Former Penguins forward Danton Heinen finds a role on the Bruins' top line

It was exactly one year ago that Danton Heinen’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins essentially came to an end.

But he wasn’t the only one.

Having already been eliminated from postseason contention, the Penguins limped through a 3-2 overtime road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the regular-season finale on April 13, 2023. By the next day, executives Brian Burke, Ron Hextall and Chris Pryor were fired.

A few weeks later, Kyle Dubas took over as president of hockey operations and began crafting the roster to his preferences.

That led to Heinen, a winger, to be jettisoned along with the likes of forwards such as Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Poehling and Josh Archibald as well as defensemen Brian Dumoulin, Jan Rutta and Jeff Petry in the ensuing weeks.

“A lot of uncertainty,” Heinen said. “Moving parts. That happens. It’s part of the business.”

To be clear, it was a matter of months for Heinen to find a new team.

He did not join the Boston Bruins until Sept. 5. And even then, he was signed to a professional tryout contract. After a solid preseason, Heinen had to wait for the Bruins to sort out their salary cap figures before they signed him to a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $775,000 on Oct. 30, a few weeks into the regular season.

Until his contract was signed, Heinen practiced with the team while not officially being a member of the franchise.

“It was a little bit of a weird, different process,” Heinen said following the Bruins’ morning skate Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. “Just trying to stay ready. They were great with having me around and practicing. Everybody was great at keeping up to pace. It was good just to see the way they played, systems and stuff like that. So I had a better feel of it stepping in. It was a different process, but I think it all worked out.”

In 71 games, he has 35 points (16 goals, 17 assists) while averaging 14 minutes, 24 seconds of ice time for the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins. And as of late, he has found a role on the team’s top line with Pavel Zacha at center and All-Star David Pastrnak on the right wing.

Boston goal!

Scored by Danton Heinen with 02:49 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Pavel Zacha.

Tampa Bay: 1
Boston: 1#BOSvsTBL #GoBolts #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/aLj0kPKOia

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 28, 2024

“That’s something I don’t take lightly,” Heinen said. “It’s a good opportunity. I’ve learned from those guys. (Zacha) is an unreal player, too. I just try to listen to them, learn from them and try to complement them any way I can.”

The Bruins had familiarity with Heinen when they re-signed him in October. A fourth-round pick (No. 116 overall) in 2014, he spent parts of his first four NHL seasons with the Bruins and even helped that team reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.

“He’s kind of been a glue guy,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Someone we can move around. He started on the fourth line, went to the third line. Spent some time in the top-six (forwards) then bounced back down to the third and fourth lines where he was really helping us. Been a really good part of our penalty kill, one of our top-six forwards at penalty kills. Recently, the last month, he kind of found a home on the side of (Pastrnak) and Zacha.”

That sounds akin to what the Penguins thought of Heinen when they signed him to a one-year contract during the 2021 offseason. With forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each unavailable to open the 2021-22 season because of offseason surgeries, Heinen took on an elevated role and helped replace some of their offense as he posted a career-best 18 goals and 33 points overall in 76 games. He even contributed a sturdy three goals in seven postseason games.

R1, Gm4: Danton Heinen scores against the New York Rangers to make it 5-2 #PITvsNYR #LetsGoPens #NoQuitInNY pic.twitter.com/yITxAoA4og

— nopClips (@nopClips) May 10, 2022

After re-signing with the Penguins in the 2022 offseason, he primarily was relegated to a bottom-six role and saw his production take a tumble with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 65 games.

“I loved my time here,” Heinen said. “It was kind of two different years. But it was a great group of guys. Guys that are obviously (future) Hall of Famers. That’s fun. Kind of two different years. That’s hockey. It’s not always going to go how you draw it up. It was tough when you don’t make the playoffs last year. I thought we had a pretty good team there. That’s tough. But overall, I look back and I’m grateful for my time here.”

Scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason, Heinen appears to appreciate what he has found in his second tenure with the Bruins and is hopeful it might last more than one season.

“It’s a great group to be a part of,” Heinen said. “There’s familiarity there in coming in. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Follow the Penguins all season long.