Emil Heineman

May 2020 – Heineman was one of the best players in SuperElit in 2019-2020 which was surprising because not much was expected from him before the season started. He had already played a full season in SuperElit in 2018-2019 with lackluster results. But his development took a massive step over those two years. He was a big reason why Leksand J20 was one of the best teams in the league. Leksand wanted to promote Heineman to the SHL level already in the first half of the season but Heineman declined because he wanted to maintain NCAA eligibility. However, at some point of the season he decided to forget college plans and start his professional career in the SHL instead. Leksand had one of the worst teams in the SHL which allowed them to give Heineman a pretty good opportunity at that level, and he’s expected to be a full-time SHL player in 2020-2021.

Internationally, Heineman had never represented Sweden at any level before this season. This season, he was too old to play at the under-18 level, and he wasn’t getting chances at the under-20 level before the World Juniors. But finally in February, he had a chance to play on Sweden’s U20 team, and he had a great performance there. He’ll be battling for a spot on the World Juniors team next time around but he’ll have a lot of competition because Sweden is stacked at wing.

Heineman’s 26 goals in 29 games in the SuperElit may paint a picture of an elite goal-scorer but that’s not the case. He does have a great shot, especially his one-timer, and very good scoring instincts. But he benefited a lot from playing with one of the best playmakers in the league in Nils Åman. Heineman is also one of the oldest players in his draft class, and his maturity level helped things tremendously. He had 15 assists which was good but considering the firepower on his team, he could have had much more if his playmaking abilities were better. Heineman is a very good skater and he plays a very good 200-foot game. He has good size and he isn’t afraid to play the body. His on-ice effort level is great, and he’s very good by the boards. He doesn’t have high-end offensive tools but he projects to become a complementary winger in the NHL. He’s projected to be drafted in the second or third round of the 2020 NHL Draft.  Jokke Nevalainen