Ville Heinola has signed a new contract with the Winnipeg Jets.

Does this mean he might be playing in the ahl next season? If so that would be great. He does have a year left on his contract in Finland so unless it’s terminated, he would need to be in the nhl or the liga.

Could also be that the jets signed him to a contract so that he can come over and play in the ahl right after his liga season is over, like Vesalainen did this year but when his khl season was over.

Thoughts?

He could play in the NHL for $70,000 or in the NHL for $925,000.

Jets back end could use his help this season imo.

I think it depends if he has one of those “European assignment clause” attachments to his contract that allows him to go back to Europe instead of the Moose.

Would have picked Bjornfoot over him at least he's a lock to make the NHL

He could play in the AHL; there's nothing stopping him from doing so. Depends on what the Jets coaching staff and he and his agent think is best for his development. The Jets are interesting, in that regard, because the Moose play in the same arena as the Jets, so it's easier to call players up and down and keep an eye on AHL development.
He doesn't need to be signed to an NHL contract to come play in the AHL after his season in the Liiga is done; many players like that sign ATOs in order to do so. I wouldn't be surprised if they did that just to solidify the relationship between team and agent; those signing bonuses are always nice and get paid out, even if the contract slides.

I like heinola. His most recent scouting report has him as 6 foot so size isn’t going to be an issue by the time he is ready. He is working on the weight. I honestly could see him develop as a josh morrissey kind of guy. If he works on his skating a bit more he could become elite. Everything else is there. The only things he really needs are size and a little better skating. His skating is above avg but if he works on it a little more I could see him rival Miro heiskanen. The only thing that separates the 2 right now is skating

Forgot about ato’s but he needs to have his liga contract terminated under the iihf rules to play in the ahl. Just like players without 4 years of junior cannot play in he ahl unless they are 20

I get the relationship thing but it’s unlikely as the jets never do so. They only sign their guys to elc’s when hey need to. Vesalainen signed his elc after his post draft year. Same with ehlers. And morrissey. And Connor. The list goes on. It’s not a jets kind of move to do that. I think that he might have his liga contract terminated. Hopefully. I honestly think he can play in the ahl and that it’s equally as good, if not better, as playing in the liga

Jets never rush their prospects. He is not playing in the nhl for more than 10 games unless he beats out one of beaulieu, poolman, or niku for a roster spot. Not happening

The backend isn’t as bad as most make it out to be. Pionk replaces Myers and beaulieu replaces chiarot. Niku is an upgrade over kulikov. The only real miss is Trouba (and not the offence but the defence) with a full season of buff/JoMo Trouba’s 50 pts are replaceable. However we now lack the defensive presence that Trouba provides on the shutdown pairing with JoMo. That presence is replaceable though with many rentals including demelo, Tanev, hamonic, and maybe even poolman steps up and becomes that shutdown rd. He is essentially a Trouba clone in his own zone

I hope he does so that if the ahl isn’t best for him right now, he can go back to Finland for a year. I didn’t like the fact that Vesalainen got one as it only delayed his development but with heinola, it’s a different situation

Sami Niku also had a euro out clause but he decided not to use it. My understanding is that all Liiga contracts have an NHL out clause so the Jets just pay a transfer payment to his Liiga team based on how many games he played. He could play for the Moose if he wanted to but I won't be surprised if there is an Euro out clause in this contract as well. We have a lot of guys that need ice on the Moose:

JMo Pionk
niku Buff
Beaulieu Poolman
Kulikov

Stanley Kovacevic
Heinola Gawanke
Bietto Nogier
Schilling Green

Maybe they plan to buy out Kulikov and have Stanley make the Jets?


Nogier and Green have both been pretty injury prone but need to play in less the Jets have written them off, same with Gawanke. Add Heinola to that crew and there are a lot of prospects looking for ice and 2 vets in Bietto and Schilling that you need to keep reasonably sharpe in case injuries hit.

niku’s contract has a European out clause, not one for the liga. It just means he could have signed anywhere in Europe. My understanding is that under iihf rules heinola will need to have his contract terminated if he wants to play in the ahl. The money thing is only if he is playing in the nhl.
It’s the same with he junior rules. Unless a player had played 4 junior season, is 20 years old, or is playing in the nhl, he cannot play in the ahl under the chl agreement. Yes the nhl contract supersedes the liga oen but he ahl is seen as parrallel to the liga so because he has a liga contract he cannot play in the ahl

I think the moose d will look like

Stanley-gawanke
Heinola-kovacevic
Schilling-green/nogier
Bitetto-stoykewych

I have a strong feeling that green will be shipped out before his value goes down further. Maybe in a kulikov dump? Maybe in a prospect 1 for 1. And maybe nogier gets shipped out for a forward like the de Leo trade last season. Bitteto might be on he nhl roster if kulikov is dumped so let’s not forget about that. If an injury hits the big club, Stanley will be called up and know the jets, will stay with the club until the deadline.

Lol, why because you say so ?

Heinola is more of a risk but Bjornfoot is like a can't miss prospect he'll make the NHL its just how good will he be whether it be a 3rd pair or 2nd pair or even 1st pair