Like many of his Bruins teammates, Danton Heinen isn’t spending much time looking in the rearview mirror at what as an extended Stanley Cup run that ended in heartbreak last month.
While Heinen and the rest of Boston’s younger crop of skaters will benefit from the experience gained by a two-and-a-half month campaign in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they certainly won’t be keen on looking over too much game film from their disheartening defeat at the hands of the Blues.
Heinen in particular has a few clips that he’d likely want to scrub from his memory.
The 24-year-old forward did form part of a dynamic third line with Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson that did combine for seven 5v5 goals over 22 postseason games together, but Heinen did leave quite a bit to be desired in the Cup Final against the Blues — notching one assist and landing just eight shots on goal over the span of the seven-game series.
The toughest sequence for Heinen came in Game 6 of the Cup Final, as Charlie McAvoy sprung Heinen on a breakaway against Jordan Binnington off of a fantastic feed. While a trailing Alex Pietrangelo didn’t make things any easier for Heinen, he was unable to get the puck on net during the Grade-A look, ultimately whiffing on the shot.
It was one of the final chapters in what was an overall frustrating season for Heinen in terms of offensive production, ultimately ranking seventh on the club in scoring with 34 points over 77 games.
Now back in the fold
and with the potential of more playing time on the horizon, Heinen is determined to prove that he’s much more than just a key cog in a bottom-six role.
Aside from just shooting more (his individual shots for per 60 min. rate of 6.13 ranked 13th among Bruins forwards), Heinen believes that following through on the smaller details of his offensive game — such as winning puck battles and hovering near the crease for rebounds — can be the difference between another disappointing campaign and a 50-plus point season.
“If you’re good at the little details, good things happen, and you’re put in better spots on the ice,” Heinen said. “So, I’m going to continue to work on those details and then when you get chances, grade-A looks or be an offensive guy — you do your follow up there.
“That’s the kind of player I see myself being. Coming into the league, I want to be an offensive guy. I want to, you know, create more, and I’m going to keep on working at doing that, trying to produce more for the team.”
With Johansson’s departure, Heinen seems to be a logical fit back on a third line with Coyle, giving Boston at least two reliable NHLers to keep that bottom-six group afloat and prevent what was a stagnant performance from that line from October - early February.
But with
David Krejci
set to run through another slew of wingers to his right as Boston searches for a reliable top-six option, the opportunity is there for Heinen to get a shot higher up in the lineup, whether it be with Krejci or even in a top-line role with
Patrice Bergeron
and
Brad Marchand
— a trio that only relinquished four 5v5 goals in 197:31 of 5v5 TOI together.
Heinen certainly isn’t going to take himself out of contention for a top-six role — and if the work he does this summer leads to better results offensively, it could make for an easy decision for
Bruce Cassidy
and Co.
“Yeah, maybe a bit,” Heinen said of if he deserves a crack at a top-six spot. “I think playing with those guys is, I mean, it’s an honor for sure. It feels good to be a guy they tried up there and give the opportunity to me, and I didn’t take it lightly at all. But I think, yeah, in the same point it’s whatever’s best for the team, again, but, yeah, if that’s where they need me, then that’s where I’ll play."
