Miro Heiskanen (born 18 July 1999) is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

for the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Ranked in the top ten eligible European skaters by the

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League that ranks prospects for the NHL Entry Draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate to the profe ...

, Heiskanen was picked third overall in the

2017 NHL Entry Draft The 2017 NHL Entry Draft was the 55th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 23–24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The first three selections were Nico Hischier going to the New Jersey Devils, Nolan Patrick going to the ...

by the Stars.

Playing career

Liiga career (2014–2017)

Heiskanen played hockey until the age of 14 in the youth program of the Finnish

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

club

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

. Later, Heiskanen played within the youth program of

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

. In playing at the

Junior A Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

level during the 2015–16 season, he recorded 14 points in 30 games to be awarded with the

Yrjö Hakala Yrjö Anton Hakala (20 April 1932 – 15 July 2023) was a Finnish ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga for Tappara and Ilves. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame is housed in and admin ...

Award as rookie of the year. On 30 May 2016, he signed a three-year contract extension with the HIFK organization. During the

2016–17 Liiga season The 2016–17 Liiga season was the 42nd season of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Teams Regular season The top six teams advance directly to the quarter-finals, whil ...

, at age 17, Heiskanen made his professional debut with HIFK in the Liiga. In playing the full season in the Liiga, he played on HIFK's top defensive pairing, scoring 5 goals and 10 points in 37 games. HIFK head coach Antti Törmänen described him as his team's best defenceman that season, praising his ability to always make the right decisions. By the end of the season, Heiskanen was considered a top prospect at the

, with Göran Stubb of the

describing him as "by far the best European defenceman in the draft". Heiskanen was ultimately selected third overall by the

. On 8 July 2017, Heiskanen signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Stars. Heiskanen spent the

2017–18 Liiga season The 2017–18 Liiga season was the 43rd season of the SM-liiga (branded simply as "Liiga"), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Tappara was the season as a defending champion. This season included a record ...

on loan with HIFK.

Dallas Stars (2018–present)

Heiskanen was named to the Stars' roster to start the

2018–19 NHL season The 2018–19 NHL season was the 102nd season of operation (101st season of play) of the National Hockey League. 31 teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 3, 2018, and ended on April 6, 2019. The 2019 St ...

and made his debut on 4 October in a 3–0 win over the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

. On 25 October, in a 5–2 Stars win over the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

, Heiskanen scored his first career NHL goal, beating goaltender John Gibson off a pass from

Jason Spezza Jason Rocco Anthony Spezza (born June 13, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Spezza played 19 career seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2002 to 2022, and is currently a part of the Toronto Maple Leafs' front ...

. In so doing, at 19 years and 99 days, Heiskanen became the second-youngest Stars defenceman to score a goal in the franchise's history. On 2 January 2019, Heiskanen was named the Stars' lone representative at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game, becoming the second rookie in the Stars/

North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for m ...

franchise history to be named to the All-Star Game. At the time of his selection, he was tied for seventh in the league among rookies and second among rookie defencemen with 17 points. After the Stars qualified for the

2019 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs began on April 10, 2019, after the 2018–19 regular season, and concluded on June 12, 2019, with the St. Louis Blues winning their first ...

, Heiskanen became the third defencemen under the age of 20 to score two goals in a playoff game. On 30 August 2020, in Game 4 of the Stars' second round playoff series against the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

, Heiskanen would set the Stars' playoff record for points by a defenceman with 16. In reaching the

2020 Stanley Cup Finals The 2020 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2019–20 season and the culmination of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. This series was between the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning a ...

, Heiskanen ended the playoff campaign with 26 points in 27 games, the fourth most by any defenceman during a playoff year in league history, behind only

Paul Coffey Paul Douglas Coffey (born June 1, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for nine teams over 21 seasons in the National Hockey League. Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time among ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Brian Leetch Brian Joseph Leetch (born March 3, 1968) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 18 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. He has been called one of the to ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

Al MacInnis Allan MacInnis (born July 11, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames (1981-1994) and St. Louis Blues (1994-2004). A first round selection of ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. The Stars would ultimately lose to the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

in six games. On 17 July 2021, Heiskanen signed an eight-year, $67.6 million contract with the Stars. In 2022 Heiskanen won the gold medal in the IIHF world championship tournament with Team Finland.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heiskanen, Miro 1999 births Living people Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey defencemen HIFK players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics National Hockey League first-round draft picks Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Sportspeople from Espoo