All stats courtesy of hockeyreference.com.
My next player profile is on forward Danton Heinen! Heinen appeared in 77 games for the Bruins last season, in which he produced 11 goals and 23 assists. He then played in all 24 playoff games for the Bruins on their run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, through which he tallied 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, over which he has recorded 27 goals and 54 assists. The 24-year-old center and wing has only played for the Bruins organization over his NHL and professional career, which has spanned a little over three seasons as he turned pro following his sophomore season at the University of Denver in 2015-16.
There are a lot of people out there who hate on Heinen and would like to see him traded, but in my opinion, that would be a big mistake. He’s a great possession player, as he had a 52.9 Corsi-for percentage (CF%), and he is also a strong two-way player and playmaker. His defense-first mentality allows him to be relied on in any situation and in all three zones, although he is frustratingly inconsistent in the offensive zone and he can also struggle to finish. But, those things could improve as he matures and gains more experience. Heinen is also capable of playing anywhere in the lineup and at any forward position, although he has played at his best in the NHL when he is on the wing. He brings a lot of value to the Bruins, and in my opinion, is really underappreciated by fans who only want to see players light up the scoresheet. Overall, he’s a really versatile player who’s fast and has a high compete level. His good qualities far outweigh his flaws already in my opinion, and that should only become more evident as he continues to improve, and hopefully, more people will start to see that.
As for what we can expect out of Heinen next season, I think we will see a similar player, albeit more consistent and I think he’ll put up more points than last season. In his rookie season, he put up 47 points in 77 games as part of a really good third line and he was also more consistent, so hopefully, this year was just a sophomore slump and he’ll return to that form next season. I think it’s likely that will happen, as he showed he can still be that player when he was with Marchand and Bergeron this season, so another part of his struggles this season I think was playing on what was a black hole of a third line for most of the season. He started to turn his play around after the deadline when he was with Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johannson, and although he again struggled at times during the playoffs, so did most of the other young guys. So, I think we’ll see closer to the player we did in 2017-18 next season and likely improved as he has more experience now. My guess is he’ll end up in the 50-60 point range next season, as he nearly had 50 in 2017-18 while not playing in quite a full season and he had almost no prior experience. So, if last year was in fact a sophomore slump, which I think it was, we should see a very good two-way player who can put up some points. This is especially true if he is with a center who can score and complement his pass-first mentality, and if all goes well his contract could end up looking like a steal. But, as with all of the others, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens over the course of the season.
Hockey Addict 