When comparing him to the rest of the Bruins’ crop of young forwards, it’s easy to see why a player like Danton Heinen could get lost in the shuffle.
He doesn’t have the silky mitts or the heavy shot that David Pastrnak possesses, nor does he have the wheels to make something out of nothing like Jake DeBrusk often does when charging toward Grade-A areas of the ice.
No, Heinen’s strength often lies in his versatility and his refined, two-way play — rare traits to be found in a younger forward up in the NHL ranks. Of course, a one-time blast or a nifty dangle makes the highlight reels far more than stick lift or a chip out of the D zone, and as such, Heinen can be a bit of a polarizing figure when it comes to assessing his stock on this Bruins club.
A B’s team already feeling the cap crunch re-upped Heinen on a two-year contract extension this week, with the forward brought back into the fold on a deal that will account for a $2.8 million cap hit in both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns.
While Don Sweeney and his staff will need to take a long look at the rest of the roster in an effort to free up the capital needed to retain both Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, Heinen’s new deal shouldn’t be viewed as a roadblock toward the rest of Boston’s offseason priorities.
Heinen’s new cap hit might be close to $2 million more than what the Bruins were previously on the hook for with his entry-level deal, but don’t let the 24-year-old forward’s dip in offensive production last season discourage you.
On a Bruins’ club in need of some stability on the wing behind the big guns of Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, Heinen and his current contract provides plenty of value as an strong defensive presence — with an offensive ceiling that could be realized as early as next year.
As noted above, Heinen’s best asset aside from his versatility is his play outside of the O-zone, where Heinen has established himself as a dependable defensive presence keen on stymying Grade-A looks down the other end of the ice.
While Heinen may not be the next coming of Mark Stone on the wing, it’s hard to argue with the numbers when it comes to the opposition’s struggles whenever Heinen hops over the boards.
As seen below in these 5v5 shot maps provided by Micah Blake McCurdy, opponents have a lower threat value when Heinen is on the ice as opposed to when he’s not, with a club’s shot rates in Grade-A areas right around the Bruins’ net particularly ice-cold when No. 43 is deployed in the D-zone.
Just about wherever Heinen was slotted into the lineup last year, 5v5 goals against didn’t follow for Boston’s opponent.
The most obvious impact was felt when Heinen was bumped up on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand for an extended stretch while David Pastrnak recovered from thumb surgery.
While the trio of 63-37-88 has the two-way pedigree that makes them one of the most dynamic lines in all of hockey — teams still managed to get their licks in against the crew throughout the 2018-19 campaign.
Sure, 63-37-88 were still a juggernaut offensively with a goals for per 60 minute rate of 3.51 (27 5v5 goals scored in 461 minutes together), but during that same stretch, opponents managed to score 24 goals against them — leading to just a plus-3 goal differential.
It’s a far cry from the 2017-18 campaign, in which that crew were at one point generating a 3.94 GF/60 (sixth in NHL) and a minuscule GA/60 rate of 0.23. In other words, that’s just one goal allowed for just about every 240 minutes of 5v5 action. Bonkers.
Of course, maintaining a GA/60 rate like that for an entire season is an extremely tall task for even the best defensive forwards in the game. Carrying that play over into the next year is just about inconceivable.
But when Heinen was slotted up with Bergeron and Marchand, the opposing goals once again dried up, with that new-look Bruins line on the hook for just one 5v5 goal against in its first 140 minutes of ice time together. Impressive stuff.
Heinen’s defensive presence on that line (just 4 5v5 goals surrendered in 197:31 of TOI) is not just reserved for the time he’s spent in a top-line role. With an individual GA/60 rate of 1.33 — good for second amongst Bruins forwards — Heinen has been a defensive stalwart wherever Bruce Cassidy has placed him in the lineup.
In 145 minutes with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk? Just two 5v5 goals surrendered. Even on a stagnant line with Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Ryan Donato? Three 5v5 goals against in 119 minutes.
Slotting Heinen next to a better supporting cast next season — whether it be in a top-six role or alongside another solid two-way player in Charlie Coyle — should continue to pay dividends for the Bruins when it comes to lifting what is already an impressive (and improving) Bruins team defense that ranked third in the league last season with a 2.58 GA/G rate.
Speaking of supporting cast …
While Heinen’s defensive efforts already provide plenty of value to this Bruins forward corps, his offensive potential could make his $2.8 million cap hit a bargain in short order.
While his scoring output dropped to 34 points over 77 contests in 2018-19, Heinen remains confident that his production in the O-zone will once again return to the level that saw him accrue 47 points as a rookie while serving in a bottom-six role.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign when it comes to an offensive breakthrough for Heinen— aside from his continued development in what will be his third full season in the NHL — is the crop of skaters that Heinen is set to skate with in 2019-20.
While his role is far from set in stone, either a top-six spot gig won out of a camp or a return to the third line with Coyle stands as a far better situation than the one that Heinen was mired in for most of the first five months of the 2018-19 season.
Before the additions of Coyle and Marcus Johansson in February shored up Boston’s bottom-six, Heinen was one of the B’s forwards that drew the short straw on what was a rudderless third line, with the forward logging at least 30 minutes of 5v5 TOI with five different bottom-six line combinations — including mix-and-match configurations featuring linemates such as Forsbacka Karlsson, Donato, David Backes and Anders Bjork.
Not exactly a great situation for Heinen, who may not be the type of forward that will drive a line offensively, be can certainly contribute when given some talent to work with.
When looking at 5v5 teammates over the course of an entire season, Heinen’s year resembles a kaleidoscope when looking at these graphs courtesy of HockeyViz.
For example, here’s Bergeron’s 5v5 teammates for 2018-19 — which starts from October (the left side of the graph) all the way through April (the right side of the graph).
As you can see, barring a few small stretches, most of Bergeron’s 5v5 minutes were spent alongside Marchand (red) and Pastrnak (grey). The white stretch close to the midway point of the season was, of course, the stretch in which Bergeron was out due to a rib/sternoclavicular injury.
Now, let’s look at Heinen’s 5v5 teammates timeline. Ehhhhhhh …. Yikes.
As seen by the hodgepodge of colors featured from left to right, Heinen didn’t have much consistency to work with for most of the year. And when he did, it was often spent with inexperienced youngsters like Donato and JFK.
A man without a productive line for close to 2/3rds of the year, Heinen’s offensive production plummeted — with the forward limited to six goals and 13 total points in his first 49 games.
“I don’t know,” Heinen said Thursday of the cause for his scoring dip. “I think as a player you try not to get your head wrapped around too much in numbers. I just want to be helping the team. For me, I think, as an all-around player, I felt more comfortable round two in my all-around game.
“You know, sometimes that’s the way it works, situational. Every year is different, but I think if you keep on sticking, working on the details and trying to improve your all-around game, all that stuff will come. So, that’s what I’m focusing on, just keep on getting better and keep on focusing on the little things.”
However, over his final 28 games, Heinen went on a tear, recording 21 points — 17 of which came at even strength. It should come as no surprise that such a stretch featured Heinen primarily playing up with Bergeron and Marchand.
Even when slotted down to a third-line role with Coyle and Johansson in the postseason, the Bruins tallied 13 5v5 goals in the 302:19 of TOI in which Heinen skated during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
For comparison, the Bruins only benefited from 11 5v5 goals in the 330:51 of 5v5 TOI in which Marchand skated during the postseason.
This is not to say that Heinen will ultimately become a 60-70 point scorer in the next year or two, nor should one expect him to suddenly carry a line featuring younger skaters like an Oskar Steen and Jack Studnicka in a year or two.
That’s not the kind of player Heinen is. But when slotted into a position in which he can skate alongside other top-six options, he can certainly hold his own and contribute in the O-zone — and dominate down the other end of the ice.
Add in what with comparable forwards like Andreas Johnsson ($3.4 million) and Alex Kerfoot ($3.5 million) are getting paid by Toronto — and it’s hard to argue with the facts.
At just $2.8 million per year, Heinen’s return could present itself as a major coup for the Bruins right away in 2019.
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, Corsica and HockeyViz.