Emil Heineman

May 2023 – Emil Heineman emerged as a true threat on North American Ice in his 11-game stint with the Laval Rocket to end the season. His seven goals in eleven games were a great indication of the type of player he could be at the NHL level. A physical, defensively-responsible, middle-six sniper, and with more room to improve when it comes to foot speed and agility. Not overly dissimilar to the player he was traded for in Tyler Toffoli, Heineman could be in the NHL as soon as next season. Aaron Itovitch

April 2022 – Heineman signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens, which will kick in for the 2022-23 season. He is set to sign a tryout contract with the Laval Rocket in order to join them for the end of the season. It turns out that Leksands did not feel the need to hold on to Heineman for the next two years of his contract, especially after scratching him for the playoffs this year, despite his valuable goalscoring contribution throughout the season. Heineman will need to learn to play on North American ice consistently and will likely spend at least a year in Laval, but this is a positive step for his development as the Canadiens will have control of his deployment and he will not sit out his team’s most important games of the season. Sebastian High

March 2022 – Heineman was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Valentine’s day in the Tyler Toffoli deal. The physical winger had a good year of development in the SHL with Leksands, scoring 11 goals (tied for third on his team) and 16 points in 38 games. Beyond the production, Heineman has continued to mature physically and find his identity as a professional player. His reads in the offensive zone are faster and his scans more frequent than they were in his draft year. His shot will always be his most dangerous offensive tool, but if he can further develop his playmaking, especially off the forecheck, he could end up becoming a third-line checking forward with goal-scoring upside. While his game is already quite mature, he signed a contract that will keep him in the SHL until the end of the 2023-2024 season, so he is not a candidate to join the Canadiens or the Laval Rocket in the short term. Sebastian High

April 2021 – Acquired by the Calgary Flames with a second-round pick in exchange for Sam Bennett, the young Swede gives the Flames an interesting prospect in addition to a second-round pick for a player who had fallen out of favor. Heineman is a very good shooter and he brings a high-level motor with a willingness to bang along the boards. A quality addition to the Calgary prospect pool who could turn into what Bennett had become with a better shot. The second-round pick is a nice addition to the deal as well. Calgary made a smart move here. Pat Quinn

January 2021 – Heinamen will return to Sweden following a disappointing semi-final exit at the WJC. He posted a single goal through five games while playing mostly fourth-line minutes. Taken just a few months prior, this was a great opportunity for fans to get a good look at his versatile, quick-paced game. He will return to the SHL, where he has three points (2G + 1A) through 19 games with Leksands IF. Dave Hall

December 2020 – Emil Heineman has been invited to Team Swedens’ preliminary WJC camp and has a strong chance at earning a spot on the team’s bottom-six. After an explosive spike in offensive statistics at the J20 SuperElit level last season, he has been awarded time in the SHL where he is currently trying to find a rhythm with Leksands IF. He has two goals and three points through 19 games. Dave Hall

October 2020 – Heineman was drafted 43rd overall by the Panthers. Heineman is expected to spend at least two more years in Sweden before crossing the pond.  Jokke Nevalainen

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