Injury to van Riemsdyk offers Weal another chance

VOORHEES, N.J. >> The plan for Jordan Weal, of course, was to maintain the path of his rising star. Instead, his NHL experience has been more of a string of stops and starts, indicative of thus-far unfulfilled expectations for the 26-year-old forward.

Now comes another chance, as Weal will enter the lineup at left wing of the third line Tuesday night, when the Flyers host the San Jose Sharks in the home opener at Wells Fargo Center. It will be Weal’s first action since he was beaten out during the preseason by rookie Mikhail Vorobyev for the center’s spot on the third line.

“He’s been playing really well. He made this team right out of camp and he’s earned it,” the diplomatic Weal said of Vorobyev. “It’s going to be good to be out there and play with him. it seems like he’s always in the right spot making plays.”

Not surprisingly, Weal’s opening comes as a result of an injury, and a bad one at that.

James van Riemsdyk will miss five to six weeks due to an injury he suffered Saturday in Denver. The free agent winger was thought to have blocked a shot off his lower leg in that game and he’s officially listed as being out with a lower body injury.

Van Riemsdyk, 29, an original No. 2 overall pick of the Flyers in 2007, was signed to a five-year, $35 million contract July 1 after he’d spent six years building a reputation as a consistent scorer in Toronto. He had one assist before leaving in the first period of Game 2 in Denver. Now Weal will try to step into his skates and click with Wayne Simmonds and Vorobyev.

“I don’t even know the extent of the injury ... obviously that sucks, because (van Riemsdyk) is a great player,” Simmonds said. “But we have to keep going.”

Simmonds, who has played with him in the past, said Weal “is strong on the puck, good in the puck battles. He’s a hound dog.” Ain’t nothin’ but. “I’ll go out there do what I’ve been doing since I got here at camp,” Weal said. “I’m playing with some great players, so it’ll be fun to go out there and work hard and create some plays. ... If I can go out there and do that the team will have success and I’ll have success.”

A North Vancouver native who can stretch to tip the vertical scale at 5-foot10, Weal seemed like a natural during his junior hockey career, eventually scoring 385 points in 282 games while being drafted in the third round of the 2010 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings.