“God’s gift to defensemen”: Miro Heiskanen continues to shine in ninth NHL season

How good is Miro Heiskanen?

That seems like a pretty decent question, but teammate Thomas Harley found it almost laughable because the answer seems so obvious.

“He’s God’s gift to defensemen,” Harley said. “He’s so special. He never makes mistakes. He’s always in possession. What doesn’t he do?”

And maybe that’s the better question.

At age 27, Heiskanen is fourth all-time in franchise scoring (348 points) for defensemen and moving up the ranks quickly. The third overall pick in 2017 is living up to his pedigree and might, at some point, pass Sergei Zubov for all of the top blueline numbers in franchise history.

“Miro does a lot of the subtle things you don’t see,” assistant coach Alain Nasreddine said in trying to explain the magic of Heiskanen. “It’s reading the play and breaking up the play. It’s very, very effective.”

In a lot of ways, Heiskanen is a quiet assassin. Yes, he leads the team’s defensemen in scoring, but his numbers are actually quite modest. Heiskanen last year was ninth in defenseman scoring at 63 points (9 goals, 54 assists) and has never finished higher than fifth (73 points in 2022-23). He has also never finished higher than seventh in Norris Trophy voting, given annually to the player voted the league’s best defenseman, and there is a chance he might never be because doesn’t get the points that usually lead to the votes.

“You look at the Norris and it’s always looking at points, which is so unfair,” Nasreddine said. “If you look at the body of work for a defenseman, Miro should be in that conversation every year.”

That might change this year as head coach Glen Gulutzan and his staff are tweaking the style of play, and that could give everyone the chance to score more. Combine that with the fact that Gulutzan has pushed Heiskanen to explore his space a little more.

Gulutzan stresses that he’s not asking Heiskanen to take more risks – because he doesn’t think he would do that – just to explore a more open style of play that suits his skillset.

“In our talks at the end of last year, we were intent on improving some of his offense,” Gulutzan said. “His D doesn’t suffer ever, but it’s just I can see (this year) more push for offense, taking more charge. Offensively, I don’t think he’s reached his ceiling yet, and he’s pushing for it.”

Heiskanen said he agrees with the assignment but doesn’t add much past that. The general feeling is that he will figure it out in a way that is better than anyone else could imagine.

“He’s incredibly efficient,” said teammate Tyler Myers. “For how good he is, how dynamic he is, he keeps the game very simple. It’s something I really admire, he doesn’t force the game.”

Captain Jamie Benn said you can see comparisons in games like basketball and football where a certain player orchestrates pace.

“It’s kind of like a point guard or a quarterback, he controls the game,” Benn said. “He sees the play, carries the puck, and controls the game that way.”

Benn added: “The game is so fast, but the great players make it look so easy. You can say they slow it down, but they are skating so fast. It’s slow to them.”

It’s a rare skill, to be sure.

And that’s why it’s so fun to play beside him – and just watch from the stands. Like the Stars were with Zubov, Heiskanen’s seasons typically end with the team sitting in the top five of the NHL standings. Just like Zubov, Heiskanen’s teams have regularly been top five in the league in goals against.

So even if there isn’t a Norris Trophy in his future, the guess is Heiskanen too will have the respect of his franchise and the league when it is all said and done.

“Guys like Miro and Zuby, they don’t stand out as much, but you watch them and they make the right play so much of the time,” Nasreddine said.

That’s probably why you have to ask the question in the first place. But Harley is right: Just watch him, and you’ll start to understand.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.