This is the third overall draft pick from 2017 draft (the team's highest since Mike Modano)? This is the man who's in the first year of an eight-year contract worth $64.6 million? This is man who leads the team in time on ice and is considered to maybe be the most impactful on the squad?
Yep.
Heiskanen clearly was on a short lease Tuesday, and clearly played more than what the coaching staff intended. He's never missed this much time in his short NHL career and has never dealt with an illness like this. Yet, even under some pretty strict restrictions, he found a way to be "Miro."
Using his effortless skating, uncanny anticipation and stone-cold calm, Heiskanen helped the Stars find a way to a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks that was very needed.
"Really well," Stars coach Rick Bowness said when asked how Heiskanen played. "He just gets the puck, and he skates us out of trouble, we spend a lot less time in our zone when he's on the ice. Listen, he's an elite player."
According to Hockey Reference, Heiskanen led the Stars in Corsi For Percentage at 74.3 percent. Dallas was credited with 26 shot attempts for and nine against when Heiskanen was on the ice. That's huge for a team that has struggled at times to get the puck out of its own zone and keep it in the offensive zone.
"He's probably our best player still, he's huge for us," said forward Tyler Seguin of the impact of a less-than-100 percent Heiskanen. "When you're back in your own end and the puck is there and Miro's got it, you've got a certain kind of confidence in your head. You're not putting anyone else down, but when he's got it, you're moving maybe sometimes to different areas, just because he has that vision."
The Stars went 6-5-0 in the 11 games without Heiskanen and did a great job of battling through a tough road schedule.
"I guess you can say we survived without him," Seguin said.
And learned a thing or two. Players like Ryan Suter and Jani Hakanpää saw their minutes go up, and each gained from the experience. Rookie defenseman Thomas Harley played eight games during Heiskanen's absence and averaged about 14 minutes a game in that stretch. Veteran Joel Hanley played in 10 of the 11 games. He stayed in the lineup Tuesday over Harley and Andrej Sekera to bring his season total to 33 of the team's 65 games.
That's important.
And maybe the biggest change is that John Klingberg had to take up a lot of the slack and did just that. Klingberg was averaging 20 minutes a game in January and then averaged 24:14 while Heiskanen was out. Klingberg entered that stretch minus-17 on the season and went plus-4 in those 11 games.
The possibly pending free agent endured the trade deadline and found his groove, and now he's better prepared to make a spirited run toward the playoffs. And Heiskanen? Well, he could be well rested, and he also could be motivated. Bowness said that as the coaches and medical staff discussed managing Heiskanen's return, they had some numbers in mind. As they got through Tuesday's game, though, they know it'll be a challenge to slow down the galloping defenseman.
"He wanted to play more," Bowness said. "We were holding him back. It was a couple of minutes more than we wanted, but he kept telling us, 'I feel great, I feel great.' He wanted more ice time, but we've been told to watch the minutes.
"Talking to him after, he's looking at me like, 'Give me more,'" Bowness added. "It's typical Miro."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.
