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#23. Jordan Weal | C | Regina (WHL)

Date of Birth: April 15th, 1992
Height: 5.10
Weight: 162lbs.
Shoots: R
Season Statistics: Regular Season | 72GP 35G 67A 102P 54PIM
Playoffs | n/a
TSR Midterm Rank: 28 | Position Rank: 16th Forwards
League Rank: 7th WHL | Country Rank: 10th Canada

This season Jordan became the first 17 year old WHL player to score 100 points in eleven years when he put up 35 goals and 67 assists in 72 games. Weal finished 5th overall in the CHL scoring race and had more assists than any draft-eligible player including both Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. Of course it didn’t hurt that Weal was playing with Jordan Eberle, the 2009-2010 CHL player of the year, but he wasn’t just getting by riding Eberle’s coattails. His 102 points were only four behind Eberle and a whopping 43 more than overager Matt Strueby who finished 3rd in team scoring for Regina. Those totals were accomplished despite opponents often matching their top players against Weal’s line in an effort to shut down the high-scoring tandem.

Unlike a lot of small skilled forwards that thrive at the junior level by using their speed to score off the rush, Weal prefers to do most of his damage by maintaining puck possession in the offensive zone, circling and cycling along the half wall until he finds an opening to dart into. Much like Eberle, Weal is a diminutive, shifty, intelligent player that does not possess blazing speed and prefers to slow the game down in the offensive zone where he can dissect the defense in order to generate scoring chances. Weal is predominantly a playmaker and while he doesn’t have a particularly hard or accurate shot, it is effective when he uses his cunning and quick release to fool goalies.

Some detractors look to his poor showing in December when Eberle was away at the World Juniors, but the team was missing much more than just him. Among the other players away or injured were standout defenseman Colten Teubert, starting goalie Damien Ketlo, and defenseman Brandon Davidson. On a very poor Regina team where the top players had to carry the team the entire season, the team struggled to a 1-7 record over that period as they were simply overmatched without the majority of their key players. Still, Weal had a respectable 7 points in the 8 games with literally next to no help at all. This poor stretch did however expose Weal’s defensive play and he has been working at improving that aspect of his game ever since.

Outside of playing with the Pats, Weal managed to represent Canada a couple times over the course of the year. He played at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament this past summer and also participated in the IIHF U18 World Championship in Belarus where he led Canada in scoring with 3 goals and 6 assists in 6 games.

Due to his size, Weal likely won’t be picked early in the first round of the 2010 draft but his skill, intelligence and focus making him an intriguing pick for the upcoming draft. With his ability to read defenses, Weal will likely be sought after by a team looking for some help on the powerplay.

Pros: Playmaking Ability, Intelligence, Offensive Awareness

Cons: Lack of Size/Strength, Defensive Zone Play

Skillset comparison: a slower Patrick Kane

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Tags: 2010 nhl draft prospects, Jordan Weal, Scouting Report

About the Author: Scott Boulet

Scott is now in his second year with TSR after helping found the site as web designer in 2009.. A true fan of hockey, he tries to take in as many games as possible from as many different levels of play as he can every year. He is a self-taught web designer and has dabbled in anything associated with technology for as long as he can remember. Scott is a graduate of the Computer Systems Technology at Cambrian College in Sudbury. He aspires one day to embark on a career in e-commerce or computer security.