Atlantic Notes: Heinen, Okposo, Husso
Talks have begun in Boston on an extension for pending UFA forward Danton Heinen, who 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson writes prefers to stay with the Bruins.
It’s been quite a ride over the past 12 months for the 28-year-old, whose second stint in Boston appears to have revitalized his career. After failing to land a contract on the open market last summer, he settled for a professional tryout agreement with the Bruins that turned into a league-minimum agreement in late October after general manager Don Sweeney opened up the required cap space. He responded with 36 points in 74 games, his highest offensive output since his 47-point rookie campaign with Boston back in 2017-18.
Heinen often earned looks higher up in the lineup and logged most of his ice time this season on a line with David Pastrňák and Pavel Zacha. He’ll see his name on our Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents list coming out later this week, and whether it’s in Boston or elsewhere, he’ll likely earn a significant raise on his expiring $775K cap hit.
Some other rumblings from the Atlantic Division:
- Kyle Okposo will draw back into the lineup for the Panthers for tonight’s (literally) winner-take-all Cup Final game against the Oilers, head coach Paul Maurice said (via the team’s Jameson Olive). Okposo was scratched in their Game 6 loss after a tough Game 5 showing, but his replacement, Nick Cousins, didn’t have much of an impact in his first appearance since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. Acquired from the Sabres before the trade deadline, the 36-year-old Okposo has two assists in 16 playoff games for the Cats while averaging 8:36 per game. If Florida avoids making history by blowing a 3-0 series lead in the Final tonight, they’ll incur a $500K cap overage penalty next season without the space to accommodate Okposo’s performance bonus for winning the Cup, CapFriendly points out.
- Continuing his look at potential trade candidates this summer with uncomfortably high cap hits, The Athletic’s Harman Dayal mentions Red Wings netminder Ville Husso as someone to watch. The 6’3″ Finn missed more than half of the season with lower-body injuries and wasn’t particularly good when in the lineup, posting a career-worst .892 SV% and 3.55 GAA in 19 appearances. He hasn’t performed up to expectations overall since inking a three-year, $4.75MM AAV deal with Detroit in 2022, coming off a campaign with the Blues that earned him seventh place in Vezina voting. Husso has a 10-team no-trade list.
Evening Notes: Tanev, Necas, Heinen
Dallas Stars defenseman Chris Tanev has revealed the injury that forced him out of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, documented by NHL.com’s Taylor Baird (Twitter link). Per Tanev, he felt a pop in his ankle in his first shift after blocking an Evander Kane shot. The resulting injury was to his peroneal tendons and won’t require surgery to fix.
Tanev is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, having played the final year of a four-year, $18MM deal signed with the Calgary Flames the last time he hit the market. Tanev has solidified his status as one of the staunchest defenders in the league on the contract – averaging over 20 minutes of ice time across 278 games since 2020 despite totaling just 72 points. Tanev’s played with just three teams over 14 years in the NHL and could continue that loyalty with the Stars, with the team interested in re-signing the veteran before he hits the market on July 1st.
Other notes from around the league:
- Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Martin Necas are still “preferring” to part ways, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the Donie and Dhali Show (Twitter link). Friedman adds that the Hurricanes would likely be targeting top prospects for Necas – adding that he doesn’t envision a swap of Necas and Filip Hronek when speaking to Donnie and Dhali’s Canucks theme. Necas has scored 124 points across 159 games in the last two seasons, emerging as a legitimate scoring threat in a Hurricanes lineup full of offensive talent. Carolina will now look to open up cap space, and reinforce their depth charts, after trading three top prospects and two draft picks for Jake Guentzel at the Trade Deadline.
- The Boston Bruins are expected to begin talks with Danton Heinen about contract extension soon, shares The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta (Twitter link). Heinen rejoined the Bruins for this season after a three-year tenure split between the Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored 17 goals and 36 points in 74 appearances in the reunion, offering flexible offense from the bottom of the depth charts. He’ll be set for his eighth NHL season, and his sixth with the Bruins, with a new deal this summer.
Bruins/Panthers Notes: Marchand, Heinen, Bennett, Cousins
One of the big moments from Friday’s third game of the Panthers-Bruins series was the hit from Sam Bennett on Brad Marchand that caused the latter to leave the game in the second period and not return. Marchand missed practice today with TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie noting (Twitter links) that the captain is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and that winger Danton Heinen could take his place in the lineup as it appears he could be ready to return.
Heinen has missed the last four games with an undisclosed injury sustained during the first round against Toronto. He had 17 goals and 19 assists in 74 games during the regular season – great value for a league minimum contract – and provided the type of depth scoring that Boston has been lacking in recent games.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski adds that Bennett will not face any supplementary discipline for the hit. Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters that he didn’t see things the way the league did:
There’s a history there with Bennett. There’s clearly evidence of what went on. People can say it wasn’t intentional. We have our view of it.
Bennett had made his series debut after returning from an upper-body injury in the second game of their opening-round series against Tampa Bay and picked up an assist in a little under 13 minutes of action. Montgomery clarified that the history he referenced with Bennett in his comment wasn’t solely with Marchand but rather with those types of hits in general.
Meanwhile, Bennett’s return resulted in Nick Cousins being dropped from the lineup. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald that the decision to scratch Cousins wasn’t performance-related but rather wanting some extra coverage at center if Bennett wasn’t able to make it through the game which helped keep Steven Lorentz – who can play down the middle when called upon – in the lineup on the fourth line, a group that has had some success in the series so far.
Atlantic Notes: Peeke, Heinen, Bennett
Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke is available to return to the lineup tonight after missing the last two and a half weeks with a finger injury (via Conor Ryan of Boston.com). The 26-year-old hasn’t played since Game 2 of the Bruins first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and played just 38 games in the regular season. Peeke dressed in 15 games for the Bruins down the stretch tallying just two assists. He finished the regular season with a single goal and nine assists in 38 games and saw his average ice time for the season drop by almost five full minutes.
Boston acquired Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Jakub Zboril and a 2027 third-round pick. Zboril was a former first-round pick of the Bruins who was selected during Boston’s disastrous 2015 draft.
No word yet on who Peeke could replace if he does dress for Game 3.
In other Atlantic Division notes:
- Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters that forward Danton Heinen remains day-to-day with an undisclosed injury (via Conor Ryan). Heinen has missed four consecutive games and hasn’t scored a goal since April 13th, a span of seven games. The 28-year-old bounced back this year in Boston after a down year with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Heinen posted 17 goals and 19 assists in 74 games after signing a one-year, $775K contract on October 30th. When Heinen is ready to return, his spot in the lineup may not be guaranteed after the emergence of young forward Justin Brazeau who has made an impression the past few weeks.
- Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett will be a game-time decision tonight for Game 3 against the Bruins. The Holland Landing, Ontario native hasn’t played since April 23rd when he took a Brandon Montour shot off his left hand in the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bennett would be a big boost for the Panthers after he posted 20 goals and 21 assists in 69 games during the regular season. Besides the boost to their depth scoring, Bennett would also add a physical element to the Panthers lineup should he return, something that Florida would certainly welcome after the theatrics of Game 2.
Atlantic Injury Notes: Bruins, Bennett, Nylander
The Boston Bruins will get reinforcements in their upcoming series against the Florida Panthers, with general manager Don Sweeney sharing that he expects both Andrew Peeke and Danton Heinen to return from injury in the Second Round, per Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Peeke suffered a finger injury in Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, sitting out of the third period and earning a week-to-week designation. Heinen has been recovering from an undisclosed injury and was designated as a game-time decision in Game 7, ultimately sitting out. Sweeney shared that the team is still waiting to see each player’s exact timeline.
Injuries put Boston’s depth to the test in the First Round – and the fill-ins came up strong. Rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei was the most impressive addition, recording one assist and looking well-adjusted to playoff pace in the first five Stanley Cup appearances of his career. He won out Peeke’s role over Derek Forbort, who is himself recovering from injury. Lohrei should remain the team’s go-to replacement, though he’ll need a strong start in Game 1 if he wants to fight for a role when Peeke returns. Justin Brazeau has stepped in for Heinen, also recording one assist in his three postseason games so far.
Other injury notes from around the Atlantic Division:
- Florida Panthers’ centerman Sam Bennett is progressing from injury, with head coach Paul Maruice upgrading him to a day-to-day designation per David Dwork of The Hockey News (Twitter link). Maurice added that Bennett is progressing better than he was expecting, though he’ll still be out for Game 1 of the Second Round. Bennett suffered an upper-body injury in Game 2 against the Maple Leafs, reportedly sustaining the injury on a blocked shot. He left the ice after just 7:42 in ice time, though he made sure to leave his mark on the series – recording two points in Game 2 prior to leaving. His absence opened the door for Steven Lorentz to step back into the lineup. Lorentz has recorded two points in four postseason games – enough for Florida to get by the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Panthers will surely be excited to get back the strong depth scoring Bennett brings.
- Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander has finally revealed the ailments that held him out of the first three games of Round One, saying that he was struggling with “head issues and eye migraines” and adding that he was struggling to see at times, per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox (Twitter link). Nylander returned for the final four games of Toronto’s season, recording three goals before being bounced by the Bruins. He had a career-year, scoring 40 goals and 98 points in 82 games. With the off-season now in front of him, Nylander will need to focus on nursing a migraine issue that’s followed him for the last two seasons.
Atlantic Notes: Matthews, McCann, Peeke, Heinen, Cederqvist
The status of Auston Matthews’ availability for tonight’s game seven against Boston won’t be known until closer to puck drop. However, speaking with reporters today including Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link), head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that they are proceeding as they have been which suggests the league’s top goalscorer is on the iffy side when it comes to playing. Matthews has missed the last seven periods in the series due to illness although the Maple Leafs have managed to win the last two games to force a deciding match.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Still with Toronto, winger Bobby McMann took part in practice today for the first time as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays David Alter of The Hockey News (Twitter link). However, he will not play tonight. McMann was a bright spot for the Maple Leafs this season when it came to their secondary scoring as he picked up 15 goals in 56 games despite averaging less than 12 minutes a game of ice time.
- While Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke skated today with the team, he has been ruled out for tonight, notes Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (Twitter link). Earlier this week, it was suggested that he’d be out for multiple weeks yet but the fact he was on the ice today suggests that he could be back a little earlier than that should Boston advance to the second round.
- Bruins winger Danton Heinen is uncertain to play in tonight’s contest, per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 28-year-old missed Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury. Heinen, who had 17 goals and 19 assists in 74 games this season, did see some time during power play drills during the morning skate.
- Pending Canadiens RFA forward Filip Cederqvist has signed a three-year deal with SHL Frolunda, per a team announcement. Montreal acquired the 23-year-old back in January from Buffalo for future considerations. Cederqvist split the season between AHL Rochester and Laval, combining for five goals and six assists in 53 games. A strong non-tender candidate before this announcement, Cederqvist signing this early actually increases the chance of a qualifying offer. He’s four years away from UFA eligibility so the Canadiens could actually now issue his qualifier to retain his rights in case he has a breakout showing over the next three years in Sweden.
Bruins/Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, McMann, Toronto Black Aces, Heinen
Unlike Game 5, we won’t have to wait until warmups of tonight’s Game 6 to know whether star Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will be available. He’s already been ruled out of the lineup as Toronto aims to push the series back to Boston for a Game 7, head coach Sheldon Keefe said this morning (via The Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby).
Matthews hasn’t played since the second period of Toronto’s Game 4 loss, missing Game 5 with what multiple reports indicate is a combination of an illness and an undisclosed injury. The Leafs responded well to keep their season alive without him on Tuesday, outshooting Boston 33-28 en route to an overtime win off the stick of rookie Matthew Knies.
After scoring a franchise-record 69 goals in the regular season, Matthews was held without a point in three of his four appearances in the series thus far. He did have a dominant performance in Game 2, though, factoring in on every goal Toronto scored in a 3-2 win.
His line with Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi has been the most high-event trio Toronto has iced, leading them in both expected goals for (4.68) and expected goals against (4.83) per 60 minutes, per MoneyPuck. Domi shifted to center between Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner for Game 5, controlling 65.7% of shot attempts and factoring in on defenseman Jake McCabe‘s game-opening goal. That trio projects to stay together tonight.
Other updates ahead of Game 6, tonight at 7 p.m. CT:
- Leafs depth forward Bobby McMann is “progressing” in his recovery from a lower-body injury that’s kept him from making his playoff debut, but Keefe said today he isn’t close to returning and shouldn’t be expected back tonight or for a potential Game 7. McMann, 27, had 15 goals and 24 points with a +13 rating in a career-high 56 appearances in the regular season but hasn’t been a full participant in practice since sustaining the injury on April 10 against the Red Wings.
- Toronto’s AHL club was eliminated by the Belleville Senators in a best-of-three First Round series in the Calder Cup Playoffs earlier this week. With Marlies players’ seasons done, the Leafs added nine players to their playoff roster, per CapFriendly. Forwards Nicholas Abruzzese, Kyle Clifford, Dylan Gambrell and Alex Steeves; defensemen Mikko Kokkonen, Maxime Lajoie, Topi Niemelä and Marshall Rifai; and goaltender Dennis Hildeby are now available to dress for Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Leafs if needed.
- Switching over to the Bruins’ side, forward Danton Heinen will not be in the lineup for Game 6 due to an undisclosed injury, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa reports. He’s listed as day-to-day, and while he hasn’t missed any game action yet in the series, he’s missed some practices over the last few days. Now in his second stint in Boston, the 28-year-old has been riding shotgun on the first line with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrňák for most of the series but has been moved down the lineup after managing a lone assist and a -1 rating in five games. Rookie John Beecher is expected to re-enter the Boston lineup in a fourth-line role alongside Jesper Boqvist and Pat Maroon after being scratched in Game 5.
Nominees Announced For 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
The Bill Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Nominees are selected by members of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, with finalists being named near the end of the regular season. Previous winners include Kris Letang (2023), Carey Price (2022), and Oskar Lindblom (2021). Today, a new list of 32 nominees has been named.
Below are the nominees from each team:
Anaheim Ducks – Urho Vaakanainen
Arizona Coyotes – Connor Ingram
Boston Bruins – Danton Heinen
Buffalo Sabres – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Calgary Flames – Oliver Kylington
Carolina Hurricanes – Frederik Andersen
Chicago Blackhawks – Colin Blackwell
Colorado Avalanche – Jonathan Drouin
Columbus Blue Jackets – Zach Werenski
Dallas Stars – Matt Duchene
Detroit Red Wings – Alex Lyon
Edmonton Oilers – Vincent Desharnais
Florida Panthers – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Los Angeles Kings – Viktor Arvidsson
Minnesota Wild – Marco Rossi
Montreal Canadiens – Joel Armia
Nashville Predators – Michael McCarron
New Jersey Devils – Curtis Lazar
New York Islanders – Cal Clutterbuck
New York Rangers – Jonathan Quick
Ottawa Senators – Claude Giroux
Philadelphia Flyers – Sean Couturier
Pittsburgh Penguins – Sidney Crosby
San Jose Sharks – Justin Bailey
Seattle Kraken – Joey Daccord
St. Louis Blues – Nathan Walker
Tampa Bay Lightning – Michael Eyssimont
Toronto Maple Leafs – Ilya Samsonov
Vancouver Canucks – Noah Juulsen
Vegas Golden Knights – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington Capitals – T.J. Oshie
Winnipeg Jets – Laurent Brossoit
Boston Bruins Sign Danton Heinen To One-Year Deal
The Boston Bruins have signed Danton Heinen to a one-year contract with a league-minimum $775K cap hit.
The status of Heinen was the final decision that Boston needed to make during their training camp, with the forward signed to a professional try-out and working with the team for as long as he could. The Bruins surprisingly left Heinen unsigned, but are now circling back after starting the season with a scorching 7-0-1 record.
Heinen played the last two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, netting 22 points in 65 games last year and 33 points in 76 games in 2021-22. It was two modest seasons, with Heinen struggling to reach the career-high 47-point mark he set in 2017-18. Despite low scoring output, Heinen did record strong underlying statistics in Pittsburgh, tallying a 72.69 xGF% and 52.80 CF% over his two years with the club. Now 28 years old, Heinen has found a comfortable role in the NHL as a depth forward; a role he’s sure to find in Boston as well.
The Bruins recently recalled Oskar Steen to the NHL, suiting him up in their most recent match against the Detroit Red Wings. Steen went without a point in the four-goal outing, although he did record a +1, two shots, and two hits. With Milan Lucic now on injured reserve, Boston is only carrying one extra forward, Jakub Lauko, who is battling an injury of his own. Heinen’s signing gives Boston another forward option to work with. And while he doesn’t have a precedent of high-scoring, Heinen could also bring a needed spark to a Bruins fourth-line that’s only combined for one goal – John Beecher’s first NHL goal – through eight games this season.
East Notes: Heinen, Mayfield, Hinostroza, Zohorna
Free agent forward Danton Heinen is still on a professional tryout with the Bruins almost a month into the season, but it appears that’s about to change. The 28-year-old took full line rushes with the Bruins at practice this morning, indicating a contract signing could come ahead of Monday’s game against the Panthers.
The 6-foot-1, 188-pound winger is expected to make his return to Beantown in a fourth-line role with John Beecher and Oskar Steen if he does sign, with Patrick Brown sitting out. The Bruins currently have nearly $1.5MM in cap space to play with – forward Milan Lucic is on long-term injured reserve due to a lower-body injury, giving GM Don Sweeney some flexibility he’s yet to have this season. Heinen, a fourth-round pick of the Bruins in 2014, amassed 103 points in 220 contests with the team before they traded him to the Ducks during the 2019-20 season.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference this morning:
- Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield returned to practice today for the first time since sustaining a foot injury early this month, according to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. However, he’s not yet ready to return to game action and will miss an eighth straight game against the Red Wings tonight, instead likely aiming for a return against the Capitals on Thursday. The 6-foot-5 defender, already 30 years old, is beginning a seven-year extension earning him $3.5MM per season. The Islanders are off to a decent 4-2-1 start but have struggled to control play, and their 48.3% expected goals share (per MoneyPuck) ranks 22nd in the league. They’ve yet again received spectacular netminding from Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov.
- The Penguins have once again recalled Vinnie Hinostroza and Radim Zohorna from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and they participated in practice this morning, per Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff. The two were papered down after the Penguins’ last game, helping the team bank cap space on off days while netminder Alex Nedeljkovic remains on LTIR. Zohorna has two points through four contests this season, while Hinostroza has yet to make his Penguins debut.