DK: It's plug-and-play for newbies Heinen, Desharnais
There isn't too much to be made of the Penguins' two new arrivals, Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais, mostly because they weren't making too much of it themselves.
"I've been here, obviously," Heinen, a veteran of two full seasons here in 2021-23, would tell me after the 3-0 shutout of the Predators tonight at PPG Paints Arena. "It's a place I enjoyed playing, and it's awesome to be back."
Yep. Playful shrug with that.
“I’m excited to be with this group of guys,” Desharnais would say. “It’s a great group. There’s a lot of talented players here. I’m here to play, here to learn and get better being around those guys.”
Yep.
They're complementary players, a lot like the two sent to Vancouver, Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor, in the multifaceted trade Kyle Dubas completed late Friday night. That's not a knock. That's reality. And that's why the principal component of the transaction almost surely will wind up being the first-round NHL Draft pick Dubas somehow pried from the Canucks in what otherwise was an even exchange unto itself.
So there wasn't about to be anything seismic in this dual debut and, it turned out, there wasn't.
There was, though, a lot to like.
To start, they endured an extraordinary travel day, learning of the trade as we all did around midnight, then packing up overnight from Dallas, where the Canucks had been, to fly here first thing in the morning, in time to at least say hello to their new coaches and teammates at the 10:30 a.m. morning skate up in Cranberry.
"It was ... a day," Heinen would say with a small laugh.
From there, it was a crash course on the system, more for Desharnais, obviously, that involved specialized instruction. Desharnais worked with David Quinn, Heinen with Mike Vellucci.
"I’ve always been a believer that, when we bring guys into our group, we try not to paralyze them with too much information," Mike Sullivan would say. "We want them to play the game with a free spirit and have the ability to trust their instincts. But we did give them a simple explanation of the foundation of how we play, most specifically without the puck in the defensive zone and things that we felt like we had to prioritize."
And soon enough, the puck dropped. Then the final horn.
Total sleep in that time, per Desharnais: "Two, three hours, maybe. All on the plane."
Add into that context now that Heinen, assigned to the second line alongside Michael Bunting and Cody Glass, registered three shots, four attempts and two hits in 12:42 of ice time, all at even-strength. And Desharnais, assigned to the third defense pairing alongside Ryan Graves, registered three hits -- the official stats had two, but I counted a solid one that was clearly missed in the first period -- and a team-high four blocked shots.
"I thought they played well," Sullivan would say. "They kept the game simple."
This is the two-way diligence Sullivan's always appreciated. That's Heinen out-digging two Predators for the puck along the near boards, then pushing up to Glass, then putting himself into a perfect trailer position for the return from Bunting. If that shot doesn't skip off Steven Stamkos in front, it might've beaten Juuse Saros.
This is Heinen springing Phil Tomasino up one side, sliding behind him for support to take it back, swinging behind the Nashville net, then setting up Tomasino on the other wing, as both did quite well to keep their feet moving, almost in sync. And if not for Saros' blocker ... yeah.
This is Heinen swooping into the low slot, then shifting slightly to his left to present the most open target possible for Bunting, who goes tape-to-tape, but ... yeah, Saros' right pad juts out.
"That's the one I'd want back," Heinen told me. "But I'll take it. Those guys did really well to keep making plays all night. It was fun, for sure."
Also of note on the one just above: Note that he doesn't give up after the save. Instead, he overtakes the legitimately great Roman Josi to steal the puck right back and tap it to Glass.
Desharnais isn't the type to string together highlights, but here's one in the interest of balance:
"I'll take care of my own zone, the front of the net, be physical, do what my team needs me to do," Desharnais would say. "That's the kind of player I am."
Repeating: I'll take that. Because it's only been forever and a half since the Penguins have had anyone on the blue line interested in clearing the front, never mind invested, never mind at 6-7, 226 pounds. And what's most striking about the scene just above is that Desharnais ventured there without any apparent coercion.
Oh, and I should add that Sullivan and Quinn thought enough of Desharnais to deploy him for the final few minutes.
I brought this up:
"Eh ... Six-on-five is six-on-five, and there’s not 1,000 ways to play it," he'd reply. "But on the bench they kind of filled me in, I feel like Gravy and I played it great. I know I’ve been there before, playing the last five minutes, playing PK. Hopefully, I can just build on it."
They're good additions, potentially good fits. More offense was needed up front, and Heinen made plays in this game that O'Connor can't make. More size, more physicality and a right-handed shot were all needed, and Desharnais brought that. He's not going to have Pettersson's overall package, and definitely not at the level Pettersson brought it last season, but he checks other boxes in a -- literally -- big way.
But hey, go ahead and ask the Canucks to add a first-rounder and a bona fide prospect, and see what they say.
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THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
6:42 am - 02.02.2025UptownDK: It's plug-and-play for newbies Heinen, Desharnais
There isn't too much to be made of the Penguins' two new arrivals, Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais, mostly because they weren't making too much of it themselves.
"I've been here, obviously," Heinen, a veteran of two full seasons here in 2021-23, would tell me after the 3-0 shutout of the Predators tonight at PPG Paints Arena. "It's a place I enjoyed playing, and it's awesome to be back."
Yep. Playful shrug with that.
“I’m excited to be with this group of guys,” Desharnais would say. “It’s a great group. There’s a lot of talented players here. I’m here to play, here to learn and get better being around those guys.”
Yep.
They're complementary players, a lot like the two sent to Vancouver, Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor, in the multifaceted trade Kyle Dubas completed late Friday night. That's not a knock. That's reality. And that's why the principal component of the transaction almost surely will wind up being the first-round NHL Draft pick Dubas somehow pried from the Canucks in what otherwise was an even exchange unto itself.
So there wasn't about to be anything seismic in this dual debut and, it turned out, there wasn't.
There was, though, a lot to like.
To start, they endured an extraordinary travel day, learning of the trade as we all did around midnight, then packing up overnight from Dallas, where the Canucks had been, to fly here first thing in the morning, in time to at least say hello to their new coaches and teammates at the 10:30 a.m. morning skate up in Cranberry.
"It was ... a day," Heinen would say with a small laugh.
From there, it was a crash course on the system, more for Desharnais, obviously, that involved specialized instruction. Desharnais worked with David Quinn, Heinen with Mike Vellucci.
"I’ve always been a believer that, when we bring guys into our group, we try not to paralyze them with too much information," Mike Sullivan would say. "We want them to play the game with a free spirit and have the ability to trust their instincts. But we did give them a simple explanation of the foundation of how we play, most specifically without the puck in the defensive zone and things that we felt like we had to prioritize."
And soon enough, the puck dropped. Then the final horn.
Total sleep in that time, per Desharnais: "Two, three hours, maybe. All on the plane."
Add into that context now that Heinen, assigned to the second line alongside Michael Bunting and Cody Glass, registered three shots, four attempts and two hits in 12:42 of ice time, all at even-strength. And Desharnais, assigned to the third defense pairing alongside Ryan Graves, registered three hits -- the official stats had two, but I counted a solid one that was clearly missed in the first period -- and a team-high four blocked shots.
"I thought they played well," Sullivan would say. "They kept the game simple."
Three Heinen sequences that struck me:
This is the two-way diligence Sullivan's always appreciated. That's Heinen out-digging two Predators for the puck along the near boards, then pushing up to Glass, then putting himself into a perfect trailer position for the return from Bunting. If that shot doesn't skip off Steven Stamkos in front, it might've beaten Juuse Saros.
This is Heinen springing Phil Tomasino up one side, sliding behind him for support to take it back, swinging behind the Nashville net, then setting up Tomasino on the other wing, as both did quite well to keep their feet moving, almost in sync. And if not for Saros' blocker ... yeah.
This is Heinen swooping into the low slot, then shifting slightly to his left to present the most open target possible for Bunting, who goes tape-to-tape, but ... yeah, Saros' right pad juts out.
"That's the one I'd want back," Heinen told me. "But I'll take it. Those guys did really well to keep making plays all night. It was fun, for sure."
Also of note on the one just above: Note that he doesn't give up after the save. Instead, he overtakes the legitimately great Roman Josi to steal the puck right back and tap it to Glass.
Desharnais isn't the type to string together highlights, but here's one in the interest of balance:
Uh-huh. But I'll take that. Exactly that.
"I'll take care of my own zone, the front of the net, be physical, do what my team needs me to do," Desharnais would say. "That's the kind of player I am."
Repeating: I'll take that. Because it's only been forever and a half since the Penguins have had anyone on the blue line interested in clearing the front, never mind invested, never mind at 6-7, 226 pounds. And what's most striking about the scene just above is that Desharnais ventured there without any apparent coercion.
Oh, and I should add that Sullivan and Quinn thought enough of Desharnais to deploy him for the final few minutes.
I brought this up:
"Eh ... Six-on-five is six-on-five, and there’s not 1,000 ways to play it," he'd reply. "But on the bench they kind of filled me in, I feel like Gravy and I played it great. I know I’ve been there before, playing the last five minutes, playing PK. Hopefully, I can just build on it."
They're good additions, potentially good fits. More offense was needed up front, and Heinen made plays in this game that O'Connor can't make. More size, more physicality and a right-handed shot were all needed, and Desharnais brought that. He's not going to have Pettersson's overall package, and definitely not at the level Pettersson brought it last season, but he checks other boxes in a -- literally -- big way.
But hey, go ahead and ask the Canucks to add a first-rounder and a bona fide prospect, and see what they say.
My God. Still can't believe that happened.
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