Heinola had a great game last night. I was impressed. He got himself into lots of good positions. His shot wasn’t there.
Also weird bout his assist. He had many nice plays, but, the one he got a point for looked like Schief stole puck back before finding kc in slot.
Stan was pretty bad. I thought he looked good in 1st period, minus his huge mistake, but, rest of game he kept making mistakes like 2nd goal, then getting beat and taking a bad penalty.
Stan has had all the time in the world. He has taken forever to end up as a bottom 6 player. Take away all that history, however, and I think Stan has been the better passer.
Heinola might get there if given enough games, but, team isn’t willing to give him enough games for him to reach potential. He is going to be the next great one who got away.
I don't think he's going anywhere. The Jets are just building up his confidence this year It's been Ville's best year to date, but the Detroit game Ville wasn't as effective as Stan, who nearly popped one in bar down on the rush. Who had a 3 game point streak last week, including against Colorado, who you would think would be the team that over matches him.
Nashville was not an inspired team last night. They got enough PPs to make the game close, but the Jets were the better team, in spite of Stanley's game, which was not confident in any way.
As I said before about Heinola, his real test comes if there is an injury to the top 2 defensemen because none of the defensemen on the roster, except maybe a more veteran Coghlan, have the instincts Ville do offensively, or can effectively run a PP. But Heinola also got a chance to show he could kill penalties last night, maybe not against a team that was hungry, or dialed in, but still it's part of the progression. Arniel was effusive about him and Coghlan. With the way the injuries are going there's going to be some opportunities and for those guys who aren't in the top 4, a lot of it is about establishing some chemistry, and filling roles. Samberg coming back automatically knocks Stanley off the top PK, so there should be a healthy competition until the trade deadline for some roles. One thing is certain, Josh Morrissey needs to stay healthy, and that probably means keeping him out of shot blocking situations as much as possible.