Acquired as a throw-in piece in the trade that sent Egor Chinakhov to the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, Danton Heinen carved out a role with the Blue Jackets. His reliable two-way game earned him a one-year contract extension with the team, and he'll look to hold down that same role this fall.
After a brief one-game stint with the Cleveland Monsters, Heinen got into 33 games with the Jackets last season, scoring 5 goals, 10 points, adding 8 penalty minutes, and carrying a +6 rating. He looked immediately comfortable on the fourth line, giving the team serviceable minutes against any competition.
This isn't a player who has a standout skill, or one thing we can point to that makes him more valuable than the next guy. The best thing you can probably say is that, when he's on the ice: not much happens. Particularly alongside center Isac Lundestrom.
Like Lundestrom, Heinen is what we might call a replacement level player. These guys take the ice, backcheck, chip pucks out, chip pucks deep, forecheck, and get back off the ice. Essentially, they are out there to cancel out the competition for 8-12 minutes per game.
It's not exciting, but in today's NHL, you need guys like this to win. Most teams have two or even three scoring lines, so having a fourth line that can come over the boards and neutralize the attack for a shift here and there is vital. Hopefully, without taking penalties.
With these two around, the Blue Jackets have two strong pieces of a fourth line. Add in the speed, truculence, and occasional goal scoring that Miles Wood brings; and they just might have a serviceable enough group to feel comfortable throwing them over the boards more often.
That one or two extra shifts in a game could be huge. Bonus points if they can chip in a goal here and there, which I think they should be able to do. There will be nights that are maddening, where they get caved in. But, more often than not, you just won't notice them. And that's fine.
Expectations set the perception.
It's important to remember that a guy like Danton Heinen isn't here to put up 20 goals, or throw a big momentum-changing hit. More likely, when he's on his game, nothing is going to happen when he's on the ice. I assure you: that isn't a bad thing.
I thought the Blue Jackets needed more of this from their fourth line last season. On too many nights, they had a rotation of bodies that couldn't seem to find footing. That is, until Danton came aboard.
He helped steady the ship, grounding this fourth line that started to forge an identity. I'm excited to see him back for another year in Columbus-even if his game isn't going to bring us out of our seats.
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