Top prospect appears to suffer a significant injury, needs to be helped down the tunnel

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Mike Armenti
October 5, 2023 (9:57 PM)

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The pre-season is not as meaningless as some would have you believe. Yes, maybe for the guaranteed roster players, the pre-season may not have much meaning, but for roster hopefuls, this time of the year is vitally important for them to show the coaching staff what they're made of and why they deserve roster spot consideration.

For the Winnipeg Jets, after losing former captain Blake Wheeler to a buyout and center Pierre-Luc Dubois to a trade, the team is very much in transition. With everything in Winnipeg up in the air at the moment, Jets top defensive prospect Ville Heinola was one of several players laying it all on the line in hopes of securing a roster spot. Unfortunately for the Jets and Heinola, his pre-season has likely come to an abrupt end, as has his push for a roster spot.

In the first period of tonight's game, Heinola collided with defenseman Erik Brannstrom. While the collision originally appeared fairly innocent, Heinola fell to the ice in some serious discomfort. The Finnish blueliner was unable to get to his feet and had to push himself over to the bench.

After being carried down the tunnel and to the locker room, it's not looking too good for Heinola. Obviously, the ailment is a lower body injury, but we don't have confirmation yet as to what the nature of the injury is - or the severity.

Heinola has been a player on the cusp of making the jump for a few seasons now and it's pretty unfortunate that his pre-season had to end like this. We'll be sure to provide an update as soon as one becomes available.