One reason that this season’s Boston Bruins team has been fun to watch is the ample opportunity for different players to come up big in a key spot, night in and night out.
We know what the likes Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak can do as elite forwards in the National Hockey League. We have watched, too, as Boston University product Charlie McAvoy quickly progresses to top status on the blue line early in his true rookie season.
A rookie himself just a year ago, Danton Heinen had his chance to show what he could do right out of training camp in 2016. The two-year University of Denver standout stuck in Providence for a majority of the season after failing to crack the scoresheet over eight games in short stints with Boston from October through December.
While Heinen had that same chance this year, the same fate — a trip back south to the American Hockey League — resulted, as a strong cast of fellow youngsters like Anders Bjork and Jake DeBrusk also pushed for spots in the big leagues.
"Obviously, you don’t like it right away," Heinen said of returning to the P-Bruins after scoring a goal and an assist in five preseason games, then three assists in as many regular-season games. "There’s no reason to pout. There’s always injuries. You hate to see guys go down, but there are holes that need to be filled. They’re going to call guys up, so you want to be first in line."
There were injuries, and Heinen played himself to the head of the line.
He seized the opportunity, tallying 10 points in his first 15 games in the NHL this season, including two goals immediately upon returning to the lineup Oct. 26 against San Jose. With the slew of key injuries that hit the Bruins during the first month-plus of the season, Heinen, too, slid into a topline role with Bergeron and Pastrnak while Marchand and David Krejci were out.
With so much youth in the fold, adjusting to the NHL level has been rather easy for Heinen. The Langley, B.C., native could have been a senior on a Denver team that is defending a national championship this year, but in joining the Bruins organization, he opted to make a choice that has quickly launched his pro career.
"It’s awesome because I played with a lot of the guys in Providence and the development camps," Heinen said. "It’s pretty cool to be up here hanging out with a lot of young guys, come to the rink and play together."
It has been said often in the Bruins locker room that experience with the team’s high-end players can be invaluable for a player in the early stages of a pro career, but head coach Bruce Cassidy feels that Heinen also greatly benefitted from regular ice time with the P-Bruins during their playoff run last season.
A point-per-game pace was not the only positive. Cassidy saw flashes of the growth and the responsible game that have shown through during his first extended stay in the NHL. Now, Bruins fans are seeing the fruits of Heinen’s labor in Providence, and it’s given him a bit of a leg up on some of the team’s talented rookies because he’d played at the highest level before this season, albeit for a short time, where De-Brusk, Bjork and others had not.
"When I saw him playing there, he was a different player than when he’d left (Boston)," Cassidy said of the 6-foot-1, 193-pound Heinen. "There was a willingness to stay in the battle and his growth when it comes to winning pucks … you’ve seen it here.
"He was able to do some of those things, details that don’t show up on the scoresheet. That was when it dawned on me that he might be able to play toward the bottom of the lineup."
Whether or not Heinen’s role in the lineup will be permanent remains to be seen. Either way, he’s made it a hard decision on Cassidy once the team does return to full health. That’s a real good thing.
"He went down and worked hard at his game, got some more points, played well, solid," Cassidy said. "He’s kind of realizing his role, he’s accepting it, and it hasn’t affected his offense, obviously. That’s the biggest thing I like about him. He’s learning how to be a good pro — accept the role you’re given, dominate in it, see if it can grow from there."
Heinen has noticed his prior pro experience paying dividends in this stay with Boston. He knows the talent on these Bruins and throughout the organization well, so nothing is being taken for granted.
"Every shift you just want to do everything you can," Heinen said of his current role and trying to continue leaving that good impression for Cassidy and general manager Don Sweeney. "You don’t know how long you have up here. You have to take it day-by-day and try to put your best foot forward every day and work as hard as you can. That’s just what I’m trying to do."
