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Ville Heinola Returns to Finland

By Derek Gagnon
Minnesota Wild v Winnipeg Jets
Ville Heinola #14 of the Winnipeg Jets plays the puck along the boards during second period action against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell MTS Place on October 10, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images

The Winnipeg Jets assigned Ville Heinola to Lukko of the Finnish SM-Liiga this morning, returning the young defender to the team he played for last year.

Heinola played in eight games with the Jets this season, scoring once and adding four assists, before being assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, where he had one assist in three games of action.

Heinola, 18, was picked 20th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft after putting up two goals and 12 assists in 34 regular season games with Lukko last year, while adding another goal and three assists in seven playoff games. He also had nine points in nine games for Lukko’s Under-20 team.

Heinola is a very strong contender to play for Finland at the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships, having already done so last year when he had a goal and an assist in five games.

Finland v Sweden - 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship
Ville Heinola #34 of Finland versus Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championships at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on December 26, 2018 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Photo by Kevin Light/Getty Images