Penticton, BC — Finding a true top 6 winger to play alongside JT Miller and Brock Boeser has been a challenge for the Vancouver Canucks. They’ve featured a rotating cast of third wheels, ranging from the likes of Phil Di Giuseppe to Pius Suter. The latter was solid and played well enough alongside the duo, but ideally, a contending team isn’t fielding Suter in their top 6.

Enter Danton Heinen.

The 29-year-old Langley native inked a deal this summer to return to his hometown team after spending the last season with the Boston Bruins. Heinen is well familiar with cheering for the team, and now, he gets to put on the Canucks’ jersey for the first time.

He’s getting quite the opportunity as well. For the last couple of days, he’s featured with Miller and Boeser, with the Canucks staff giving him a good long look as the last piece to the puzzle on that line. There’s been some solid early returns.

For one, Boeser is clearly a fan of Heinen.

“Obviously it’s our second day with him. I’m excited to continue these practices with him and hopefully play that first preseason game with him and see how it goes,” Boeser said on Friday. “I think just making him understand the type of hockey that me and Millsy like to play.”

“We like to keep it simple. We’re pretty black and white about how we want to play and what we do in the offensive zone. But I think Danton’s a really smart player, I’ve played against him since college, so I think his hockey IQ’s there, he works hard, and I think he’ll fit in well.”

Miller echoed similar sentiments on Thursday after their first skate as a trio. “Heinen obviously fits in good with me and Brock, we’ve been trying to, in the last couple weeks, pick each other’s brains and go over some stuff in the loose practices,” he said, showing that the trio had been in communication long before training camp started, knowing the potential of them playing together this year.

“He knows how to play. He’s been in the league a long time, he scored some goals, especially at 5-on-5, and he knows what he needs to do to play with us,” Miller further elaborated. “You don’t have to spin around, you don’t teach the guy to play hockey, so easy guy to play with for us, up and down winger with speed and skill and like I told you guys before, that suits our line.”

So what does Heinen himself think? “You can’t read into it,” he was quick to say and added his caveat. “But it’s always cool to play with guys like that, high-skill guys, guys you can learn from. So, you know, it’s fun.”

The former captain of the Surrey Eagles found himself in familiar confines at the SOEC, facing off against the Penticton Vees more than his fair share of times in the BCHL. Now, he’s playing for BC’s team, at training camp in the same barn. “Haven’t been back here for a while, so brings back some memories, takes me back.”

It seems like it is almost coming full circle — to start his career in the BCHL, and now in training camp, getting a chance to feature on Vancouver’s top line with two of their most productive players from the previous year. Heinen isn’t getting carried away but is happy just to be underway. “Sometimes you kind of get those moments here and there,  I think you gotta enjoy those little moments,” he said about playing for his childhood team. “Remember the times when you dreamed of putting it [the jersey] on.”