Dallas Star Draft Profile: HIFK Helsinki Defenseman Miro Heiskanen
By Tom Dorsa
Up until the NHL Draft on June 23rd, the team at Blackout Dallas will be rolling out previews of the potential Dallas Stars selections. Today, we look at Miro Heiskanen.
Name: Miro Heiskanen
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left-handed
Hometown: Espoo, Finland
Birthdate: July 18th, 1999
Size: 5-foot-11, 174 lbs.
Team: HIFK Helsinki (SM-Liiga)
Stats: Five goals, five assists, 10 points in 37 games played.
NHL Ceiling: Number-one defenseman
The Dallas Stars are a team that has not had a solid left-shooting defensive core since Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski were traded away for their respective returns. With three potentially elite right-handed defenders in John Klingberg, Julius Honka, and Stephen Johns, the opposite side of the defense is a major concern right now.
Bringing in reliable defensive-defenseman Dan Hamhuis, a left-hander of Vancouver Canucks fame last season, proved to be a vital move. But now, in losing Johnny Oduya, Patrik Nemeth, and most likely parting ways like Jamie Oleksiak, the left-handed defensive depth chart is slim.
Yes, we do have Esa Lindell, but his development is reliant on the play of Klingberg and others. The Dallas Stars simply do not possess a dominant left-handed d-man patrolling the blueline thus far.
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One way they can change this is using their third-overall selection on speedy, undersized, skilled Finnish defenseman Miro Heiskanen. This, of course, would create quite the logjam of defensive prospects due to Gavin Bayreuther and others still cooking with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League, but having an all-around, transitional demon like Heiskanen could not go wrong at all.
Plain and simply put, Heiskanen is the number-one defenseman in the upcoming 2017 NHL Entry Draft in Chicago. The Espoo, Finland native went from a fringe first-rounder to potentially the first overall selection, said many scouts at the 2015-16 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 World Championships, in which Heiskanen led the Finns to the title.
Heiskanen’s most-direct comparison to a pre-established National Hockey League defenseman is, to me, Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler. Fowler is a bonafide elite offensive defenseman with skating abilities that allow him to play effectively and calmly in all three zones, and Heiskanen mirrors that play.
“Heiskanen has all the potential to be an excellent puck-moving defenseman at the pro level,” Finnish junior hockey reporter Marco Bombino said. ” Having seen his games a lot both at the junior and Liiga level, I think a big reason Heiskanen has become a highly touted prospect is his consistent development over the past three seasons.”
Miro Heiskanen - HIFK Helsinki (from Champion's Hockey League ; championshockeyleague.net)
Bombino is correct here. Heiskanen, at just 17 years old, suited up in the SM-Liiga, the highest professional hockey sanctioning body in Finland, Miro’s homeland. While his five goals and five assists are by no means overwhelmingly great, Heiskanen’s advanced measurements tell the tale of his puck-moving abilities.
Heiskanen, to whom many compare with Chicago Blackhawks A1 blueliner Duncan Keith, jumped the HIFK squad to a dominant 52.9% Corsi For Percentage when he was on the ice, as opposed to 49.3 CF% with Heiskanen on the bench. ” He’s noticeably calm and confident with the puck in all situations, whether it be in the defensive zone under pressure or playing the point on power play,” Bombino continued.
“He is also an elite skater who uses his edges extremely well. His transition skating from forward to backwards is very smooth,” Bombino said. “Heiskanen is not a particularly physical defenseman, but he reads the developing play well and therefore doesn’t get into trouble in the defensive zone too often.”
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Heiskanen would be the ideal selection for me, if I was calling the shots for the Dallas Stars. His capabilities in all situations to be calm as such a young age speaks to his maturity and coachability. Ken Hitchcock has forever been hard on his defensemen, but Heiskanen has the pure skill and maturity beyond his years to make a difference.
He has unreal acceleration on either side of the puck, and can use his ability to break the puck out of his zone. Heiskanen, at 6’0″ and 174 lbs, would be a flawless power play catalyst and a three-zone triggerman for an NHL team.
His defensive game is similar to Marc-Edouard Vlasic, a stout complete defenseman from the San Jose Sharks. His gap control in terms of the space he allows opposing forwards entering the offensive zone is as good as any current NHL defender, as his ability to skate backwards and put his stick into passing and shooting lanes compensates for his lack of length and size.
Heiskanen is nearly impossible to beat one-on-one thanks to his fluent fundamental defensive game. The Dallas Stars lack a player of Heiskanen’s blueline fundamentals, and he would be a valuable asset for years to come.
Imagining a opening night defense of John Klingberg-Esa Lindell, Julius Honka-Dan Hamhuis, and Stephen Johns with Miro Heiskanen is legitimately insane. This, obviously, is pending due to potential free agent moves, but Heiskanen could be a one-of-a-kind talent on the blueline for years to come, and Dallas should not pass him up.
Next: Dallas Stars Draft Profile: Michael Rasmussen
With Heiskanen apparently being leaps and bounds above fellow Draft-eligible defenseman like Cale Makar or Callan Foote, the Dallas Stars will not find a better solution for blueline problems. Jim Nill has quite the choice on his hands to evaluate.