As a youth, Weight played in the 1983
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Compuware
minor ice hockey team. He graduated in 1989 from
Notre Dame High School in
Harper Woods, Michigan. He was drafted by the
Bloomfield Jets of the
North American Junior Hockey League (now known as the NAHL). Weight led the NAJHL in scoring and was recruited by
Lake Superior State University. Weight played two years in the
NCAA with LSSU from 1989 to 1991. He was drafted by the New York Rangers in the
1990 NHL entry draft with their second pick, 34th overall. After completing his second year with his college team, he played a single playoff game with the Rangers in 1991, then split time between the Rangers and their
AHL affiliate the
Binghamton Rangers. He played 65 games with the Rangers in his first full NHL season,
1992–93, before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers for forward
Esa Tikkanen. Weight played eight and a half seasons with the Oilers, secluding a stint with
SB Rosenheim of the
German Elite League (DEL) during the shortened
1994–95 NHL season, serving as their captain from 1999 to 2001. It was as an Oiler that he led Edmonton to five consecutive playoff appearances and scored a personal-best 104 points during the
1995–96 season. Due to Edmonton's financial situation, Weight was traded on July 1, 2001 to the
St. Louis Blues, along with
Michel Riesen, for forwards
Marty Reasoner and
Jochen Hecht, and
defenseman Jan Horáček. In 2023, he was inducted into the Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame. in 2006 Weight spent the next three seasons with the Blues before returning to the DEL, due to the
2004 NHL Lockout, to play in the final stages of the
2004–05 season with the
Frankfurt Lions. Upon the resumption of the NHL in the
2005–06 season, Weight returned to the Blues before he was traded after waiving a no-trade clause, along with the rights to Erkki Rajamaki, to the
Carolina Hurricanes for
Jesse Boulerice,
Mike Zigomanis, the rights to Magnus Kahnberg and draft picks on January 30, 2006. In the
2006 Stanley Cup Finals against his former team, the Oilers, Weight and the Hurricanes suffered a blow during Game 5 when he was sandwiched heavily along the boards by
Raffi Torres and
Chris Pronger in the second period of the game, which the Oilers won 4–3 in overtime on June 14, 2006. Weight missed the remainder of the Finals with a shoulder injury. His place in the roster went to
Erik Cole. The Hurricanes won the
Stanley Cup in 7 games. Weight then returned to the Blues as a free agent, signing a two-year contract on July 2, 2006. During the
2006–07 season, Weight played his
1,000th game against the
Edmonton Oilers on November 17, 2006. With the Blues out of contention for the playoffs for the third season in a row, Weight was traded to the
Anaheim Ducks for center
Andy McDonald on December 14, 2007. On July 2, 2008, Weight was given a one-year contract by the rebuilding
New York Islanders. On January 2, 2009, Weight registered his
1,000th point while playing for the Islanders, with an assist on a goal scored by
Richard Park. Weight re-signed with the Islanders for the
2009–10 season. For his contributions to the community during the Islanders 2009-10 training camp held in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, the baseball diamond at
Wallace Park in Saskatoon was named in Weight's honor. He succeeded former longtime Oiler teammate
Bill Guerin as captain of the Islanders on October 2, 2009. Despite missing a large portion of the season to various injuries and scoring 1 goal in 36 games, Weight was signed to a one-year extension with the Islanders on August 31, 2010. After enduring a second consecutive year decimated by a lingering back injury, Weight announced his retirement following the
2010–11 season on May 26, 2011. With his retirement as a player from the game of hockey after 19 seasons in the
NHL, it was immediately announced by the Islanders' general manager,
Garth Snow, that Weight would continue with the organization as an assistant coach and special assistant to the general manager. Weight is ranked number seven out of all American players in points. ==Coaching career==