Ville Heinola

Ville Heinola (born 2 March 2001) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ranked as one of the top international skaters eligible for the 2019 NHL entry draft. Heinola was selected 20th overall by the Jets, with whom he made his NHL debut in 2019.

Playing career On 15 July 2019, Heinola was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets.

Heinola impressively made the Jets roster out of training camp. He became the first player of the 2019 NHL entry draft to register an NHL point during the Jets first game of the 2019–20 season against the New York Rangers on 3 October 2019. Heinola scored his first career NHL goal on 8 October against Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Heinola posted 5 points through 8 games before he was reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. After appearing in 3 games with the Moose, Heinola was loaned to continue development with his Finnish club Lukko for the remainder of the season on 8 November.

As a free agent, Heinola signed a one-year contract with the Vegas Golden Knights on 1 July 2026.

International play Heinola competed with Team Finland at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in 2019, 2020, and 2021, winning the Gold Medal in 2019 and the Bronze Medal in 2021. He was one of two defensemen named to the Media All-Star Team after the end of the 2021 tournament.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2017–18 Ässät Jr. A 33 3 14 17 12 — — — — — 2018–19 Lukko Jr. A 9 1 8 9 2 — — — — — 2018–19 Lukko Liiga 34 2 12 14 26 7 1 3 4 2 2019–20 Winnipeg Jets NHL 8 1 4 5 4 — — — — — 2019–20 Manitoba Moose AHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2019–20 Lukko Liiga 29 0 7 7 12 — — — — — 2020–21 Lukko Liiga 19 1 13 14 4 — — — — — 2020–21 Winnipeg Jets NHL 5 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2020–21 Manitoba Moose AHL 19 4 7 11 4 — — — — — 2021–22 Manitoba Moose AHL 41 5 21 26 18 5 1 4 5 0 2021–22 Winnipeg Jets NHL 12 0 5 5 10 — — — — — 2022–23 Manitoba Moose AHL 48 4 33 37 46 4 0 1 1 4 2022–23 Winnipeg Jets NHL 10 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2023–24 Manitoba Moose AHL 41 10 17 27 24 2 0 2 2 4 2024–25 Manitoba Moose AHL 2 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2024–25 Winnipeg Jets NHL 18 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 2025–26 Manitoba Moose AHL 44 3 18 21 24 — — — — — 2025–26 Winnipeg Jets NHL 5 0 0 0 4 — — — — — Liiga totals 82 3 32 35 42 7 1 3 4 2 NHL totals 58 1 11 12 26 — — — — —

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2018 Finland HG18 7th 4 0 2 2 0 2019 Finland WJC 5 1 1 2 2 2020 Finland WJC 4th 7 0 5 5 8 2021 Finland WJC 7 0 4 4 4 2026 Finland WC 10 3 3 6 0 Junior totals 23 1 12 13 14 Senior totals 10 3 3 6 0