Player Discussion: Heinola Thread

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I have absolutely no clue why Heinola wasn't paired up with Schmidt more. The pairing did really well together, it balanced our lineup (other than our garbage 2nd pairing that Lowry refused to split up), and it sounds like they had good chemistry away from games too.
It was the end of the season before he got to that point. Heinola had the unfortunate circumstance of starting the season with Beaulieu, which I am sure rattled him. Then Pionk, when Samberg went down, Kovacevic when De Melo was out with covid.

I think the best the Jets had on defense was

Morrissey-De Melo
Dillon-Schmidt
Samberg-Pionk

which was balanced right, but it was short lived once Samberg went down for months. Should that have been the opening day lineup? I'd say probably, Beaulieu became expendable once Maurice was gone, but Stanley had a good season to build of off. Once Samberg was lost the Jets never did find their chemsistry on defense.

I liked giving Heinola a proper development year. The big issue in the lineup in taking Dillon out is the PK, and Heinola got some reps this year (on the Moose). Without Dillon you probably go Morrissey-De Melo, Samberg-Pionk, and then Heinola and Schmidt fill in on the PK. But do you want to burn out Morrissey and risk losing him to injury, when his skating is one of the biggest assets this team has 5 on 5? I had no problem with giving Stanley a chance to have an impact last year. He didn't have a good impact, but that was also on Schmidt, who may be a good talker, but left some things desired on the ice, other than a noticeable good first pass. Which is also Heinola's biggest attribute.

Personally I would give Heinola a shot in,a different defensive formation:

Morrissey-Pionk (two best together)
Samberg-Schmidt (trained together)
Stanley/Heinola-De Melo

That's the spot I want Heinola to win to start his career, because De Melo as a shot suppressor, which I am not sure Schmidt is, is an opportunity for Ville to move the puck forward, and the less the kid has to cover the front of the net the better off we are, until he at least learns some tricks from Morrissey, or De Melo...
 
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Two good bits of news for Heinola, Samberg, Chisholm, Kovacevic. One is that Bowness has a history of developing young Ds well. Two, Chevy name dropped the first two as being important players this year along with Gus.
I would certainly look at moving Stanley and Dillon this year and ride with the latter two as first fill ins and Copabianco could be the #9.
 
Has Heinola officially requested a trade yet? he'd be one of the only guys that actually has a decent enough reason. Seems to be super logjammed and not given opportunity even after showing flashes in his handful of NHL games as an 18 year old.
 
Has Heinola officially requested a trade yet? he'd be one of the only guys that actually has a decent enough reason. Seems to be super logjammed and not given opportunity even after showing flashes in his handful of NHL games as an 18 year old.
He’s only 21, kid is still young. His time will come. I think Samberg is more ready at this point. Let him over ripen. This should be his year though to become a regular at some point.
 
Has Heinola officially requested a trade yet? he'd be one of the only guys that actually has a decent enough reason. Seems to be super logjammed and not given opportunity even after showing flashes in his handful of NHL games as an 18 year old.
He really hurt himself by having such a poor showing in tc last year. I'm sure he'll come to camp this year ready to go.
 
Dillion for Bennett

Perfetti Scheifele Ehlers
Conner Dubois Bennett
Henin/Rodriguez Lowry Wheeler
Barron Gus Appelton

JoMo DeMelo
Samberg Pionk
Heinola/Stanley Schmidt
That would be stellar but we would need to add there one would think, a 2nd at least. Maybe Pmo will want Stanley there.
 
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Dillion for Bennett

Perfetti Scheifele Ehlers
Conner Dubois Bennett
Henin/Rodriguez Lowry Wheeler
Barron Gus Appelton

JoMo DeMelo
Samberg Pionk
Heinola/Stanley Schmidt

That would be stellar but we would need to add there one would think, a 2nd at least. Maybe Pmo will want Stanley there.

I'd love to get Bennet here, but I agree, Ithink we'd have to add. And maybe Florida has no interest in Dillon? 🤷
 
That would be stellar but we would need to add there one would think, a 2nd at least. Maybe Pmo will want Stanley there.

I'd be fine with adding a second. But that move gets them compliant for the start of the season if they place Duclair on LTIR so the additional $500k in space has some value as well.
 
You ever get tired of posting stuff like this?
NO!

Has Heinola officially requested a trade yet? he'd be one of the only guys that actually has a decent enough reason. Seems to be super logjammed and not given opportunity even after showing flashes in his handful of NHL games as an 18 year old.
Certain guy named Niku also showed flashes but slowly proved he wasn’t an NHL level talent!
 
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Has Heinola officially requested a trade yet? he'd be one of the only guys that actually has a decent enough reason. Seems to be super logjammed and not given opportunity even after showing flashes in his handful of NHL games as an 18 year old.
Logjammed? Its not a difficult defense group to break into. He is getting what he has earned and I hope he will continue to get what he earns.
 
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What can you expect from Heinola next year?

What could be his upside after D+3?

We have no idea. There is a logjam of non waiver eligible defensemen, so if we don't make a trade he might just be back in the AHL. Many people want Dillon traded to free up cap space and have Samberg who can fill that role but is younger, faster, and cheaper.

Then it would be between Heinola and Stanley for the third pairing spot depending on how they run the pairings, and hopefully they stick to their "play the best player" mantra Bowness has been saying.

Stanley was a trainwreck with Schmidt and playing any higher than third pairing, so might depend on who's with who.

Or Dillon isn't traded and he's in the AHL to start lol.
 
I'm undecided on Heinola . If the Jets feel he will bust or bust-ish, they should trade him while he still has percieved value . I don't want another hesitating offering Niku for Stone situation. I'm NOT saying Heinola is Niku for the record. And not saying Heinola would net a very big fish.

But Jets do need more depth at forward. All options must be considered.
 
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I'm undecided on Heinola . If the Jets feel he will bust or bust-ish, they should trade him while he still has percieved value . I don't want another hesitating offering Niku for Stone situation. I'm NOT saying Heinola is Niku for the record. And not saying Heinola would net a very big fish.

But Jets do need more depth at forward. All options must be considered.

If I'm looking at team needs, to maximize cap efficiency and return value I'd look at trading Dillon before Heinola, especially with Samberg hopefully improving further with a healthy offseason and Stanley as your 6/7/8 with a possible bounce-back season.

Heinola is 21. Don't see him being anywhere close to busting at this point.

I'd add that the logjam isn't just at LD. Kovacevic is waiver eligible this year, and has to play, sit or be exposed (and very possibly claimed), so there's a logjam period. If they could shift Schmidt they might get something back but my sense is that Chevy spent a long time courting him and will want to keep him.

- JMo
- Dillon
- DeMelo
- Schmidt
- Pionk
- Stanley
- Kovacevic
- Samberg*
- Heinola*
 
Not sure if this is being discussed elsewhere:



I'd trade him if that's the case

I'm curious to know where other GM's peg his value. If/When this hits the main boards it will be one lowball bid after another with a ton of shit offered in exchange to the Jets.
 
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