Playoff bound teenager Heiskanen mature beyond his age
Miro Heiskanen is still a teenager.
It’s something, sometimes, his Dallas Stars teammates need reminding.
Heiskanen isn’t playing the part of timid rookie rearguard, after all.
“He’s played the same way the whole time,” Stars defenseman John Klingberg said, a blueliner who broke into the league with Dallas as a 22-year-old some four years ago.
“No ups and downs. He’s mature beyond his age. It’s impressive to see.
“Nineteen-years-old.
“He looks like he’s 23, 24, 25.
“It’ll be interesting to see where he’s at when he’s 25. Honestly, though, I think for sure he’s going to mature. I think the way he plays now is the way he’s going to play when he’s 24, 25. This guy is going to be able to play up towards 1500 games, probably, and put up some good numbers.
“He’s going to be able to play for Dallas for a span of 15 or 20 years.”
It’s not hard to fathom when you consider what he’s done through his opening 78 games.
Heiskanen, the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, has 33 points — the most by a teenage defenseman in Stars franchise history.
Twelve are goals.
That total also puts him in elite company.
Only Bobby Orr (1966-67), Ray Bourque (1979-80), Hannu Virta (1982-83), Phil Housley (1982-83), Aaron Ekblad (2015-16), and now Heiskanen, have found the back of the net that many times as a teenage rookie defenseman.
The impact of some of those names doesn’t need reminding.
Heiskanen’s now among them, making the jump from HIFK’s program to the National Hockey League look easy.
Even, at least a little bit, to his own surprise.
“Of course maybe a little bit,” Heiskanen said. “It was hard to say how I’d play here. I didn’t know. I thought if I played my own game I could play here. But maybe I’m a little bit surprised with how I’ve played this year.
“I think I play my own game.
“I didn’t change much when I came here. It feels good. I haven’t changed a lot.”
Clearly he hasn’t needed to.
“Incredible,” said Stars forward Andrew Cogliano, a veteran of 941 NHL games with Dallas, the Anaheim Ducks, and Edmonton Oilers. “I think you sometimes find yourself just watching him and try to figure out why he’s so good.
“I’ve seen a lot of young D come in and they’ve had good moments and they’ve had bad moments, but he’s pretty consistent in how he plays the game and what he does out there. I haven’t seen a player with the amount of poise he has at his age. His poise is on another level. You start thinking about down the line of how great his career can be.
“You look at Hall-Of-Famers, sometimes, and the place they start.
“He’s the type of guy you can see in that category at some point because he’s that good.”
Heiskanen is already all-star caliber.
He represented Dallas in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in January, becoming just the third rookie in franchise history to do so. At 19 years, 192 days old on the day of the All-Star Game, he became the second-youngest player in club history to play in the game behind Don Beaupre (19 years, 144 days).
“I think the game is faster here,” Heiskanen said. “Guys are better. That’s the biggest difference.
“Of course there’s the best players. It’s always nice to play against them. I don’t know what the biggest surprise has been. Maybe some big hits. Welcome to the NHL. There have been a couple of big hits. And it’s always nice to play against the NHL’s best players.”
He’ll be a Calder Trophy candidate when the season concludes.
Though he’ll be in tough to unseat Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks for the honor, there’s no diminishing Heiskanen’s incredible year.
Not to the league.
Not to his teammates.
The kid is alright.
“I don’t think any league is easy coming in as a young guy your first year,” Heiskanen said. “The poise he plays with when he’s playing and all that kind of stuff, the way he plays the game and sees the game, he never puts himself in trouble.
“He’s never in trouble at all.
“That’s probably why he’s that good and has been able to keep that level the whole year.”