Stars’ Miro Heiskanen Out Month-to-Month Following Knee Surgery, Could Return Later This Season
Dallas Stars defenceman Miro Heiskanen will miss significant time after undergoing surgery on his left knee in New York on Tuesday, head coach Pete DeBoer announced.
The club is currently listing Heiskanen as month-to-month, meaning there’s a chance he could return before the regular season concludes. He has, however, been ruled out for this month’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, preventing him from representing Team Finland.
New York’s Urho Vaakanainen (Rangers) and Buffalo’s Henri Jokiharju were announced as replacements for the best-on-best showdown, replacing Heiskanen and Toronto’s Jani Hakanpaa.
Already named to Team Finland, Stars forward Roope Hintz and defenceman Esa Lindell will represent their country when the tournament begins on Feb. 12, as will goaltender Jake Oettinger with Team USA.
Heiskanen underwent an MRI on Jan. 29, which determined he’d require surgery. He suffered the injury during the third period of Dallas’ 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 28, as forward Mark Stone crashed awkwardly into his left knee after being tripped on the previous play.
The Golden Knights’ captain received a two-minute minor for tripping but didn’t face any supplemental discipline after officials chose not to assess a five-minute major, which would’ve allowed them to review the collision.
Dallas’ star defenceman required assistance before leaving the ice and heading down the tunnel to the dressing room. He didn’t return and could now be sidelined for the rest of the regular season following his procedure.
Heiskanen owns five goals and 25 points in 50 games this season, leading all Stars skaters in average ice time at 25:10 – the second-highest of his seven NHL seasons. He finished top 10 in Norris Trophy voting during the previous two campaigns, a streak that likely would’ve continued in 2024-25 if not for his latest injury.
Since entering the league as a third-overall selection by Dallas in 2017, the 25-year-old blueliner has scored 58 goals and 283 points – 14th-most among NHL defencemen in that span – across 475 career games.
“You lose the best defenceman in the NHL, everyone has to step up,” Oettinger told reporters last week. “That starts with me. We’ve done that all year. We’ve lost big pieces all year and we’ve rallied around it and stepped up. I can be a huge part of that. I’m focused on playing my best hockey right now until the [4 Nations Face-Off] break and trying to step up big while Miro is out. Hopefully I can do that.”
The left-handed-shooting defenceman is in the sixth season of an eight-year, $67.6-million contract with an average annual value of $8.45 million per season through 2028-29.
If Heiskanen misses the remainder of the season, joining teammate Tyler Seguin ($9.85 million AAV), the Stars brass will receive significant long-term injured reserve (LTIR) relief that could help them upgrade their roster ahead of the Mar. 7 trade deadline.
Once the regular season concludes, both players, if healthy, could re-enter the lineup without the team having to become cap-compliant.
Dallas has been amongst the sport’s top contenders this season, sitting second in the Central Division through 53 games at 34-18-1 with 69 points, 10 back of the first-place Winnipeg Jets. They’re in the midst of a six-game road trip, which continues Friday against the Los Angeles Kings.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.