Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel indicates Ville Heinola required surgery (return timeline unknown)

For the second straight season during training camp a Jets bench boss is delivering tough news about defenceman Ville Heinola who had made Winnipeg ahead of the 2023-24 season but a broken ankle sidelined him for months and then kept him with the Moose in the AHL.

Since he was no longer waiver exempt it seemed to be a foregone conclusion he’d be in the NHL this season but again that ankle injury will be the cause of misery for the 2019 1st rounder. Last week head coach Scott Arniel indicated on day 2 of camp that the news about Heinola wasn’t good as he was dealing with an infection in the screw he had in his ankle and that it wasn’t considered day-to-day and that they’d re-evaluate in about a week.

Today, Arniel spoke after skate to provide that update on Heinola and not surprisingly the update is grim news as the bench boss indicated surgery was required for the defenceman.

When asked for a timeline Arniel said “minimum four weeks. We’ll see where it goes from there”. Said the pin came out of the ankle.

Tough news for him after what he dealt with last summer.