Bruce Cassidy remains as fond of Danton Heinen as always.
The Bruins head coach reflected Tuesday on the trade, which sent the young forward from Boston to the Anaheim Ducks. Heinen will play in Boston for the first time as a visitor Tuesday at TD Garden when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Bruins. His return to Boston prompted Cassidy to look back on Heinen's February 2020 departure, which netted Nick Ritchie in return.
"Versatile player, good teammate, coachable player," Cassidy said at a press conference ahead of Bruins-Penguins, per Boston's website. "When the decision was made to flip him for Ritchie, we just felt we needed a little more heaviness in our lineup. I don't think it was anything against Danton's play per se. He was a good player for us, played his off side, could move up with Bergy (Patrice Bergeron) and March (Brad Marhcand).
"Played some power play, added to the kill. He's a good player to have in your lineup to move around, especially with the amount of injuries you have and COVID times. He didn't need a lot of coaching, was a cerebral player.
"Happy to see him doing well in Pittsburgh. He's a good kid, a good teammate. Guys are still friends with him. Just one of those moves we made to try to add an element to our team. Unfortunately, we had to give up a good player to do it."
The Bruins picked Heinen in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Cassidy was the Providence Bruins' head coach during the years Heinen used the AHL as a springboard to the NHL. They reunited in Boston, where they spent parts of four seasons together between 2016 and 2020.
That makes it easy to understand why Cassidy still speaks so highly of Heinen, whose departure prompted heartfelt goodbyes from the Bruins.
