Ville Heinola

Ville Heinola
Heinola in 2022
Born (2001-03-02) 2 March 2001 (age 23)
Honkajoki, Finland
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams
Winnipeg Jets
Lukko
NHL draft 20th overall, 2019
Winnipeg Jets
Playing career 2018–present

Ville Heinola (born 2 March 2001) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL).[1] He was ranked as one of the top international skaters eligible for the 2019 NHL entry draft.[2][3] Heinola was drafted 20th overall by the Jets.

Playing career

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On 15 July 2019, Heinola was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets.[4]

Heinola impressively made the Jets roster out of training camp. He became the first player of the 2019 NHL entry draft to register an NHL point during the Jets first game of the 2019–20 season against the New York Rangers on 3 October 2019. Heinola scored his first career NHL goal on 8 October against Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Heinola posted 5 points through 8 games before he was re-assigned to AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. After appearing in 3 games with the Moose, Heinola was loaned to continue development with his Finnish club Lukko for the remainder of the season on 8 November.[5]

International play

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Heinola competed with Team Finland at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in 2019, 2020, and 2021, winning the Gold Medal in 2019 and the Bronze Medal in 2021.[6][7] He was one of two defensemen named to the Media All-Star Team after the end of the 2021 tournament.[8]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2017–18 Ässät Jr. A 33 3 14 17 12
2018–19 Lukko Jr. A 9 1 8 9 2
2018–19 Lukko Liiga 34 2 12 14 26 7 1 3 4 2
2019–20 Winnipeg Jets NHL 8 1 4 5 4
2019–20 Manitoba Moose AHL 3 0 1 1 0
2019–20 Lukko Liiga 29 0 7 7 12
2020–21 Lukko Liiga 19 1 13 14 4
2020–21 Winnipeg Jets NHL 5 0 0 0 2
2020–21 Manitoba Moose AHL 19 4 7 11 4
2021–22 Manitoba Moose AHL 41 5 21 26 18 5 1 4 5 0
2021–22 Winnipeg Jets NHL 12 0 5 5 10
2022–23 Manitoba Moose AHL 48 4 33 37 46 4 0 1 1 4
2022–23 Winnipeg Jets NHL 10 0 1 1 2
2023–24 Manitoba Moose AHL 41 10 17 27 24 2 0 2 2 4
Liiga totals 82 3 32 35 42 7 1 3 4 2
NHL totals 35 1 10 11 18
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Canada
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Canada

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2018 Finland HG18 7th 4 0 2 2 0
2019 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 1 1 2 2
2020 Finland WJC 4th 7 0 5 5 8
2021 Finland WJC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 0 4 4 4
Junior totals 23 1 12 13 14

References

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  1. ^ "Ville Heinola at eliteprospects.com".
  2. ^ "Central Scouting International Skaters Midterm Rankings" (PDF). NHL.com. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  3. ^ Button, Craig (7 January 2019). "Craig's List: Hughes stays ahead of Kakko after World Juniors". TSN.ca. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Jets sign Ville Heinola to three-year contract". Winnipeg Jets. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Jets reassign defenceman Ville Heinola back to Finnish Liiga". The Sports Network. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  6. ^ "IIHF - Kaapo Kakko gives Finns gold". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  7. ^ "IIHF - Lundell leads Finns to bronze". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  8. ^ "IIHF - Zegras named MVP". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Winnipeg Jets first round draft pick
2019
Succeeded by