Oct. 14th: According to a team announcement, the Golden Knights have assigned Heinola to AHL Henderson after returning from their two-game road trip.

Oct. 11th: The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled defenseman Ville Heinola ahead of a two-game road trip through the Central Division. Heinola will fill up Vegas’ extra roster spot. He is unlikely to step into the lineup ahead of Jeremy Lauzon and Parker Wotherspoon, though doing so would grant Heinola his debut with the Golden Knights. He spent the last seven seasons in the Winnipeg Jets organization, where he split time between the NHL and AHL lineups.

In a corresponding move, Vegas has also shifted Victor Olofsson to injured reserve per the NHL media site. Olofsson is considered week-to-week with an undisclosed injury.

Heinola appeared in five games with Winnipeg last season. He recorded no scoring and four penalty minutes. He also managed 21 points and 24 penalty minutes in 44 games in the AHL. Those marks fell just below the scoring that Heinola posted in previous seasons. He missed much of the 2024-25 season with an ankle injury that required surgery – but scored between 26 and 37 points in each season between 2021 and 2024. Heinola has also totaled one goal and 12 points in 58 career games in the NHL.

Heinola has failed to control the game at either the NHL or AHL level through the first eight years of his professional career. Still, a chance to break into Vegas’ lineup could be a spark for the 2019 first-round pick. Heinola was a prolific scorer in Finland’s Liiga as a teenager. He totaled 35 points in 63 games in the league after debuting as a 17 year old. Finding a way to tap into that scoring could give Vegas shrewd offensive upside on a left-side otherwise filled with defensive stalwarts.