Rookie Heinola standing tall
NEW YORK — He’s just 18 years old, he’s a smaller player and he’s only a few months removed from being a 20th overall draft pick by the Winnipeg Jets.
All those things would have suggested that Ville Heinola would not be playing in the NHL this season.
But the young Finn earned at least a nine-game look with his excellent pre-season and his first two NHL games would suggest he’s here to stay.
In Friday’s 5-4 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils, Heinola played 21.01 minutes and recorded his second assist in as many games.
He skates well, makes good decisions with the puck and uses smart body position to handle himself against bigger NHL forwards. Heinola is listed as being 5-foot-11, 178 pounds.
“I’ll keep emphasizing his hockey I.Q.,” Heinola’s defence partner, Neal Pionk said.
“He sticks with guys and he uses his body really well, his positioning. Despite his size, I think you saw he took on (Devils’ forwards) Wayne Simmonds or Miles Wood and he used body positioning to take care of himself. He’s that smart.”
How telling was it that Jets coach Paul Maurice even put Heinola on the ice during the three-on-three overtime.
“He’s a good player,” Maurice said. “At the end or the day, that’s also his time, a place for him to excel. And he can.
“There’s a great amount of confidence, without any arrogance, in his game. He knows when he has time, he knows how to move the puck, he knows how to find the open man and he doesn’t put himself at a deficit to do it.”
There will undoubtedly be growing pains and rougher times for Heinola, but right now he’s doing the Jets a wonderful service.
The team lost three key defencemen in the off-season, has to deal with Dustin Byfuglien’s absence while he contemplates retirement and lost veteran Nathan Beaulieu for a month to an injury before the season even began.
Heinola has stepped right into the Jets top-four, and playing with Pionk, has shown aplomb at both ends of the ice.