Could this be the end of the road for Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ville Heinola? Let’s hope not.
During Jets’ head coach Scott Arniel’s media availability after day two of training camp, Arniel revealed that Heinola will be out with an ankle infection, and he made sure to note that it won’t be day-to-day.
Wednesday, September 18th, was the medical day before the on-ice sessions for training camp began. The team discovered the infection on Wednesday and now his ankle has swollen up at the site of the screw from last year’s surgery, according to Arniel.
As of right now, the medical outlook remains uncertain. Arniel mentioend re-evaluating in a weeks time but even then, this isn’t a short term thing.
While we can speculate, we don’t know what the state of this infection is. If it’s mild, rehab should be the fastest option, but if that isn’t the case and it’s a deep infection, it will be longer and surgery is a dark cloud over this potential fact.
Heinola had spent the latter half of the 2023-24 season with the Manitoba Moose working on his game after his ankle fracture in the 2023 preseason. Having yet another setback is the last thing the 23-year-old needs in this stage of his career.
Since being drafted 20th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Heinola has played just 35 NHL games across parts of four seasons where he’s posted 11 points (1G, 10A). Heinola has spent five seasons with the Manitoba Moose where he’s posted 102 points (23G, 79A) in 152 games.
Should Heinola find himself spending another year with the Manitoba Moose, which is likely as the Jets re-signed him to a two-year contract extension in July. This is an incredibly tough blow for Heinola and the Jets as he was likely to find himself on the opening day roster.
For now, the Jets will be evaluating the prospect of having Dylan Coghlan, Haydn Fleury, Elias Salomonsson, or Tyrel Bauer is the route the team will focus on while Ville gets healthy.
