Here are six minutes of highlights from a season in which Heiskanen (he wears number 41 in these clips) scored 5 goals and racked 5 assists in 37 games.
At the U-18 World Championships this year, he was comfortably the best defenseman there and already has a gold and silver medal in what is looking to be a very good group of prospects for Finland the next few years.īut what's really impressive is watching him play in the Finnish Liiga (and also the European Champions' Hockey League, which this year saw his HIFK come up against former Minnesota Wild Pierre-Marc Bouchard's EV Zug and Washington Capitals' Jakub Vrana's Linkopings) while facing fellow draft prospects both past and present, as well as former NHLers and the best that minor pro has to offer. This really stands out when playing with his own age group. He's playing with one of the better teams in one of the best leagues in Europe at an age when all but the elite juniors in North America are still finding their feet amongst their peers, and not looking out of place. His skating and lateral speed are already at an elite level, with puck-moving and vision not far behind. Heiskanen is a fast, mobile, two-way defenseman who, like many Finns of his ilk, relies as much on quicksilver agility and speed as physical play to earn a living. Miro Heiskanen has skyrocketed up the NHL draft rankings! Do you want your team to take him?Posted by SB Nation NHL on Friday, May 26, 2017 Miro Heiskanen NHL draft scouting report | SB Nation 2017 NHL. One of several Finns who may get the chance to follow their storied forebears into the desert is HIFK's Miro Heiskanen (which, for those of you who don't speak Finnish, is pronounced "ees-ka-nen".) Miro Heiskanen - Flash Stats HIFK - 37 Games Played - 5 Goals - 5 Assists - 10 Points - 4 PIM Champions' Hockey League - 6 Games Played - 0 Goals - 3 Assists - 0 PIM Worlds U18 - 7 Games Played - 2 Goals - 10 Assists - 12 Points - 0 PIMĪ product of Espoo in the Helsinki suburbs (and home of their own storied team, Blues Espoo), the 6 foot, 174lb HIFK Helsinki blueliner is one of the most exciting back-end prospects in the 2017 NHL entry draft partially because he's already taking a regular shift in one of the best leagues in the world at 17 years old, as well as being a key contributor for his country at both the U-18 and U-20 levels. Up front, Lauri Korpikoski won many friends, too. From the less-well-known names like Sami Lepisto, through Ossi Vaananen and Jyrki Lumme, to the Coyotes legend and former captain (and NHL modern great) Teppo Numminen, the Arizona blueline has never had a Finn far away.
The Arizona franchise has found a happy hunting ground when it comes to Finns, especially defensively. Home of lakes, Lapland, myth, and legend.and traditionally, some pretty good hockey players. This is the first in that regular series.įinland. Throughout June, the FFH staff will be giving you in-depth profiles and thoughts on potential Coyotes draft targets in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft on June 23rd.