Stars’ Miro Heiskanen, even at partial strength, demands an opponent’s full attention

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WINNIPEG — Miro Heiskanen can’t remember what exactly he was doing, whether it was lifting or riding or squatting or running. But he remembers the sound, dulled through the thick concrete walls of American Airlines Center but reverberating nonetheless. He remembers the excitement, too.

But mostly, he remembers the angst. The frustration. That helplessness that every fan knows all too well, but that’s largely foreign to a professional athlete.

“When you’re playing, you really don’t think about anything,” Heiskanen told The Athletic. “You just play and do your thing. But it’s hard to watch when you’re not playing. You can’t help in any way. For sure, it’s more stressful than playing.”

Heiskanen was in the building for Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche, but he wasn’t on the ice. He was back in the dressing room area, in the gym, working out while watching on television on a slight delay, that sound and those reverberations always preceding the image. It was as agonizing as any other part of his rehab from Feb. 4 knee surgery.

Throughout that first-round series, spilling over into the first three games of the second-round tilt with the Winnipeg Jets, Heiskanen was on the cusp of returning. First, he started skating on his own. Then, he started participating in morning skates. Then, he started rotating in on line rushes and power-play work.

Every day, Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer was asked whether Heiskanen was returning. And every day, he was merely “close.” It didn’t matter much that DeBoer had said Heiskanen wasn’t an option for the first round early on, because when you saw him on the ice, you assumed you’d see him in the game. It felt like part truth, part subterfuge. The usual postseason mind games.

But the way Heiskanen tells it, he wasn’t being held back by anybody. And he wasn’t trying to force his way in, either. It wasn’t as if he were waking up every morning thinking this was going to be the day. In his words, he just knew “it’s not there yet.” And the idea of jumping straight into the hyper-intensity of a Game 7 after 3 1/2 months off was foolhardy. He knew that.

“The doctors didn’t let me play, and I didn’t feel good enough to play,” he said with a shrug. “So it wasn’t really a question.”

Didn’t make it any easier on him, though.

“It’s hard, for sure,” he said. “This time of year, you want to be playing. There just was not much I could do about it to get back. It’s hard when you’re not playing; it feels unfair. But I had to trust the guys and believe in them.”

As Jason Robertson, who had to work his own way back from a leg injury that cost him the first round, put it, “you win a game, you earn more games, more opportunities.” And thanks largely to new teammate and fellow Finn Mikko Rantanen, Dallas earned enough games for Heiskanen to return.

So Saturday night, when the Jets step on the ice in Dallas for Game 6, Heiskanen will be right in the thick of things, not back in the gym. It’s huge for the Stars, of course, as Heiskanen is one of the top defensemen in the league. But it’s huge for Heiskanen, too, as all the work he put in alongside fellow rehabbers Tyler Seguin and Nils Lundkvist finally paid off.

Heiskanen said he always believed he’d be back this year, not next.

“I knew we had a good team and we could go far,” he said. “So I knew there was a possibility I could come back and play again. I never really thought about (my) season being over.”

Now it’s a matter of trying to extend that season by expediting the long climb back to midseason form. In his first game back, Heiskanen played just 14 minutes, 52 seconds — 10 minutes fewer than he averaged during the regular season as the league’s fifth-most-used player. And though he had a primary assist, he failed to register a shot on goal and had a couple of key mistakes, one of which led to a Kyle Connor short-handed breakaway — a breakaway Heiskanen was uncharacteristically unable to catch.

Miro Heiskanen was one of the few bright spots for Dallas in a 4-0 loss to Winnipeg in Game 5. (Terrence Lee / Imagn Images)

Game 5 in Winnipeg was progress. Heiskanen was one of the few bright spots for Dallas in a 4-0 loss, as he put four shots on goal while DeBoer upped his minutes to 18:33. The way he casually took the puck off Nino Niederreiter’s and Mason Appleton’s sticks during the same second-period shift was a reminder of just how smooth, just how slick he can be out there. Sure, there were still a couple of puck bobbles, but he looked more like himself. His gap was tighter and his breakouts were more aggressive. He took a few big hits in each game — including an Adam Lowry cross-check in Game 5 — and popped right back up each time. DeBoer told reporters Friday that he’ll stick with seven defensemen until Heiskanen can comfortably play 20-plus minutes a night. So he’s far from all the way back, but he’s getting there in a hurry.

And the way the Jets are feeling after that big Game 5 win, Dallas will need all Heiskanen can give them.

“He affects all parts of our game, even though he’s not 100 percent yet,” DeBoer said. “His composure with the puck, his puck movement, his ability to transition us up the ice from our own end through the neutral zone, power play — that doesn’t even touch his defending and his gaps and things like that.”

Even at partial strength, Heiskanen demands an opponent’s full attention.

“You certainly have to be aware of him,” Winnipeg’s Dylan DeMelo said. “Obviously, he’s missed some time (but) he’s a fantastic player. Even if he’s missed that much time, he’s going to make an impact. We have a game plan for him, like we have on all their guys, and it’s just basically executing that. He is such a great player in this league, he gets up in the rush, moves pucks really well, he’s good on the O-zone blue line and he’s good defensively. He’s a fantastic player in this league, so we have to be aware of him.”

The Stars team that Heiskanen has rejoined isn’t the same one he left Jan. 28, when the Vegas Golden Knights’ Mark Stone recklessly dove at Heiskanen’s left knee and wrecked it. Rantanen’s arrival March 8 gave the Stars another huge asset and gave their opponents another focal point.

The trade thrilled Heiskanen, and he couldn’t wait to play alongside him.

“He’s not fun to play against,” Heiskanen said. “So I’m glad he’s on our side right now.”

Heiskanen is just 25, and he’s signed through 2028-29. Rantanen is 28 and signed through 2032-33. Throw in No. 1 center Roope Hintz, yet another Finn who’s signed through 2030-31, and the Stars have quite a core to work with. There’ll be plenty more postseasons in which Heiskanen can make up for lost time.

But right now, he’s just focused on getting one more win. Because one more win means one more round. And one more round gets him one step closer to 100 percent.

“It’s frustrating to miss that long (a) time and watch the guys play,” he said. “Just have to stay positive and work hard to get back. The guys did a great job to win the Colorado series and got some more time. Now I’m back, so it’s good.”

(Top photo: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)

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