The Winnipeg Jets are nearing final cuts.
Over the weekend, the team set for Thursday’s season opener began to take shape. A number of cuts have been made, with youthful players sent back to Junior and more veteran pieces loaned to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
With Adam Lowry and Dylan Samberg beginning the season on the injured reserve, some opportunities have opened up for both newcomers and youth.
Further injuries to Cole Perfetti and Jonathan Toews have allowed lengthier tryouts to pieces not previously expected to last this long at training camp.
The Samberg injury opens a spot within the top-four defencemen for the first month or two of the season, on what is already a very crowded blueline.
With Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo and Neal Pionk already cemented as the team’s top-3 outside of Samberg, Luke Schenn, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Logan Stanley and Ville Heinola were always in the mix for the final few spots.
But on Sunday, the Jets opted to make their move, cutting Ville Heinola and placing him on Waivers with the hope he clears and can resume his season with the Moose.
News on Heinola will come mid-day on Monday, but a claim via Waivers may be the best thing for Heinola’s development.
Selected 20th overall in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, the now 24-year-old cracked the Jets out of camp that fall following the retirement of Dustin Byfuglien. He became the first player born in the 21st century to score on NHL goal, and had a goal and five points in eight games to start that rookie season prior to being sent home for further development.
He never made the Jets out of training camp again.
In 53 games over five seasons, Heinola has that single goal and 12 points to his name. The majority of his time has been spent with the Moose, where he has played 154 games over parts of seven seasons. He has 23 goals and 103 points over that lengthy time spent in antlers.
Waiver claims will be announced at 1:00 PM central time on Monday.
Read the full article here
