Player Discussion Danton Heinen

[DKH]

Honestly, very impressed with him yesterday. He's so smart and such an effective two-way player. Almost beat Bobber with that delayed wrist shot. The flip and cut to the middle was super creative. The pass to Bergy on the PP...

In fairness to some who questioned him he looks like he has a gear, a calmness, confidence that wasn't there last year even in Providence.

He's exceeded visually my expectations from that opening night game on October 7th against Springfield to now.

I'm not sure he even got a point that night as the Agostino-JFK-Cehlarik line dominated but he stood out.

If he is the real deal what a huge hit for this team

 

[HockeyMomx2]

Not sure he`s having issues with the gritty side of things, he`s not a banger/crasher but he`s also not one who shies away from contact or from going into the less than fun areas.

And he also just doesn’t have much meat on that frame yet. His ability to withstand hits and retain puck possession simultaneously should improve as he gains weight, like it is Pasta. Enjoy the hell out of watching him play and all the kids play.

 

[PlayMakers]

I`m not sure if I`m allowed to say this here but I`m going to. His game reminds me of Loui`s (when Loui was playing healthy) , took strong angles on the puck, created/forced turnovers, had some offensive touch but I think Heinen`s skating is stronger.

Another small detail last night that I appreciated and is good to see is Heinen took a shot from the high slot that Bobrovski saved and the camera quickly panned away but they showed a replay of it and there was Heinen, in front of the net following his shot on goal, not just going for a skate. Again, won`t get ink, isn`t a play that will bring you out of your seats but..

Agreed. Also has that same active stick that Loui had. He's able to get it in the way and he creates a lot of turnovers and deflections with it.

 

[gumgum]

prime example there of why heinen needs to play with true scoring line level talent when the personnel available on the roster permits it, he makes 2 of those chances happen, however, it is sean kuraly on the receiving end of 2 high level vision passes off of won pucks. kid thinks before he moves the puck, knows where guys are on the ice.

edit: wanna make it clear i’m not disparaging kuraly here so much so as i’m harping on the o-zone abilities of heinen. i do like a lot of what kuraly brings.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

prime example there of why heinen needs to play with true scoring line level talent when the personnel available on the roster permits it, he makes 2 of those chances happen, however, it is sean kuraly on the receiving end of 2 high level vision passes off of won pucks. kid thinks before he moves the puck, knows where guys are on the ice.

edit: wanna make it clear i’m not disparaging kuraly here so much so as i’m harping on the o-zone abilities of heinen. i do like a lot of kuraly brings.

Yeah, we are wasting his talent if he is outside the top 6. He compliments high end players really well but DeBrusk seems to have a top6 spot locked down on this team no matter what he does.

 

[gumgum]

Yeah, we are wasting his talent if he is outside the top 6. He compliments high end players really well but DeBrusk seems to have a top6 spot locked down on this team no matter what he does.

debrusk is a real good player, i just think heinen plays an equally simple but more thoughtful game; they're both capable and willing to deconstruct themselves into just going north-south and driving to the net. it's just with heinen, he has that intuition about where his linemates are going to be without looking, he 'gets' the flow of the forwards in the offensive zone just naturally. debrusk i think is a guy where he takes some time to adapt to playing with individual players. i always felt that had more to do with his slowish start in prov than 'adapting to the pro game', the easiest reasoning to apply to it.

 

[mikelvl]

Love. love, love what this kid has brought to the table.

 

[missingchicklet]

He is continuing to improve. I'm enjoying watching him play. Does so many things right considering he doesn't have a ton of NHL experience.

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

He is continuing to improve. I'm enjoying watching him play. Does so many things right considering he doesn't have a ton of NHL experience.

I feel this line works for DeBrusk as well. Heinen has been more productive but the future is bright here. Bruins have a few good ones.

 

[DKH]

He's been very impressive from game 1

 

[Dellstrom]

Agreed with the recent posts. He's hopefully played his last game in Providence. Love seeing kids come up and down a few times, improve where they need to, and come back and run with their chances. The future is definitely bright.

 

[Dr Hook]

He's a sharp player- really good game intelligence. I think with a bit of seasoning and some confidence he'll be very good for us

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

He's a sharp player- really good game intelligence. I think with a bit of seasoning and some confidence he'll be very good for us

When he gets his hands on the puck , he is heads up . He can almost consistently make an intelligent play . Bjork and Debrusk can’t do that as consistently as Heinen does ....yet .

 

[weaponomega]

He's such a smart and aware player.

He has the great misfortune of having to play with Schuraly though.

 

[chizzler]

Providence is a great tool for these kids in their development.

 

[tremha]

I think he`s already starting to, two occasions last night led directly to Jacket`s making two passes that were poor. One in the offensive zone where he took a great angle on Savard who then just flicked the puck the opposite way into the corner to nobody, same sort of thing in one particular neutral zone sequence where again, took a very smart angle on a Jacket`s forward and forced him to chip it off the boards right onto the stick of McAvoy.

You don`t need to be a banger to be a pain in the arse

totally agree but a few more pounds of muscle as he fills out will help him in board battles

 

[ODAAT]

totally agree but a few more pounds of muscle as he fills out will help him in board battles

Lbs will help at times, not always the biggest/strongest who win those battles though, many of them come from positioning yourself well along the wall. He`ll be fine

 

[GloryDaze4877]

Can’t say that I’m surprised.

Saw the ability and game at Denver. Saw it at PRO, and he took it to another level in the playoffs. Now he’s doing the same thing in Boston, and IMO he’s just going to get better like he did at each lower level.

I’m hoping that as the B’s start getting their more talented players back, he gets an opportunity to play with linemates that can finish and take advantage of those passing skills he has.

Anybody still think we should include Heinen as a “throw in” to get rid of Beleskey? Sigh...

 

[Estlin]

Anybody still think we should include Heinen as a “throw in” to get rid of Beleskey? Sigh...

I certainly don't, but, without straying off topic too much, getting rid of Beleskey will cause the Bruins some pain in the form of a losing a good prospect and/or high draft pick so that a team takes him.

 

[bp13]

I certainly don't, but, without straying off topic too much, getting rid of Beleskey will cause the Bruins some pain in the form of a losing a good prospect and/or high draft pick so that a team takes him.

I wonder if the current strategy with Beleskey is basically that they're going to keep him unless his play ticks up enough to move him for nothing. In other words...there's no intention to compete for anything in the next couple years, so why give up a piece of the future to free up salary cap space when they don't have any intention of spending it to improve? May as well just keep him around and pray maybe he gets hot for a few weeks and some GM gets desperate enough to take him. In other words, the simplest answer is often the correct one. He's still here because "what's the difference?"

 

[Dr Hook]

He's still here because "what's the difference?"

A 3.8m cap hit is the difference, I guess. But even with that, I don't care to give up Heinen to get rid of Beleskey. I'd rather buy him out or wait out the contract that lose Heinen at this point.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

A 3.8m cap hit is the difference, I guess. But even with that, I don't care to give up Heinen to get rid of Beleskey. I'd rather buy him out or wait out the contract that lose Heinen at this point.

I was at this point weeks ago.

The B's are a playoff team when healthy, but not a Cup team. I'm not giving up a promising young player to get rid of Beleskey given their situation.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

I actually really like him with any combo of Schaller/Nash/Kuraly. I see people saying he needs more skilled linemates, but he's producing with those guys and adding some sandpaper to his game in the process.

I was worried that we'd have trouble fitting all the skilled rookie forwards into the lineup with limited top 6 spots, but Heinen is showing he can play in the bottom 6 and still contribute so what's the problem?

 

[StaalForOne]

Anyone notice he was on the ice for all 3 Bruins goals last night

Watch the goals from entry till finish and focus on Heinen

Bjork, DeBrusk, Heinen all have a chance to be very good top 9 50+ point players within a year or three

in regards to Heinen do you, or anyone else, think 50+ is a ceiling for him, or a reasonable expectation?

 

[DKH]

in regards to Heinen do you, or anyone else, think 50+ is a ceiling for him, or a reasonable expectation?

Maybe not this year but absolutely