Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Finland’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster was dealt an enormous blow Thursday with the news that Dallas Stars blueliner Miro Heiskanen will be forced to sit out the tournament.
The 25-year-old is week-to-week after sustaining a knee injury against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 29.
Finland, who was already the consensus pick to finish last behind Canada, United States and Sweden, will be hard-pressed to replicate Heiskanen’s superstar presence. The blueliner has 25 points in 50 games this season for the Stars, but his overall impact is immeasurable. He sports a rock-solid 59.8 percent of the on-ice goals this year and was expected to be one of Finland’s primary play drivers alongside Aleksander Barkov and Mikko Rantanen.
Miro Heiskanen has officially been ruled out of the 4 Nations Face-Off due to injury. Massive blow for Finland.
A replacement will be named before the tournament.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 30, 2025
Finland’s remaining defenders are Jani Hakanpaa, Esa Lindell, Olli Maatta, Niko Mikkola, Rasmus Ristolainen and Juuso Valimaki. With Heiskanen out of the picture, the group is, without question, the weakest in the 4 Nations Face-Off. One of their top D-men, Hakanpaa, has only played two games this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
While Finland’s replacement D-man won’t be close to Heiskanen’s caliber, the good news is that the selection process will be relatively simple. That’s because there are only four possible options within the Finns’ relatively shallow NHL pool. All are third-pairing blueliners for their respective clubs.
Henri Jokiharju: Buffalo Sabres
By far the most NHL-experienced option, the 25-year-old is the clear frontrunner for the gig. Jokiharju is also capable of quarterbacking a powerplay, something that is largely missing from the Finns’ lineup without Heiskanen. While he’s having an abysmal season in Buffalo offensively (4 points in 36 games), Jokiharju somehow possesses a plus-6 rating and 54.2 percent goals share, according to MoneyPuck. Plus, Jokiharju’s right-handedness would help counterbalance Finland’s four left-shot defenders.
Urho Vaakanainen: New York Rangers
The Rangers’ newly-acquired defenceman from the Jacob Trouba trade is only playing in his second full NHL campaign, and he’s been slotted on the Blueshirts’ third defence pairing. However, he’s been an active player in the team’s turnaround in 2025, with a plus-2 rating and five assists in 20 games. There’s something to be said about a player with confidence.
Ville Heinola: Winnipeg Jets
The former first-round pick has only suited up for 16 games this season on the powerhouse Jets. In that limited sample size, Heinola has sparkling underlying numbers, but it’s hard to tell how much credit is owed to his D partners. With his last game in the Winnipeg lineup being Jan. 16, Heinola might not be in favour of being selected right now. With the recent play of the player below, Heinola might even be the Finns’ fourth-best option.
Nikolas Matinpalo: Ottawa Senators
Suddenly, a sneaky dark-horse pick. The Senators only called Matinpalo up from AHL Belleville in December with Nick Jensen and Jacob Bernard-Docker suffering injuries, but the burly 6-foot-3 D-man has impressed in his limited minutes — and Ottawa is 9-3-2 with him in the lineup. He has yet to record his first NHL point in 18 career games, but Finland wouldn’t be bringing Matinpalo to the tournament for his scoring prowess. Like Jokiharju, he’s a right shot, which lends him some extra credit.
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