Miro Heiskanen’s Hot Start Driving Stars’ Early Success

For years, Miro Heiskanen has been the quiet constant with the Dallas Stars — steady, poised, and criminally underrated. But early in the 2025/26 season, he’s showing he can contribute offensively while remaining a lockdown defender.

The Stars are off to a strong start, 10-4-3, tied for the second-best record in the Western Conference alongside Anaheim (11-4-1), trailing only the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.

Winners of three straight, Dallas is beginning to look like the contender many expected, and Heiskanen is a major reason why.

Heiskanen's Hot Start to November

The 26-year-old defenseman is on a five-game point streak, including four straight games with two or more points, tallying 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists) in that span. He currently has the second-most points among defensemen in the NHL, a remarkable feat for someone long overshadowed by the likes of Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar, who often absorb the spotlight when it comes to elite NHL defensemen.

But Heiskanen isn’t just racking up points — he’s still one of the league’s best shutdown defenders, capable of neutralizing stars like Connor McDavid (as seen in the video below), making his offensive contributions that much more impressive.

Miro Heiskanen with about as good of 1v1 defense against Connor McDavid last night in overtime as you’ll see 🔒 pic.twitter.com/YxCurC6Uqh
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 5, 2025

Stars Powered by Key Contributions and Team Depth

During the Stars’ current three-game win streak, Heiskanen has been instrumental. He had two assists in a 5-4 win over Nashville, set up both goals in a 2-1 victory against Seattle, and tallied helpers on the tying and overtime-winning goals in the 3-2 comeback over Ottawa. This was also the Stars third straight comeback win, after falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Dallas scored scored three unanswered goals to make it three-in-a-row.

Heiskanen’s second assist of the night on the overtime goal scored by Roope Hintz, tied him with Hintz (four games in 2024-25) for the longest multi-assist streak in Dallas Stars franchise history.

Miro Heiskanen's second assist of the night came on the overtime goal as he tied Roope Hintz (4 GP in 2024-25) for the longest multi-assist streak in @DallasStars franchise history.#NHLStats: https://t.co/p2hZMQw7KZ pic.twitter.com/B1PENELozf
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) November 12, 2025

Heiskanen's vision and precision have helped elevate the entire team, complementing the Stars’ deep offensive roster that includes fellow Finnish superstars Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen, as well as Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston (10 goals, 10 assists so far this season). Between the scoring depth and Jake Oettinger, one of the league’s elite netminders, Dallas has a mix of skill and structure few NHL teams can match.

After three straight trips to the Western Conference Final, Dallas has high expectations and Heiskanen’s hot streak has been central to the team’s early-season success. He’s proving that a shutdown defenseman can also be a catalyst for offense, giving Dallas both a security blanket and an extra spark. The question now is simple: how long can this level of performance continue, and how far can the Stars ride it in 2025/26?

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