The Hockey News Pregame Show On Thursday morning, Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff announced that defenceman Ville Heinola has fully recovered from his ankle injury suffered back on October 5. The 22-year-old fell out of action in the preseason against the Ottawa Senators and has been recovering ever since. Heinola underwent surgery on his fractured ankle and was originally set to miss eight to 12 weeks. The opening week of January was that 12 week mark, so the young blueliner did need the full recovery period. Cheveldayoff announced on Thursday that Heinola would be sent to the Manitoba Moose, where he will join the AHL club on a two week conditioning stint. Originally selected 20th overall by Winnipeg in 2019, Heinola became the first NHL player born in the current millennium to score a point, but has mainly been fixture in the AHL over the past number of seasons. He put up four goals and 37 points in 48 games for the Moose last year, and will join the club in Laval on Friday evening. 2023-24 is the final season of Heinola's three-year entry-level contract. He has a goal and 11 points in 35 NHL contests.
