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Miro Heiskanen

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Miro Heiskanen
Heiskanen in 2017
Born (1999-07-18) 18 July 1999 (age 25)
Espoo, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Dallas Stars
HIFK
National team  Finland
NHL draft 3rd overall, 2017
Dallas Stars
Playing career 2016–present

Miro Heiskanen (born 18 July 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ranked in the top ten eligible European skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, Heiskanen was picked third overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the Stars.[1]

Playing career

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HIFK (2014–2017)

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Heiskanen with HIFK in 2017.

Heiskanen played hockey until the age of 14 in the youth program of the Finnish Liiga club Espoo Blues. Later, Heiskanen played within the youth program of HIFK. In playing at the Junior A level during the 2015–16 season, he recorded 14 points in 30 games to be awarded with the Yrjö Hakala Award as rookie of the year.[2] On 30 May 2016, he signed a three-year contract extension with the HIFK organization.[3]

During the 2016–17 Liiga season, at age 17, Heiskanen made his professional debut with HIFK in the Liiga. In playing the full season in the Liiga, he played on HIFK's top defensive pairing, scoring 5 goals and 10 points in 37 games.[4] HIFK head coach Antti Törmänen described him as his team's best defenceman that season, praising his ability to always make the right decisions. By the end of the season, Heiskanen was considered a top prospect at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, with Göran Stubb of the NHL Central Scouting Bureau describing him as "by far the best European defenceman in the draft".[5] Heiskanen was ultimately selected third overall by the Dallas Stars.[6]

On 8 July 2017, Heiskanen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Stars.[7] Heiskanen spent the 2017–18 Liiga season on loan with HIFK.[8]

Dallas Stars (2018–present)

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Heiskanen was named to the Stars' roster to start the 2018–19 NHL season[9] and made his debut on 4 October in a 3–0 win over the Arizona Coyotes.[10] On 25 October, in a 5–2 Stars win over the Anaheim Ducks, Heiskanen scored his first career NHL goal, beating goaltender John Gibson off a pass from Jason Spezza. In so doing, at 19 years and 99 days, Heiskanen became the second-youngest Stars defenceman to score a goal in the franchise's history.[11] On 2 January 2019, Heiskanen was named the Stars' lone representative at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game, becoming the second rookie in the Stars/North Stars franchise history to be named to the All-Star Game. At the time of his selection, he was tied for seventh in the league among rookies and second among rookie defencemen with 17 points.[12] After the Stars qualified for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, Heiskanen became the third defencemen under the age of 20 to score two goals in a playoff game.[13]

Heiskanen being checked by Yanni Gourde during a game in 2023.

On 30 August 2020, in Game 4 of the Stars' second round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Heiskanen would set the Stars' playoff record for points by a defenceman with 16. In reaching the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals, Heiskanen ended the playoff campaign with 26 points in 27 games, the fourth most by any defenceman during a playoff year in league history, behind only Paul Coffey in 1985, Brian Leetch in 1994 and Al MacInnis in 1989. The Stars would ultimately lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.

On 17 July 2021, Heiskanen signed an eight-year, $67.6 million contract with the Stars.[14]

In the 2022–23 season, Heiskanen broke the record for most points in a season by a Stars defenceman, recording 11 goals and 62 assists for 73 points. The record was previously held by Sergei Zubov. His 73 points also tied former New York Rangers defenceman Reijo Ruotsalainen's record for most points in an NHL season by a Finnish-born defenceman.[15]

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
2015–16 HIFK Jr. A 30 3 11 14 6 — — — — —
2016–17 HIFK Liiga 37 5 5 10 4 8 0 3 3 0
2017–18 HIFK Liiga 30 11 12 23 8 14 3 6 9 18
2018–19 Dallas Stars NHL 82 12 21 33 16 13 2 2 4 2
2019–20 Dallas Stars NHL 68 8 27 35 12 27 6 20 26 2
2020–21 Dallas Stars NHL 55 8 19 27 12 — — — — —
2021–22 Dallas Stars NHL 70 5 31 36 24 7 1 2 3 4
2022–23 Dallas Stars NHL 79 11 62 73 32 19 1 11 12 8
2023–24 Dallas Stars NHL 71 9 45 54 36 19 6 10 16 8
Liiga totals 67 16 17 33 12 22 3 9 12 18
NHL totals 425 53 205 258 132 85 16 45 61 24
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
IIHF World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2022 Finland
IIHF World U18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2016 United States
Silver medal – second place 2017 Slovakia

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2015 Finland U17 5th 5 0 4 4 2
2016 Finland U18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 0 1 1 0
2017 Finland U18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 2 10 12 0
2017 Finland WJC 9th 6 0 1 1 0
2018 Finland WJC 6th 5 0 2 2 0
2018 Finland OG 6th 5 1 0 1 2
2018 Finland WC 5th 8 0 2 2 0
2022 Finland WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 1 6 7 2
Junior totals 30 2 18 20 2
Senior totals 19 2 8 10 4

Awards and honours

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Heiskanen was selected third overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Award Year
Jr. A
Yrjö Hakala Award 2016 [2]
Liiga
Pekka Rautakallio trophy 2018 [16]
NHL
NHL All-Star Game 2019
NHL All-Rookie Team 2019 [17]
International
WJC18 All-Star Team 2017
WJC18 Best Defenceman 2017 [18]

References

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  1. ^ "2017 Draft: Nolan Patrick of Brandon ranked No. 1". NHL.com. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Top Prospects: HIFK's Miro Heiskanen". Champions Hockey League. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. ^ "IFK kiinnitti kolme U18-maailmanmestaria" [HIKF sign three U18 World Champions] (in Finnish). HIFK. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Miro Heskanen prospect profile". thehockeywriters.com. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Miro Heiskanen believes he's 'best of the defensemen' for 2017 Draft". NHL.com. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Stars Select Defenseman Miro Heiskanen with Third Overall Pick". NHL.com. 24 June 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Stars sign No. 3 overall pick Heiskanen to entry-level contract". Yahoo! Sports. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  8. ^ Janicek, Karel (13 May 2018). "Finland's Miro Heiskanen looking NHL-ready at world championship". thestar.com. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Stars announce opening night roster". Dallas Stars. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  10. ^ Stepneski, Mark (5 October 2018). "'A real good team win': Stars blank Coyotes in Montgomery's debut". NHL.com. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  11. ^ Miller, Jeff (25 October 2018). "Dickinson powers Stars past Ducks". NHL.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Stars rookie defenseman Miro Heiskanen selected to 2019 NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  13. ^ @PR_NHL (10 April 2019). "Miro Heiskanen joined Phil Housley (Game 6 in 1983 DF) and Glenn Wesley (the suspended Game 4 of 1988 SCF) as the third teenage defenseman in NHL history to score two goals in a postseason game. #NHLStats #StanleyCup" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Heiskanen signs eight-year, $67.6 million contract with Stars". NHL.com. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  15. ^ Yousuf, Saad. "Revisiting Stars bold predictions: Miro Heiskanen's points, special teams play and more". The Athletic. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Stars prospect Heiskanen named Liiga's top D". TSN. 2 May 2018.
  17. ^ "NHL announces 2018-19 All-Rookie Team". National Hockey League. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  18. ^ "Vesalainen named MVP". IIHF. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Dallas Stars first round draft pick
2017 		Succeeded by
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