Surprise, Surprise, Surprise: Penguins Re-Sign Heinen

To quote popular ’60s sitcom icon Gomer Pyle…”Surprise, surprise, surprise!” The Penguins have re-signed forward Danton Heinen to a one-year deal worth $1 million, which is actually a $100 K cut from what he earned on a “show me” deal last season.

And show us he did, to the tune of a career-best 18 goals, not to mention three more in the postseason.

The 27-year-old native of Langley, British Columbia turned down a more lucrative offer from Winnipeg because he likes the fit with Pens and wanted to play for a Cup contender. Refreshing, to say the least.

Apparently, the feeling’s mutual.

“We were very happy with Danton,” said vice president of hockey operations Brian Burke. “He’s a great kid. He had a good year for us. But by performing as well as he did, it puts us in an arbitration position that’s untenable.”

I really like Heinen, too, especially at the bargain-basement price. Listed at 6’1” and 188 pounds, he’s not a bruiser by any stretch. But he’s a smart, stealthy player who reads the game well and has a knack for finding the seams and soft spots in opposing defenses. Danton’s opportunistic and a decent finisher to boot, as evidenced by his shooting percentage of 13 percent, fifth-best on the black and gold behind some pretty select company.

He tends to be a bit streaky. And defensively he’s not a Zach Aston-Reese clone (although he’s more than adequate). But overall I like his game and what he brings to the table.

Signing Heinen goes a long way toward walking back the scoring depth that appeared to be lacking among the current crop. However, his addition puts us nearly $1.5 million over the cap limit according to CapFriendly.

Obviously, more moves are coming.

A final comment. Not to keep casting stones at the Kapanen signing…what’s done is done. But $1 million for Heinen vs. $3.2 million for Kappy?

Oy.

Hopefully, the flying (and star-crossed) Finn proves himself worthy the way Danton did.