The NHLPA announced earlier today that 40 players have filed for arbitration. The only Bruin on that list (and the only one eligible) was Danton Heinen. Heinen, who is capable of playing on either wing, tallied 11 goals and 23 assists in 77 games last season. He also appeared in 24 playoff games for the team, during which he produced two goals and six assists. Drafted in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Bruins, Heinen has appeared in 162 career NHL games, and he has recorded 27 goals and 54 assists. The 24-year-old has only played for the Bruins organization over his three-season professional career. Evolving Wild projects his next contract to be a two-year deal worth $5,638,300 ($2,819,150 AAV).
I hope the Bruins manage to avoid arbitration with Heinen, as I think they will end up having to overpay them if they don’t. The Evolving Wild contract projection is too high in my opinion, as I don’t think the Bruins should pay Heinen close to $3 million a season, particularly if they only give Brandon Carlo $4-$4.5 million. While Heinen puts up more points than I think he gets credit for from some fans (including myself, who was rather surprised by the number this season), he is a very streaky player who goes stone-cold for long stretches in between hot streaks. To me, that isn’t worth nearly $3 million. I think a $2 million AAV is a reasonable number on a two or three-year deal, as that is a good prove-your-worth bridge deal where Heinen can show whether or not he can be a more consistent player and the Bruins can decide whether or not he is in their long term plans based on what they see. I think he will be, as he’s really sound defensively and has better possession numbers than you might expect, but I also think he needs to be more consistent if he wants to stick around and make more money. Paying him $3 million is too much, because it doesn’t say “prove you’re worth more than this” as much as $2 million does, and the Bruins are going to be up against the cap as it is when they resign Carlo and Charlie McAvoy. I think they’ll get him for less if they don’t go to arbitration, so hopefully it doesn’t come to that. Thankfully, most players who file for it manage to reach a deal with the team before the hearing, so let’s hope that’s the case here and both sides can come to a reasonable agreement. Arbitration hearings are scheduled to take place between July 20th- August 4th, so they have some time to figure it out.
UPDATE (July 9th, 12:32 pm): Heinen’s arbitration hearing has been set for August 3rd. The Bruins have until then to reach an agreement or their hand will be forced by the arbitrator’s ruling, and it will almost certainly not be in their favor.
UPDATE (July 9th, 12:43 am): The Bruins announced that they have resigned Heinen to a two-year contract worth $5.6 million ($2.8 million AAV). I did a separate post with his stats again and my reaction, you can find it under the Bruins Free Agent tab at the top of the page!
Hockey Addict 