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Dillon Heatherington

Ottawa Senators Make Tyler Motte Trade-Related Scratch, Recall Dillon Heatherington

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled Dillon Heatherington from the AHL’s Belleville Senators, per a team announcement. According to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, this recall was made so that Heatherington could make the trip with the Senators to Boston for Monday’s game, adding a seventh defenseman to Ottawa’s roster.

While this move does not seem directly related to any trade conversations, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that “conversations have intensified” around Senators forward Tyler Motte.

It seems that beyond just this recall, even more Senators’ roster moves could be on the horizon. Garrioch adds that Motte will sit for Ottawa’s game today against the St. Louis Blues for trade-related reasons. While no deal has been completed yet, Garrioch notes that it’s being worked on.

As for the officially-announced transaction, the 27-year-old Heatherington now has a chance to return to the Senators’ lineup for the first time since late December, when he got into three games for head coach D.J. Smith’s team. In those three games, Heatherington averaged a shade over nine minutes of ice time per game, almost entirely at even strength. In total, the 2013 second-round pick has 23 games of NHL experience on his resume.

At the AHL level, Heatherington is more of a difference-maker. He currently serves as the captain of AHL Belleville and plays a top-pairing role for the team. While he isn’t a major offensive contributor (he has eight points in 39 games this season) he’s a valued leader, an AHL veteran with Calder Cup championship experience, and a capable defensive defenseman. He should be able to adequately fill a depth role for the Senators with this recall.

As for Motte, a deadline-season deal would mark his second mid-season trade in as many years. He was dealt to the New York Rangers last season and helped them on their run to the Eastern Conference Final. Motte is an energetic bottom-six forward who doesn’t provide a ton on the offensive end but is a respected penalty killer.

With an expiring $1.35MM cap hit, it’s easy to see why a contending team would want to pull the trigger relatively early on a deal to acquire Motte, assuming the price is within reason. Last year, the Rangers paid a fourth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks in order to acquire Motte, although the New York Post’s Larry Brooks tweets that “the asking price is significantly higher” than it was last season to acquire Motte this year.

Senators Recall Jake Lucchini, Reassign Dillon Heatherington

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Dec 30, 11:18 am: Ottawa has returned Heatherington to the minors, signaling that fan favorite Artem Zub could be close to a return to the lineup.

Dec 27, 9:51 am: The Senators have brought back some extra depth as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Dillon Heatherington and winger Jake Lucchini from Belleville of the AHL.

Heatherington should be used to the frequent shuffling by now as this is his third recall of the month and fourth of the season overall.  Despite the recalls, the 27-year-old has only suited up with Ottawa once this year.  He has spent the bulk of his time with Belleville where he has five points in 19 games.

As for Lucchini, he made his NHL debut earlier this month against Montreal.  The 27-year-old has been quite productive in the minors this season with 23 points in 25 games after putting up 51 points with Belleville last season.

The recalls come on the heels of some injury news as head coach D.J. Smith told TSN 1200 (Twitter link) that winger Tyler Motte has a broken finger, Rourke Chartier has an upper-body injury, and Erik Brannstrom has a lower-body issue.  As a result, Heatherington and Lucchini might be a little more than just spare players this time around.

Atlantic Notes: Bunting, Heatherington, Harrison

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The Maple Leafs have yet to engage in contract extension talks for pending UFA winger Michael Bunting, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports in his latest Toronto Star column.  The 27-year-old isn’t producing at quite the level he was last season but still has 24 points in 34 games this season, making him quite a bargain as he carries just a $950K AAV.  It stands to reason that he could pass the $4MM mark on the open market in the summer and while that might be more than Toronto can afford, it’s a price tag they’re going to have to know about heading into the trade deadline so they’ll know if they’ll have a chance of being able to keep him beyond this season.  Otherwise, their plans on deadline day could change accordingly.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Ottawa Senators have returned defenseman Dillon Heatherington to AHL Belleville, per the AHL’s transactions log. The assignment allows the Sens to bank a bit more cap room while Heatherington might also get into a game with Belleville even if he is going to eventually be recalled as the lone AHL game on December 26th is Belleville taking on provincial rival Toronto.  Heatherington played 11:28 on Thursday night, his first NHL appearance of the season while he has five points in 19 games in the minors.
  • Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal suggests (Twitter link) that there are trade rumors surrounding Bruins prospect Brett Harrison at the OHL level. The 19-year-old was a third-rounder back in 2021 and has already signed his entry-level contract.  Harrison has 29 points in 24 games with Oshawa this season but with the Generals sitting in last in their division (even though they still hold a playoff spot), they’re expected to be sellers prior to the January 10th trade deadline.

Ottawa Senators Recall Jake Lucchini

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After parts of five seasons in the minor leagues, Jake Lucchini is finally getting a chance in the NHL. The Ottawa Senators have recalled both Lucchini and Dillon Heatherington, as they deal with injuries to Tim Stutzle and Tyler Motte. Both regular forwards were absent from practice today, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.

Stutzle is expected to miss at least a week with a shoulder strain.

Lucchini, 27, was skating on a line with Rourke Chartier and Dylan Gambrell, not exactly the group that Ottawa was expecting when they started the year. It will be his NHL debut after grinding out 200 games in the AHL.

Undrafted, Lucchini played four years at Michigan Tech and was eventually named captain, before signing with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to start his pro career. After two years with the Laval Rocket, he joined the Belleville Senators last season and scored 51 points in 70 games.

That earned him a one-year, two-way contract, and now a chance to show what he can do at the highest level. The Senators take on the Montreal Canadiens this evening after winning two in a row.

Ottawa Senators Re-Assign Dillon Heatherington

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Dec 13: A few days later and Heatherington has been returned to the minor leagues, suggesting Zub is close to a return. The minor league veteran has still not actually seen any NHL action this season.

Dec 7: The Ottawa Senators saw their short winning streak come to an abrupt halt last night when they allowed five goals to the Los Angeles Kings, and now they’re headed on the road for two games against the Central Division. With Artem Zub sidelined due to a broken jaw, they’ve recalled Dillon Heatherington from the AHL to give them some extra defensive depth on the trip.

Heatherington, 27, has already played nine games for Ottawa this season, filling in when Zub and Thomas Chabot were out earlier this year. The minor league veteran failed to record a point during that time but does offer size and physicality, something that the group can lack at times.

The Senators defensive results have been tied almost directly to Zub’s health this year. When he’s in the lineup, they do fine, and when he’s not, they don’t. In the 14 games he has played, the team is 7-7. In the 11 he’s missed, 3-7-1. That combined record puts them last in the Atlantic Division and falling out of the playoff race as we approach Christmas.

Ottawa has been linked to every potential defenseman on the market but haven’t pulled the trigger yet on a trade to reinforce the back end. At some point, if they want to compete for the playoffs and a Stanley Cup, an addition of some sort will have to be made. Nikita Zaitsev logged the second-most minutes among defensemen last night, just days after being sent to the minor leagues.

Ottawa Senators Re-Assign Dillon Heatherington

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The Ottawa Senators have sent depth defenseman Dillon Heatherington back to the minor leagues, as they arrive back for a three-game homestand. The move leaves them with six healthy defensemen on the roster.

Heatherington, 27, never did actually play during this recent call-up, and still has just 20 NHL appearances to his name. Without Artem Zub, who is out a few weeks with an upper-body injury, the Senators are struggling to find the right mix of playing time on defense. Nikita Zaitsev, banished to the press box earlier this season, ended up playing over 19 minutes last night because of all the penalties they took against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Both he and Nick Holden spent more than ten minutes shorthanded, leading to the Lightning outshooting the Senators 34-15 overall. They aren’t going to win many games playing a man down, and could sure use Zub’s stabilizing presence as soon as possible.

For Heatherington, he’ll have to return to the Belleville Senators and wait for his next chance. In six games there this season he has one goal and eight penalty minutes.

Ottawa Senators Recall Dillon Heatherington

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The Ottawa Senators have announced that defenseman Dillon Heatherington has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators. This recall comes after it was revealed earlier today that top-pairing defenseman Artem Zub will be out for one to two weeks with an upper-body injury.

Heatherington, 27, has become a bit of a journeyman since he was drafted 50th overall at the 2013 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a solid career with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos, Heatherington turned pro in the Blue Jackets organization and spent parts of three seasons playing for their AHL affiliates. He was then sent to the Dallas Stars in a trade for Lauri Korpikoski, and he made his NHL debut as a member of their organization.

After a 2019-20 season that did not include any call-ups to the main squad in Dallas, Heatherington left North America to continue his pro career with Barys Nur-Sultan of the KHL. He spent year there before being signed by the Senators, and last season he played in a depth role, getting into 45 games at the AHL level and nine NHL games.

With this call-up, it seems that the well-traveled Heatherington is in place to get some more NHL games under his belt. It’s likely that veteran defenseman Nick Holden will enter the lineup in Zub’s place, but now that Heatherington is on the roster it’s possible he gets a look as well.

The Senators are 4-3-0 at the moment and are looking to endure some early injury troubles and keep pace in an extremely competitive Atlantic Division.

Ottawa Senators Sign Dillon Heatherington

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The Ottawa Senators have completed a bit of work on draft day, signing Dillon Heatherington to a two-year, two-way extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $762.5K, paying him $750K at the NHL level in 2022-23, and $775K in 2023-24. The contract also includes minor league salaries of $325K in both years.

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion released the following statement:

Dillon’s leadership this season was key to helping our defensive prospects in Belleville grow as players. He was a player we quickly identified that would be key to Belleville’s success moving forward. He filled in capably for us in Ottawa last year and showed us he has the smarts and high hockey IQ necessary to be an NHL defenceman.

Heatherington, 27, has just 20 games of NHL experience under his belt and would have been an unrestricted free agent in a few days. Instead, he’ll stick around in Belleville, where he racked up 13 points in 45 games this season. While he may also get a handful of games with the NHL club, there are a number of players ahead of him on the depth chart, meaning this is a move for AHL depth more than anything.

Though he’s never had a one-way deal in his career, the two-year term of this new contract will provide Heatherington with some career stability. It also comes with a very healthy minor league salary, a raise over the $250K he made last season.

AHL Shuffle: 03/20/22

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After a busy Saturday that saw Nicolas Deslauriers traded to the Minnesota Wild, Hampus Lindholm traded to the Boston Bruins, and Claude Giroux traded to the Florida Panthers, as well as several exciting games, the NHL is back in action today. The New York Islanders will visit the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon in the Flyers’ first game since the Claude Giroux trade. The Dallas Stars head to Washington, D.C. to take on the Washington Capitals and try to break out of their recent slide. Perhaps most intriguing, the New York Rangers visit the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup of two Metropolitan Division heavyweights, and a potential playoff series in the making. Even with all the game action and the potential trade deadline action, there are still plenty of small transactions happening, and we will keep track of them here.

Atlantic Division:

  • After recalling him yesterday, the Ottawa Senators have sent defenseman Dillon Heatherington back to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Heatherington did not get a chance to suit up for Ottawa in their loss last night to Montreal before being sent down, and has not played an NHL game since December 18th. The 26-year-old has had a productive return to North America this season, putting up 11 points in 27 AHL games this season on the blue line after returning from a season in the KHL.

Metropolitan Division:

  • The Ontario Reign announced they have acquired defenseman Thomas Hickey on loan from the New York Islanders. Hickey, who was playing for the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL, will head to the Reign of the AHL, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate. It’s an interesting move to see, as Hickey is an NHL caliber defenseman who has been playing in the minors for the Islanders for much of the past three seasons in the AHL, now moved in the AHL. Although Hickey does have to move from the east coast to the west, Bridgeport is currently out of the playoff race in the AHL, sitting in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, while Ontario is in second place in the Pacific Division, so an opportunity to help out in meaningful games may be appealing to Hickey.
  • The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Brett Leason from the Hershey Bears and re-assigned forward Mike Vecchione to Hershey. A second-round pick by Washington in 2019, Leason has split time between Hershey and Washington this year, tallying four points in 15 games for Hershey and six points in 35 games for the Capitals this season. Vecchione, on the other hand, has produced well for Hershey this year with 12 goals and 24 assists in 43 games, but has seen just one NHL game this year, playing Friday night against Carolina, his first NHL game since he played his only other two for the Philadelphia Flyers back in 2017.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled goaltender Jean-Francois Berube on an emergency recall basis. Berube, 30, has performed admirably so far this season, with a .924 save percentage in his four games played. As regular starter Elvis Merzlikins battles with injuries and Joonas Korpisalo is potentially getting traded before the deadline, Berube’s stay in Columbus could end up being more permanent than his emergency designation would lead one to believe.

Central Division:

  • The Winnipeg Jets announced that they have recalled forward Jeff Malott from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. If he plays, the 25-year-old Mallot would be making his NHL debut after spending the last two seasons with Manitoba. Previously, Mallot spent four years at Cornell University before turning professional for the 2020-21 season. With the addition to their roster, the Jets would now be able sit one of either Paul Stastny or Andrew Copp ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline (or both if they are willing to play 11 forwards and 7 defensemen).

Pacific Division:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights assigned forward Jake Leschyshyn and defenseman Daniil Miromanov to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL. Leschyshyn has performed nicely this year in the face of adversity, being routinely shuffled between the NHL and AHL. (In fact, the shuffling continued today. Leschyshyn is already back in Vegas.) Though he has just five points through 27 NHL games this season, he has been a force for Henderson this year, posting 26 points in 32 games. It’s been almost the exact same story for Miromanov this season, shuffling between the NHL and AHL. Miromanov has just one point in nine NHL games this season as a defenseman, but has impressed with 30 points in 42 AHL games. The Golden Knights also called up defenseman Brayden Pachal. Pachal, 22, is an undrafted blueliner who has gotten into one game for the Golden Knights this year. He had seven points in 24 games for the Silver Knights last season.
  • The Seattle Kraken returned forward Kole Lind to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL from loan. Lind played just three games for Seattle on this assignment, and has only played seven this entire season, recording two assists. The forward has performed nicely in Charlotte this year, producing 17 goals and 18 assists in 46 games for the Checkers. The Checkers are the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, however because Seattle’s AHL affiliate will not start until the 2022-23 season, the two teams have agreed to split their use of the Charlotte team for this season.

Colton White, Dillon Heatherington Clear Waivers

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Jan 20: White and Heatherington have both cleared waivers, according to Friedman. They can now be assigned to the taxi squad or the minor leagues.

Jan 19: The New Jersey Devils have placed Colton White on waivers today according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, but he won’t be alone. The Ottawa Senators have also placed Dillon Heatherington on waivers. William Lagesson of the Edmonton Oilers, on waivers yesterday, has cleared and can be sent to the minor leagues.

White, 24, already cleared waivers at the beginning of the season but has spent enough time on the active roster to need them again. In eight games with the Devils this year, he has two points while averaging just over 12 minutes a night. A fourth-round pick from 2015, the minor league defenseman is headed for Group VI unrestricted free agency in the summer, given he only has 19 NHL games under his belt to this point. After Lagesson cleared, it seems unlikely that White would earn a claim, meaning he’s probably headed to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

In Heatherington’s case, waivers is nothing new. He cleared at the beginning of this season and twice in previous years, as a depth defenseman without much NHL experience. In fact, nine of his 20 career games have come this season with the Senators, though none of those have been since the middle of December. With so many younger players fighting for playing time on the Ottawa back end, Heatherington’s time on the active roster is likely over.

He too will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer after signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Senators in July. That deal carries a league-minimum $750K cap hit, meaning he at least could be a target for a team dealing with COVID-related absences that needs a short-term replacement.

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