Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 NHL Draft Preview: No. 4 Miro Heiskanen
By Austin Owens
As the Toronto Maple Leafs and the rest of the NHL prepare for the draft, we look at Miro Heiskanen, who wasn’t featured in many preliminary rankings, but is now poised to be the top defender off the board.
The 2016 draft had several headlining players that controlled the main portion of the coverage in North America. This was particularly true north of the border, as the Toronto Maple Leafs and every other Canadian team failed to reach the playoffs.
This summer will be a different story. Further, there has been a lot of movement in the draft rankings over the course of the season.
On Saturday, we took a look at Gabriel Vilardi. Now, we move on to Finnish defender Miro Heiskanen, who is our number four prospect in the 2017 class.
Another big riser in this draft has been Heiskanen, who has shot up draft boards over the last few months to become a top 10 – if not top five – prospect in most mock drafts. He played this season with HIFK Helsinki, where he posted decent numbers for his first year in senior hockey.
Heiskanen proved his ability as a two-way defender with only four penalty minutes all season. He has solid offensive traits that should improve as he gets older.
Because of his sudden surge to the top of the rankings, there’s only a handful of reports. However, here is what Future Considerations had to say about the talented defender:
"A two-way rearguard that plays with strong mobility, speed and awareness…possesses excellent lateral agility and straight ahead speed…starts and stops very quickly and possesses a very smooth overall stride…carries the puck confidently up the ice and into the offensive zone…has impressive vision…makes very good passes, finding his teammates quickly and without hesitation in all three zones…takes quick, accurate wrist shots from the point…good foot speed enables him to keep gaps close….not afraid to use his body to separate the puck from an opponent or rub out an attacker along the wall… keeps his man to the outside…struggles with a lack of strength…displays pretty strong awareness defensively making quick stick checks to interrupt plays and then quickly turning the play back up ice…a minute muncher who shows high level intelligence and decision making…a potential top four blue-liner displaying high end poise, puck skills and skating ability."
Heiskanen and Helsinki made it to the bronze medal game of the Liiga playoffs, but lost to JYP Jyväskylä. Although he’s not the tallest defender projected to go in the first round, Heiskanen has the ability to be the best of the crop this year.
Next: Leafs must target defencemen in the draft
What’s your take on Heiskanen? Do you agree with the current projection that he will be drafted fourth overall, or is this too high? Further, what kind of career are you predicting for him in the NHL? Share your thoughts in the comments section.