The steal of the summer!
Fresh off of a two-point night in Raleigh, Danton Heinen added another feather to his cap today: he is the Bruins’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy!
Heinen was selected by the Boston chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and is deserving of the recognition.
The award is given to the player who exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, which is a good descriptor for Heinen this season.
Heinen started with the B’s on a tryout and hung around quite a bit before a one-year contract was signed.
That deal was for just a shade over the league minimum at $775,000, which makes Heinen arguably the NHL’s best value signing of all of last summer’s deals.
Heinen currently has 16 goals and 18 assists in 69 games. Overall, he’s been a steady, reliable contributor for the B’s over the course of the season — and particular in recent games skating with David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha.
Heinen is two goals shy of tying his career high of 18, set in 2022 with the Pittburgh Penguins.
It feels worth pointing out that Heinen is only 28 years old — I feel like he’s been around for a decade.
I’d imagine Heinen isn’t a favorite to win the award (Frederik Andersen, perhaps), but it’s a nice nod for a guy who certainly has embodied perseverance this season.
Four Bruins have won the Masterton: Charlie Simmer, Gord Kluzak, Cam Neely, and Phil Kessel.
A couple of recent Bruins received nominations for their teams as well: Urho Vaakanainen was Anaheim’s nominee, while Curtis Lazar got the nod for New Jersey.
The winner of this year’s award will be announced during the playoffs. You can view a list of all nominees on the NHL website.