Heiskanen heads to San Jose

Miro Heiskanen is no normal 19-year-old.
The Stars rookie defenseman has already taken bold steps in his first NHL season and will become the youngest player in Stars' history to play in an All-Star Game Saturday. And while he seems as a cool as a winter night in Espoo, his teammates feel his heartrate might rise just a little when he's playing with some of the best players in the NHL.
"That's a rare thing," said good friend and teammate Esa Lindell. "It's a special moment for him, I'm sure he's going to enjoy it and he may be a bit nervous, too.

"I would be," Lindell said with a pause and a shy smile.
Of course, Lindell knows Heiskanen isn't like everyone else. It's what makes him special. The steady defenseman, who Dallas drafted third overall in 2017, has had an incredible couple of years. First, there was that whole draft thing. Then, there was the return to Finland where he played not only in the World Juniors, but also in the Olympic Games. Oh yeah, then he went back to his pro team HIFK and won the Pekka Rautakillio trophy. That, of course, is the award given to the best defenseman in the Finnish Elite League, an honor won by Heiskanen after playing just half of the league's 60 games (because, y'know, all of the Olympics and World Juniors absences).
He then made his way over to North America, and after 49 games, he leads all rookies in time on ice at 23:06 per game, and is second among rookie defensemen in scoring with 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists).
And, he is of course, the team's lone representative in All-Star weekend activities.
"Everything is happening so fast, all of it in just one year," Heiskanen said. "It's very nice, of course, but it happens so fast and it wasn't something I had in my mind."
And maybe that is the greatest asset Heiskanen has. His mind is uncluttered, focused simply on the task at hand. It's one of the reasons he seems so calm on the ice.
"To be a full-time NHL player is hard, but he has done a very good job adapting," said defenseman John Klingberg. "He rarely makes mistakes, and you're vulnerable as a D-man out there, you really are. Everyone makes mistakes, but he does so many good things. It's impressive, it really is."
Klingberg is a deep thinker in terms of his career. He was a forward who was switched to defense, and he followed a curved path from Sweden to Finland to the AHL. When he was asked to stick in North America by the Stars, he asked for one more year back in Sweden to get his bearings. The Stars obliged, and Klingberg waited until 22 to make his NHL debut.
He said he was lucky that he understood how great the challenge was.
"You look back, and I know I made the right decision, because you want to come over and you want to have success," he said. "For Miro, it's the right decision for him to be here right now because he is definitely an NHL player."
Klingberg, 26, and Lindell, 24, have been through some of the experiences that Heiskanen will face this weekend, and said they are excited for their younger teammate. Lindell played in the 2016 World Cup and was teammates with Pekka Rinne, Tuukka Rask, Mikko Koivu and Patrik Laine. Klingberg played in the 2018 NHL All-Star Game on the Central Division team with Rinne, teammate Tyler Seguin, Patrick Kane and P.K. Subban, among others.
"It's a great experience. I want Miro to take it all in and enjoy it," Klingberg said. "When you start battling and competing with them, that's so much fun. And then to be able to sit in a room and talk with them. Everyone is picking their brains. How do you take care of your gear, or your stick. Everyone is like kids in there."
Heiskanen will actually indeed be like a kid, but that is the trend in the NHL. Players are finding success more quickly, and teams are relying on young players more and more. With Heiskanen the highest drafted player since the franchise took Mike Modano first overall in 1988, the Stars are starting to see first-hand how youth can be an asset.
"He's just good," said coach Jim Montgomery, comparing Heiskanen to hall-of-famer Scott Niedermayer. "The feet and the skating ability and the smarts, at both ends of the ice. His stick, he breaks up plays just like Scott did. His ability to jump in and be the fourth guy, and not even look like he's trying to be the fourth guy and just be separating from forwards backchecking."
Montgomery said Heiskanen on so many occasions has shown that he can do things many older players can't, and said there truly are times when he sees the coaching cliché "things you can't teach" play out in front of him.
"It's God-given ability, that's what it is," Montgomery said. "That play that Niedermayer scored for Jersey where he went in, rushed back, broke up a play and went back down and scored. We've seen Miro do that three or four times this year already."
Now, consider that Heiskanen can take that "God-give ability" and get better.
"It feels now more comfortable. Every game feels better and better. It feels a little more easier, I know what is going to happen," he said. "But it's hard, for sure. Players are smarter, faster, bigger here. It's a challenge. I'm not the biggest guy, so I have to play smarter. I think I need to get more stronger, and that will help."
Putting some strength onto his frame (listed at 6-1, 185) is something everyone in the organization envisions in the coming years. And veteran players say even as calm as Heiskanen is, he also will benefit from experience.
"He's impressive. You forget he's 19," said Andrew Cogliano, who just joined the Stars in a trade and is getting to see Heiskanen for the first time on a consistent basis. "He's poised, he skates the puck well, I think his ceiling is super high. At this point, I don't think he knows how good he can be. Once he starts figuring it out, he's going to be able to take pucks from our end to their end with no problem at all."
And, Cogliano joked, Heiskanen already has a lot figured out. The Stars beat the Ducks 5-3 in October in a game in which Dallas had a 51-25 advantage in shots on goal.
"He's good," Cogliano said with a chuckle. "When you're on the other end of 30 shots against in a period, you notice the guys who are good on the other side."
And yet, he will get better. This will not be his only All-Star Game, teammates promise. There will be times when other players will be saying they got to play with Miro Heiskanen.
"I don't know if he will fully grasp it," Cogliano said. "I think down the line, it will be great memory. This will be the first of many for him."
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 Twitter @MikeHeika.