Both Ville Heinola and Logan Stanley began the 2024-25 season on the shelf with the Finnish Dman having an infection which required surgery on his ankle, which is what cost him a lot of time during the 2023-24 campaign, while the big Ontario product needed to have surgery to deal with a meniscus issue back in late September. At that time Jets head coach Scott Arniel indicated both would require around a month saying for Heinola “minimum four weeks” and Stanley would be out of the lineup for at least four weeks.
This week (about three weeks post-surgery) Stanley went from yellow, non-contact uniform to a regular one as he works on getting his conditioning back. Now this is no surprise as Arniel indicated that Stanley was slightly ahead of Heinola in terms of progress.
We’ve seen Heinola quite a bit at hockey for all centre but whenever he’s on the ice it’s in slides and not skates. He spends time working on his hands.
One Finn left the ice and another on it as Ville Heinola continues to work (sans skates) as he recovers from his ankle surgery. #NHLJets pic.twitter.com/QSaljWT1bH
— Dave Minuk (@ICdave) October 10, 2024
Ville Heinola working on his hands long after the optional practice ended for his teammates. #NHLJets pic.twitter.com/5SBvy8DvqC
— Dave Minuk (@ICdave) October 16, 2024
Today after morning skate Scott Arniel was asked if Heinola is skating:
“Ville is not on the ice. If he is he’s quietly on the ice. Nothing heavy yet. I don’t even think he’s on yet.”
And then if they have a timeline:
“Nope. Gotta wait on that one.”
Not a big surprise as it’s still earlier than his original assessment back in September.
