Today, we’re diving into the play of 6’2″ versatile forward Danton Heinen.

After years of rumours about Heinen coming to Vancouver via the trade route – most notably a one-for-one swap with the Anaheim Ducks for Jake Virtanen – he finally lands in his hometown team in free agency. Early on July 1st, the Canucks announced they signed the Langley native to a two-year $4.5 million deal, paying him $2.25 million annually.

Heinen, 29, has proven in his eight-year NHL career that he can play up and down any lineup. Last season, he spent time on the top three lines for the Boston Bruins, racking up 17 goals and 36 points with a plus-16 rating in 74 games. Heinen’s efforts earned him time on both the powerplay (averaging 13 seconds per game) and penalty kill (averaging 1:16 minutes per game).

However, come playoff time, Heinen struggled offensively. Due to an undisclosed injury, he only suited up for eight of the Bruins’ 13 playoff games and registered just one assist in 15:18 minutes of average ice time. But it seems that Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin has a plan on how to utilize his new versatile forward.

“Danton’s skill set will fit in nicely with the way we want to play hockey,” said Allvin. “His speed and ability to kill penalties will be a big boost for our group. We also feel he can contribute offensively, move up and down the lineup from time to time, and use his body and size to his advantage.”

In the two games against the Canucks this season, Heinen made them pay. He scored a shorthanded goal en route to a 4-0 victory in Boston and tallied another at even strength in Vancouver. Let’s dive into one of his games against the Canucks, as well as a playoff game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and highlight the type of player to expect for next season.

After a faceoff loss, Heinen is quick on the puck carrier, forcing Quinn Hughes to make an errant pass up the middle of the ice in the defensive zone. Luckily for Hughes, Charlie Coyle isn’t able to corral the puck for a proper scoring chance. Being the intelligent player he is, Heinen positions himself in a shooting position and gets a shot off with the goaltender out of position. Elias Pettersson blocked the shot, but Heinen grabbed his own rebound and found the point man to extend the offensive pressure.

Heinen’s tenacity on the forecheck against the league’s best defenceman nearly led to a goal for his team.

Here’s a two-part clip showing both the defensive and offensive sides of Heinen’s game.

It would be easy for a winger to come off the bench and stay back to cover their point position. But not Heinen. He immediately inserts himself into the play and pressures the puck carrier. This backcheck forces a bad pass from Tyler Myers to the boards, where Heinen continues to race for the puck. Now triple-teamed, Conor Garland inevitably loses the puck, and the Bruins head the other way.

On the ensuing rush, Heinen heads straight to the front of the net. While his 6’2″, 195-lb frame isn’t a small build, he doesn’t portray the physical type of player to battle at the net front. But that’s exactly what Heinen does here, and he gets rewarded for it. Don’t get it wrong, he is only credited for the goal because Ian Cole pushes him into the puck and into the net, but if Heinen wasn’t battling for that positioning, he wouldn’t have scored his 12th goal of the season.

After receiving a breakout pass, Heinen shows off his puck-carrying skills through the neutral zone. He’s calm and confident enough with the puck not to make a quick pass up to Trent Frederic. Heinen stops on a dime to avoid the defender and allows his teammates to set up. He now turns into a threatening position, notices his limited options and sends a no-look pass to the open point man. The play ends with a shot on goal from the faceoff circle, all because of Heinen’s patience with the puck.

Here, we can see a bit more of Heinen’s defensive prowess. Filip Hronek receives a pass on Heinen’s wing. J.T. Miller does a great job of boxing Heinen out, giving Hronek a clear lane to the net. However, Heinen doesn’t quit on defence, as he evades Miller’s check and kicks out his leg to block the shot. Usually, this would be a play you’d find in a playoff game, not game 51 of the regular season.

Heinen keeps with Hronek and does his best Miller impersonation by boxing Hronek out when the puck comes around the boards. In a battle along the boards, Heinen outmuscles Hronek and, in one swift motion, sends the puck to the Bruins defender for an easy zone clearance.

Just a small clip here. Heinen comes off the bench and immediately disrupts the puck carrier by just getting in his way. Heinen sticks with the play and keeps up with Elias Lindholm on the left wing. Thankfully, he does, as by this point, the right-side defenceman has turned his attention to Phil Di Giuseppe streaming through the middle of the ice.

Heinen stick checks Lindholm as the pass goes towards the net front, restraining him from an easy tap-in. Once both players find their balance, Heinen gives him a little grab to take him out of the play completely. Had an opposing player regained possession of the puck. His defensive play saved a high-danger scoring chance and an easy zone exit.

We flip to Game 3 of the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Heinen starts on the penalty kill. Heinen doesn’t make an outstanding defensive play, but he shows off his speed by winning the foot race for the loose puck with Tyler Bertuzzi. Heinen notices teammate Pavel Zacha has a better shot at a breakaway, so he holds back and sauces it right to him, and the ensuing shot just trickles wide of the net.

It was the great awareness and foot speed from Heinen that almost led to a Bruins shorthanded goal.

Here’s a quick clip of a nice rotation from Heinen and his linemates in the offensive zone. This movement leads to a high-danger Heinen shot right in front of the net. Sticking with the play, he gains positioning in front of the net and sets a screen for his point man to get a shot off.

Here is yet another example of Heinen’s elite defensive play. He does a great job of forechecking deep in the zone but makes sure he isn’t too deep to fall out of the play. Heinen keeps pace with the puck carrier and reads his eyes perfectly as he lunges and cuts off the saucer pass, entering the zone for a clean exit.

Another small clip here, but after the Maple Leafs tied the game late in the final frame, the young Bruins defenceman made a near-costly mistake as he turned the puck over at the side of the net with Jeremy Swayman out of position. Heinen leaves the point to help the scramble in front and collects the puck in the slot. Knowing his team needs a reset, Heinen calmly regains possession of the puck, picks up speed around the net and makes the zone exit look seamless. That composure late in the third period of a tied series after blowing a two-goal lead is encouraging to see from the defensive forward.

On the very same shift as the clip above, Heinen gets right into the dirty area behind the net and does a great job of kicking the puck away from the defender and into a position only he can retrieve it. Before anybody has time to process, Heinen has the puck in the corner, and it’s off his stick and onto Brad Marchand’s in the faceoff dot. Marchand makes no mistake and picks his corner to give the Bruins back the lead.

If it hadn’t been for his slick work in the gritty area, who knows how this game would have ended, given that the Leafs had regained all of the momentum.

Honestly, there isn’t much to highlight or be concerned about. But if we’re to nitpick the little things, Heinen would often play very deep into his own zone.

Like in this clip here, Heinen enters the zone and does a great job of covering the front of the net. However, he should retreat to the point once the F3 (defensive forward, usually the centre) is back in position. Instead, he chases the puck to the goal line, leaving Tyler Myers wide open for a one-time slapshot from the faceoff circle that easily could have ended in a goal.

When Heinen is in a battle for the puck, if he’s able to leverage his body, he often comes out on top. However, if it’s just a stick battle, he doesn’t have the strongest sticks, resulting in a turnover. Watch here as Bertuzzi completely halts any movement on Heinen’s stick, resulting in a turnover, followed by a quick pass to a wide-open Auston Matthews for a one-timer in a high-danger scoring position.

Luckily for Heinen, it was against the Maple Leafs in the playoffs, so that was never going in, but in the regular season against this opponent, it will likely cost them.

See about his body leverage? On this play, Heinen wins the race to the puck and uses his body to box out Nicolas Robertson and get the puck deep in the zone. Had he not been able to use his body, the play could have gone the other way with Heinen out of position.

Heinen is a nuisance for any opposing puck carrier through the neutral zone. If a player is within stick length of Heinen, even if he knows he won’t be able to strip the puck from them, he’ll still impede them by either wacking their stick or merely tipping the puck. It might not be much, but if he disrupts the opposing player just enough, they could mess up or second-guess themselves to slow their momentum.

The Langley native took what he learned in his pee-wee hockey days: forecheck, backcheck, paycheque. Heinen is tenacious on the forecheck and uses his speed to be the first player back on the backcheck. He doesn’t make things easy for the opposition and limits the time the opposition has to make a conscious decision.

If you want more highlight reels from Danton Heinen last season, check out this hype clip the Canucks Twitter posted earlier this summer.

What do you think, Canucks fans? Are you excited about the hometown kid Danton Heinen to be rocking the blue and green next season?