LD Miro Heiskanen - IFK Helsinki, Liiga (2017, 3rd, DAL)

[Narow]

Juolevi, heiskanen, ristolainen, honka, lindell, maata etc finland is getting deep at D with all these 1st round picks

 

[Hokinaittii]

He had a solid start to the season in his first preseason game by being the #1 defenceman of his pro team.



He is amazing skater and you can see his poke checking and stick work in general is his bread and butter. I can see the Lidstrom/Numminen comparisons. Really plays a mature game for his age.

 

[Balthazar]

He had a solid start to the season in his first preseason game by being the #1 defenceman of his pro team.



He is amazing skater and you can see his poke checking and stick work in general is his bread and butter. I can see the Lidstrom/Numminen comparisons. Really plays a mature game for his age.

Yeah he's going to be good.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

He's one of those players that just look so effortless. His skating and stickwork are a beauty to watch.

 

[vaiski]

He looks constantly very responsive, but not to the point where he gets out of position. Looks very promising defensively. The kind of stuff a Duncan Keith does. Just needs a few shooting lessons from Laine.

 

[BB88]

Nice to see his skating staying effortless after adding weight.

He can put up some points this year.

 

[Gsus]

His stickwork is very good. His shot could use some practice but it's not bad by any means.

He could play for the Stars this upcoming year already.

 

[Hokinaittii]

His stickwork is very good. His shot could use some practice but it's not bad by any means.

He could play for the Stars this upcoming year already.

He definately could make the team with his skillset but I think the question is whether Dallas wants to "risk" him getting injured since physically he isn't quite there yet.

 

[Gsus]

He definately could make the team with his skillset but I think the question is whether Dallas wants to "risk" him getting injured since physically he isn't quite there yet.

What gives him an advantage so early on is his skating. Having a good vision and skating he should not get into that many bad situations defensively. By being smart and fast he should avoid those situations that could injure him.

It'll be interesting if he makes the team since there is already 2 Finnish Dmen there. Half of their defenders of the next decade will be Finnish, hopefully.

The camp will decide what they do with him.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

What gives him an advantage so early on is his skating. Having a good vision and skating he should not get into that many bad situations defensively. By being smart and fast he should avoid those situations that could injure him.

It'll be interesting if he makes the team since there is already 2 Finnish Dmen there. Half of their defenders of the next decade will be Finnish, hopefully.

The camp will decide what they do with him.

I think Laine's last season is a good example of the difference between the physicality and speed of NHL and Liiga. In Liiga playoffs, he could often overpower his way through an opponent and throw reverse-hits in the corners, but he wasn't nearly as effective physically in the NHL this year. For a defenseman, the jump is most likely even bigger. Heiskanen's abilities would definitely help decrease his workload, but defenders are still quite delicate projects. If he does actually earn a spot from the camp, I wouldn't mind giving him a cup of coffee, but he might need some heavy sheltering especially later in the season when the fatigue starts to kick in.

 

[LT]

We already have 9 defenders fighting for 7 spots (assuming we don't go with 8 again, for the love of god). He'd have to really, really impress to stick with the Stars this year.

All signs point to him staying in Finland.

 

[WhatWhat]

What gives him an advantage so early on is his skating. Having a good vision and skating he should not get into that many bad situations defensively. By being smart and fast he should avoid those situations that could injure him.

It'll be interesting if he makes the team since there is already 2 Finnish Dmen there. Half of their defenders of the next decade will be Finnish, hopefully.

The camp will decide what they do with him.

Will be super interesting. With the way Honka and Lindell are improving and the fact that they are still really young, there is an outside chance Dallas ends up icing half of the Finnish National team D in a couple years

 

[WhatWhat]

He had a solid start to the season in his first preseason game by being the #1 defenceman of his pro team.



He is amazing skater and you can see his poke checking and stick work in general is his bread and butter. I can see the Lidstrom/Numminen comparisons. Really plays a mature game for his age.

Man he has a really active stick. I also like how despite not having the biggest frame he engages and uses the body early in a puck battle to get the edge. I hope he has a monster year in Finland

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

He had a solid start to the season in his first preseason game by being the #1 defenceman of his pro team.



He is amazing skater and you can see his poke checking and stick work in general is his bread and butter. I can see the Lidstrom/Numminen comparisons. Really plays a mature game for his age.

Is it only me or does he look much taller and bigger now? Good showing, I really liked how eager he was to generate offense.

 

[ijuka]

Some of his passes were a little off despite being under no heavy pressure, but overall I liked his showing there. Hopefully he has a good season in Liiga. Might even see him in olympics.

 

[Spotty 2 Hotty]

What gives him an advantage so early on is his skating. Having a good vision and skating he should not get into that many bad situations defensively. By being smart and fast he should avoid those situations that could injure him.

It'll be interesting if he makes the team since there is already 2 Finnish Dmen there. Half of their defenders of the next decade will be Finnish, hopefully.

The camp will decide what they do with him.

I think ultimately he will go back to Finland for a year and then likely be in Dallas the following season if he continues to progress.

 

[kelsier]

Easy to get where the Lindström comparisons came from. Of course a long way to go, but Heiskanen looked like the very opposite of an 18 year old out there. Not as if there will ever be another Lindström, Gretzky, Lemieux etc, since all players are individuals, but I do like the direction Miro's short career is heading at. You could pretty much underline the hockey smarts this guy has even during last season. It's not the physical tools that got him drafted #3, other than being extremely fluid skater, but the way he sees the game and is able to predict the flow. You barely ever see Miro out of place. He's making it look easy to take part on the offensive rush while being fast enough to skate back and cover his duties as a D-man. Really liked what I saw on those clips and especially the aggressiveness he was displaying at the offensive end. Looked very determined to make a difference. His slap shot and shooting are the main aspects he could improve, other than the obvious core strength and gaining weight. One more year of "Liiga" and then NHL is my best guess. He should join Rautala's training camp next summer to be honest.

 

[julkki]

Easy to get where the Lindström comparisons came from. Of course a long way to go, but Heiskanen looked like the very opposite of an 18 year old out there. Not as if there will ever be another Lindström, Gretzky, Lemieux etc, since all players are individuals, but I do like the direction Miro's short career is heading at. You could pretty much underline the hockey smarts this guy has even during last season. It's not the physical tools that got him drafted #3, other than being extremely fluid skater, but the way he sees the game and is able to predict the flow. You barely ever see Miro out of place. He's making it look easy to take part on the offensive rush while being fast enough to skate back and cover his duties as a D-man. Really liked what I saw on those clips and especially the aggressiveness he was displaying at the offensive end. Looked very determined to make a difference. His slap shot and shooting are the main aspects he could improve, other than the obvious core strength and gaining weight. One more year of "Liiga" and then NHL is my best guess. He should join Rautala's training camp next summer to be honest.

Who the hell is Lindström? I would be perfectly okay if Heiskanen would come "Teppo Numminen" vol. 2., rock-solid two-way defenceman for big minutes. This utopian hypetrain that some Finnish posters deliver is just amazing. Last time I checked Tolvanen was a new Tarasenko.

 

[lawrence]

Who the hell is Lindström? I would be perfectly okay if Heiskanen would come "Teppo Numminen" vol. 2., rock-solid two-way defenceman for big minutes. This utopian hypetrain that some Finnish posters deliver is just amazing. Last time I checked Tolvanen was a new Tarasenko.

what? you don't know Lindström!???

anyways, kid reminds me of Ducan Keith. I think he will be the best player from this draft. Skating posture, asthetics, the way he moves is like Duncan Keith, the way he defends and skates it up reminds me of him too.

 

[Gsus]

what? you don't know Lindström!???

anyways, kid reminds me of Ducan Keith. I think he will be the best player from this draft. Skating posture, asthetics, the way he moves is like Duncan Keith, the way he defends and skates it up reminds me of him too.

Who the hell is Ducan Keith?

But I do agree he's similar to Keith. What we've also noticed he likes to use that stick over puck fake move a lot.

I see some didn't get the joke here Credit to lawrence.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

what? you don't know Lindström!???

anyways, kid reminds me of Ducan Keith. I think he will be the best player from this draft. Skating posture, asthetics, the way he moves is like Duncan Keith, the way he defends and skates it up reminds me of him too.

It's Lidström, not Lindström... lol. Also misspelled Duncan.

 

[julkki]

what? you don't know Lindström!???

anyways, kid reminds me of Ducan Keith. I think he will be the best player from this draft. Skating posture, asthetics, the way he moves is like Duncan Keith, the way he defends and skates it up reminds me of him too.

I know a certain Nick Lidström but Lindström doesn't ring a bell. But I must agree that Heiskanen reminds in style-wise Duncan Keith.

 

[lawrence]

Who the hell is Ducan Keith?

What??? whats going on today? You don't know who is Ducan Keith is now? Hfboards have gone full crazy (thanks for the Spelling correction btw).

I know a certain Nick Lidström but Lindström doesn't ring a bell. But I must agree that Heiskanen reminds in style-wise Duncan Keith.
Yesterday 11:59 PM

yea said it before the draft, even on early on in that video reminds me of Duncan Keith the way he runs the blue line. Kid is only 18 which is even more impressive. Looks like a Vet out there against men.

 

[kelsier]

Who the hell is Lindström? I would be perfectly okay if Heiskanen would come "Teppo Numminen" vol. 2., rock-solid two-way defenceman for big minutes. This utopian hypetrain that some Finnish posters deliver is just amazing. Last time I checked Tolvanen was a new Tarasenko.

Cba'ed to check name spelling with every single ex- or current hockey player, sorry.

I said specifically that scouts were drawing that comparison and that I could get what they were seeing. Not exactly the same like I was drawing lines on my own accord.

And also I don't think I read anything about anyone saying that Tolvanen was the next Tarasenko. Making a statement such as "player A has equal or better shot than player B" doesn't equal to saying player A being better than player B. The problem with the HFBoards is always that people read what they want to read, not what is actually written.

I remember once when I said that Laine probably had the better shot than Lemieux at the same age and some people went into a rage mode and started throwing out insults or like "plz, cmon you can't be serious... Lemieux scored 133 goals (or something like that) on his draft year, are you frigging kidding me?!!!". Who'd laugh on that argument today though?

 

[julkki]

Cba'ed to check name spelling with every single ex- or current hockey player, sorry.

I said specifically that scouts were drawing that comparison and that I could get what they were seeing. Not exactly the same like I was drawing lines on my own accord.

And also I don't think I read anything about anyone saying that Tolvanen was the next Tarasenko. Making a statement such as "player A has equal or better shot than player B" doesn't equal to saying player A being better than player B. The problem with the HFBoards is always that people read what they want to read, not what is actually written.

I remember once when I said that Laine probably had the better shot than Lemieux at the same age and some people went into a rage mode and started throwing out insults or like "plz, cmon you can't be serious... Lemieux scored 133 goals (or something like that) on his draft year, are you frigging kidding me?!!!". Who'd laugh on that argument today though?

I think, as a Finn, that Laine is certainly real deal and the most exciting hockey player this country has ever produced. I have no doubt that he'll be one of the most dangerous goal-scorers of his time, and possibly of all time. Laine is clearly a step above of other Finnish prospects.

Finnish youth development in hockey has taken some major steps but one must be realistic with these prospects. Most likely big number of them are going to "bust" or underwhelm their expectations, as will most of the prospects overall. It's extremely hard to break in to the "elite-category" in the NHL and from Finland there has been just a couple of players there. Just being a NHL-regular is a very good achievement.