Penguins
Penguins Sign Heinen for Only $1 Million, More Moves Necessary
The Pittsburgh Penguins and GM Ron Hextall added a few more goals to the lineup on Wednesday afternoon. In a mildly surprising move, the Penguins re-signed winger Danton Heinen to a one-year contract for $1 million.
Heinen made more money last season on his show-me deal. The Penguins signed him to a bargain $1.1 million contract last season.
Heinen, 27, was one of the healthiest and more consistent Penguins scorers. He netted 18 goals and 33 points in 76 games. He also had three goals in the Penguins’ Round One loss to the New York Rangers.
His 18 goals were a single-season career high, and his three power-play goals tied his career best set in 2019-20. Fifteen of Heinen’s 18 goals were at even strength. He trailed only Jake Guentzel (33) and Sidney Crosby (23) for most on the Penguins.
Heinen’s contract puts the Penguins about $1.4 million over the cap (according to CapFriendly.com) with 14 forwards and eight defensemen (assuming Ty Smith or P.O Joseph will be sent to the AHL’s WBS Penguins).
The Pittsburgh Penguins could demote forward Drew O’Connor to WBS without exposing him to waivers, but one more player would need to be sent to the AHL. After O’Connor and Smith, the Penguins do not have additional players who are exempt.
PuckPedia.com puts the Penguins about $780,000 over the salary cap with 13 forwards and eight defensemen.
They would likely lose any of the players exposed to waivers.
Necessarily, they must shed at least one more salary before opening night. Whether it’s waivers or a Penguins trade remains to be seen.
Update: Sportsnet writer Ken Wiebe reports Heinen turned down more money from other teams, including the Winnipeg Jets, to play for the Penguins. Heinen liked the fit and was comfortable in Pittsburgh.
The #NHLJets were one of several teams to make a more lucrative offer to UFA F Danton Heinen before he chose to return to the #Pens For Heinen, the decision was ultimately about enjoying and appreciating the situation in Pittsburgh and chasing a Stanley Cup there.
— Ken Wiebe (@WiebesWorld) July 27, 2022
Molinari: Buy Mike a Flag … and Get a Statue, too
Dan’s Daily: NHL Trade Winds Blowing West, Circling Former Penguins for Vegas
Best Steelers Bets vs. Seahawks Preview; Free $50 DraftKings Promo
Here’s How to Sign Up for Barstool Sportsbook in PA
Dan’s Daily: Goalies on the Trade Block, Team USA Cruising at WJC
PHN Blog: Comparing Bergeron & Malkin Contracts, Penguins Have Options
Anderson: Penguins Core Should be 4; Marc-Andre Fleury Legacy
PHN Blog: The Curse of Fleury Strikes Vegas, Will the Penguins be Affected?
Molinari: Building Up Penguins’ Infrastructure is Wise Investment
Dan, I thought Poehling was waiver exempt as well?
He is not listed as waivers exempt on CapFriendly.com.
Trade Kapenen
Would that they could. If Heinen couldn’t get signed who in their right mind wants a lazy, inconsistent and often disengaged Kapinen for triple the dough?
Maybe Rutherford can be the sucker since he coveted him so much..
Glad he was signed. Surprised but i guess Heinen not getting any offers was the case.
Heinen turned down a Winnipeg offer for more money to go back to the Pens and said he was comfortable in pittsburgh, and would like to chase the Cup here.
Probably will make the same money here even though he turned down more money from Winnipeg with Canada’s tax rate up there being much more than here in the States.
you read the article, dood?
Solid/smart player. Not physical but knows how to read the game and puts himself in opportunistic positions to score goals. Feel a bit bad for Heineken though, feel like he earned a slight raise from somebody. But teams are pinched by players with contracts that aren’t earning them.
You summed up his game very well. He’s not exceptional at any one thing. Average speed, average shot, average size. But, his hockey IQ makes him a very useful player.
Honestly, I didn’t think that he’s get less than 2 mil, and possible up to 2.75. this is a HUGE steal!
Heineken?! #$%^ that @!&%! Pabst Blue Ribbon!
Love the Blue Velvet. But on this team it is Heinen-ken and Pabst Blue-ger Ribbon!
Heinen is a good man, lots of effort
I would guess today have plans to ship Zucker somewhere.
I would rather see Pettersson go.
[…] After 18 goals and 33 points in 76 games last season, Danton Heinen took less money to return to the Pittsburgh Penguins on a one-year, $1M […]
[…] The Pittsburgh Penguins may have signed Danton Heinen for just over $1M, but there’s still plenty more to get […]
[…] to the lineup on Wednesday afternoon. In a mildly surprising move, the Penguins re-signed winger Danton Heinen to a one-year contract for $1 million. What a […]
If the penguins are too old and slow to compete for a cup, then why are players taking less money to play in Pittsburgh? 🤔
Go figure. Heinen maximizes his skills and takes a paycut after his best year. Kapanen minimizes a deep skill set, does next to nothing that generates sweat and gets triple the income. If you look at the careers there is virtually no difference: Games Goals Assists +/- Heinen 348 62 92 +15 Kapanen 321 63 89 +23 Heinen was selected 116th overall . .. Kapanen was selected 22nd overall. So much for draft picks. Glad to see the Pens found someone under 40 to add to the roster. And you have to give Kapanen credit for being able to milk… Read more »
I think Hextall copied and pasted when drafting Kapanen’s contract. Could have signed him for 1 mil or less as a UFA, but they qualified him. Oh well, what’s done is done.
Love the comparison of Kapanen and Heinen’s stats. Shows what an overpay one contract was. Hell, he lowballed Letang and Malkin but overpayed Kapanen?!?! I hope he has a great year to render all these complaints moot.
No one on the penguins is 40 or over, fyi.
Nice to see this depth signing at a discount. Not sure what Kap might have seen in FA, but to me this illustrates the error in qualifying him. There was simply not a lot of money out there and you were best letting him go to FA and negotiating for him there, like ERod last year and now Heinen this year. Once they qualified him the arbitration was a certainty and it was unlikely to bring a lower number in a result. They basically backed themselves into a corner for that 2Y 6.4M deal since Kap held the best cards… Read more »
[…] Pittsburgh Penguins still have a lot of work left to do after re-signing Danton Heinen. […]
“They would likely lose any of the players exposed to waivers.” How so? You guys keep complaining about spending 900k on guys like Archie that it’s the most terrible contract in history and then you say that he’d likely be scooped up off of waivers?! We just signed Heinen for $1m there is NO MARKET for these guys… and yet teams are going to grab worse players for equal/more $ off waivers???
[…] Like, , Danton Heinen. […]
The fact that he could have taken more money but loves the Pens shows how great the organization is and how well the locker room atmosphere is. In light of this deal, the Kapanen signing makes no sense to me. I understand his RFA status and qualifying offer and arbitration rights. There seem to be better players available in free agency for that money. Did we have to sign him for 2 years? If we offered him 1 year and he refused, could the Pens have walked away from arbitration? To me, we should not have qualified him and at… Read more »
[…] Pitsburgo ledo ritulys dabar: Danton Heinen, nusileisk! „Penguins“ dabar turi atleisti žaidėją iš NHL prekybos rinkos arba atsisakyti atlyginimo. Heinen atmetė geresnius Winnipeg Jets ir kitų žaidėjų pasiūlymus Pitsburgo pingvinaivėl. […]
[…] hans på NHL-handelsmarkedet. Henne avslo bedre tilbud om å spille med Winnipeg Jets og andre. Pittsburgh Penguinsen gang […]
[…] Pittsburgh Hockey Now : Danton Heinen, viens ! Les Penguins doivent maintenant exposer un joueur à des renonciations ou à un salaire de vidage via le marché commercial de la LNH. Heinen a refusé de meilleures offres des Jets de Winnipeg et d’autres pour jouer avec le Pingouins de Pittsburghencore. […]
[…] Comme, tu sais, Danton Heinen. […]
[…] Po 18 góloch a 33 bodoch v 76 zápasoch minulej sezóny, Danton Heinen dostal menej peňazí, aby sa vrátil do Pittsburghu Penguins na základe jednoročného kontraktu […]
[…] Kaip, žinai, Dantonas Heinenas. […]
[…] The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed Danton Heinen to a bargain contract but will likely have to make a trade to get cap-compliant. Could Marcus […]
[…] are more likely to take pay cuts to guarantee a spot in the NHL next season. We saw this with Danton Heinen and the Pittsburgh Penguins and could see Milano take a cheap bargain contract as […]