UP THIS SEASON". The Hockey News. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  44. ^ Olive, Jameson (November 30, 2019). "Driedger Starts, Weegar Returns as Panthers Open Homestand vs. Predators". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  45. ^ Olive, Jameson (November 30, 2019). "5 Takeaways: Driedger Leads Panthers to Shutout Win Over Predators". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  46. ^ Olive, Jameson (February 4, 2020). "5 Takeaways: Bobrovsky Makes 44 Saves, Panthers Earn Point in Columbus". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  47. ^ Olive, Jameson (March 8, 2020). "5 Takeaways: Panthers Top Habs as Luongo's No. 1 is Raised Into Rafters". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  48. ^ Olive, Jameson (July 30, 2020). "NOTEBOOK: New Lessons Learned; Weegar, Ekblad Updates". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  49. ^ Hornick, Eric (August 2, 2020). "The Skinny: Gm. 1: Islanders 2, Panthers 1". National Hockey League. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  50. ^ "Florida Panthers Re-Sign Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar". National Hockey League. November 6, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  51. ^ "Panthers acquire Tkachuk from Flames in blockbuster for Huberdeau, Weegar". The Sports Network. July 22, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  52. ^ "Panthers get Tkachuk from Flames for Huberdeau, Weegar". usatoday.com. July 22, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  53. ^ Kennedy, Ian (May 29, 2023). "Top 10 players at the World Championship: Arturs Silovs sealed the door". The Hockey News. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  54. ^ a b c O'Brien, Derek (May 28, 2023). "Silovs MVP, All-Stars named". IIHF. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  55. ^ Olive, Jameson (December 4, 2018). "Weegar Remembers Uncle During Hockey Fights Cancer Month". NHL.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
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