Injury stops Heinola in his tracks

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This article was published 06/10/2023 (730 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ville Heinola was on the cusp of making the Winnipeg Jets after a string of solid preseason performances that likely had him pencilled into the starting lineup.

A broken ankle suffered during Thursday’s final tune-up has now put the promising young defenceman on the shelf for up to three months.

“A s—-tburger,” is how teammate Nate Schmidt described the painful turn of events Friday. “Your heart just sinks when something like that happens.”

Jets coach Rick Bowness said there were initial fears the injury, which came after a collision with Ottawa Senators defenceman Erik Brannstrom, could be even worse.

“They keep telling us a fracture is better than a high ankle sprain,” he said.

“Regardless, either one of them you are going to be out for a long time. You are looking at, I don’t know, I’m not a doctor, eight, 10 to 12 weeks. It’s a fracture so a minimum of eight weeks.”

The Central Division team still doesn’t know if Heinola will need surgery. The plan is to allow him to return to Finland to spend time with family during the early stages of his recovery.

Heinola, the 20th-overall draft pick in 2019. has now been placed on injured reserve (IR), leaving Winnipeg with 26 skaters in camp after young forward Parker Ford was sent to the Manitoba Moose on Friday. They must reduce the roster to a maximum of 23 by Monday afternoon.

“I knew nothing about (Ford, a 23-year-old college free-agent signing) coming into training camp and he was not supposed to get any exhibition games,” said Bowness.

“He just came into camp and everything he did in camp, he earned the right to play in those four exhibition games. He was catching on to all the things we were talking about defensively. He’s a smart player out there. He’s on the puck, fearless, a smart player, good skills and he’s strong on his feet. Because of numbers and waiver and everything else, he’s gotta go down. He will start the year there but I’m pretty confident in saying that at some point, we’re going to see him here this year.”

One of the three remaining cuts is sure to be third-string goaltender Collin Delia, who will first have to clear waivers before he can be sent to the AHL. That leaves one forward and one defenceman on the chopping block, assuming nobody else joins Heinola on the IR.

It’s worth noting forward Nikolaj Ehlers did not skate Friday after missing all six preseason games with lingering neck spasms. The hope is he can participate in Monday’s scheduled practice and ramp up to be ready for the Jets’ 2023-24 NHL season-opener on Wednesday in Calgary against the Flames.

“That would be in a perfect world,” said Bowness.

The Jets are taking Saturday and Sunday off for a team fishing outing and some Thanksgiving dinners.

If Ehlers doesn’t require an IR stint, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby is the most likely candidate to be cut. He would also require waivers.

On the blue line, Kyle Capobianco wore a yellow non-contact jersey Friday. If he starts the year on IR, the Jets wouldn’t need to make any moves. If he’s good to go, Capobianco might be the prime candidate to go down, which would allow the Jets to keep both Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm in the fold.

Schmidt, who has battled a lower-body injury during much of camp, took Heinola’s spot on a pairing with Brenden Dillon on Friday. The other defence pairs (Josh Morrissey-Dylan DeMelo and Dylan Samberg-Neal Pionk) remain intact, while Stanley, Chisholm and Capobianco were rotating as extras.

“It’s something where you feel like you put all summer’s work into, you just started the first couple days, feeling really good, conditioning’s great and then something like that happens. It feels like it kind of chops you down,” said Schmidt, of his injury.

“Each day it’s been getting better and I’ve been able to push it more and more. My legs are feeling great, I love my jump, too, this year. I’m excited to get into some action here, hopefully soon.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg