More opportunities for Heinola on Moose

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This article was published 23/02/2022 (1344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DALLAS — Winnipeg Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry didn’t mince words when asked about one of his budding defensive prospect’s demotion to the American Hockey League.

In fact, he doesn’t view Ville Heinola being re-assigned to the Manitoba Moose as a demotion at all; on the contrary, Lowry believe it will provide the 20-year-old with an opportunity he’s just not getting with the Jets.

“He needs to play and that’s the biggest thing,” Lowry said following the Jets morning skate at American Airlines Center Wednesday. “He’s taken huge strides from the start of the year to where he is now. But for him, it’s all about playing. He’s not going to get any better sitting in the stands and watching hockey.”

There is a sector of Jets fans that believe Heinola, a 2019 first-round draft pick, should be getting more of a role at the NHL level, and that his current development path should include increased ice time with Winnipeg, not less. But it’s Lowry who makes that call, and the Jets bench boss clearly feels the Moose, a place where Heinola will log significant ice time and play a leading role on special teams, is where he belongs right now.

“He’s going to play in every situation with the Moose, and he’s going to play big minutes. It’s about playing,” Lowry reiterated. “You can say he’s going to develop here, but he’s not going to develop by not playing and that’s the whole reason right now is because our back end is healthy and we need him to play.”

Heinola has played eight games with the Jets this season, with his most recent being a 3-1 home loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 14. Before being sent to the Moose on Sunday, Heinola was averaging close to 14 minutes of ice time, playing on the third pairing, and was used sparingly on the power play.

But with a group of defencemen at full health, with Neal Pionk, Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo, Logan Stanley and Nathan Beaulieu all returning from injury or COVID-19-related absences in recent weeks, there’s just not enough opportunity to go around. Part of the decision, Lowry hinted at, also has to do with Heinola still learning on the job and building his confidence.

“In his first game, he wasn’t very good, and he got to play the second game and he got better, and he got a little bit more comfortable. He was nervous. You live with that with young players,” Lowry said. “He’s been here before, obviously. He had the nerves and he got through them, and he was a better player. The best part of it all, he was playing good hockey and we want to make sure that he continues playing good hockey.”

Heinola has already played 26 games with the Moose this season, registering two goals and 15 assists for 17 points. Given Lowry’s current thought process, it will likely take another injury, or the Jets to fall completely out of the playoff picture, before Heinola returns to the NHL.

“This year, with the maturity level, he has a really good understanding that he got a very good opportunity. He got to play regular minutes,” Lowry added. “The big thing and the biggest mistake that these young guys make is that they think it’s a race and that they have to be there (immediately). It’s about development and it’s about playing and right now, for him, he has to play games.”

INJURY UPDATE: Forward Andrew Copp was on the ice in Dallas wearing a yellow, non-contact jersey.

Copp suffered an upper-body injury in a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 16. There is a chance he could return to the lineup in final two games of the road trip, with the Colorado Avalanche on tap Friday and the Arizona Coyotes Sunday afternoon.

Forward Kristian Reichel has returned home after suffering a lower-body injury in the road loss to Calgary Monday. He’s considered week-to-week.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton