With Jake Guentzel added to the Penguins' COVID-19 list after a positive test on Sunday, an opportunity was created for a player to replace Guentzel on the top line and top power play unit in Sunday afternoon's preseason matchup with the Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.
While Dominik Simon was the forward who was added to the lineup in Guentzel's absence, no, Mike Sullivan didn't put Simon on the top line.
(Not yet, at least.)
Danton Heinen, who had most recently been skating on the third line alongside Teddy Blueger and Brock McGinn, was promoted to the left wing on the top line alongside Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust, and Simon slotted into Heinen's old spot on the third line. Heinen also took Guentzel's spot on the top power play unit, joining Carter, Rust, Kasperi Kapanen and Kris Letang.
Heinen took advantage of the elevated role, scoring a goal and two assists in the Penguins' 5-1 win over the Red Wings.
"I thought tonight was his best exhibition game," Sullivan said of Heinen, who had also played in the preseason opener against the Blue Jackets.
Heinen recorded an assist on Carter's opening goal 3:45 into the first period. He passed the puck to Rust, who patiently held onto the puck until Carter got into position for the shot:
"I thought that line was good," Sullivan said. "I thought Danton was good on it. I think his offensive instincts have been on display here this whole camp, he was good in the intrasquad games. ... I think when he plays with our offensive players, I think his offensive instincts are more evident."
Kapanen extended the Penguins' lead to 2-0 midway through the opening frame, and Heinen again had the secondary assist, feeding the puck to John Marino along the boards, who quickly passed it to Kapanen:
"I thought he played a great game today," Kapanen said of Heinen. "He was active, he was skating on the forecheck. ... He stepped up today."
Heinen played 2:58 on the man advantage in the game, and 1:37 on the penalty kill.
Late in the second period, Rust drove to the net up the right side of the ice and took a shot that was stopped by Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. The rebound popped right to a wide-open Heinen on the left side of the ice, who caught the puck with his skate, kicked it onto his stick and tapped it in for a goal:
Heinen, 26, was signed to a one-year, one-way, $1.1 million contract this offseason after playing in Anaheim last season. He was used throughout the Ducks' lineup, primarily playing left wing. He briefly played right wing during his time in the Ducks' top six for the first two weeks of the season, and occasionally was moved to right wing later on in the season in the bottom six. Of his seven goals and seven assists in 43 games last season, all but one goal (a power play goal) came during even strength.
When the Penguins signed Heinen, Ron Hextall said that he was someone they see as having more offensive upside than he showed in Anaheim.
"There's obvious numbers there in Boston at the start of his career that kind of catches your eye, we feel like there's a little bit more goal-scoring there," Hextall said. "He can kill penalties and we just feel like he's a good fit for our team. He can play both wings. We felt like there's a little bit of a value signing."
Heinen's best year offensively came in Boston in 2017-18, when he scored 16 goals and 31 assists with the Bruins. He didn't need top-line minutes to put up those numbers, either. He played most of that season on the left side of the Bruins' third line alongside David Backes and Riley Nash.
When (if?) the Penguins get healthy again, Heinen will most likely return to that bottom-six, penalty-killing role he was in earlier in training camp. But when the Penguins inevitably need a forward to be elevated to the top-six during the season due to injury or illness, early impressions are that Heinen has the potential to be a more-than-capable replacement in that bigger, more offensive role.
"We think he's a good player," Sullivan said. "We think he can play the type of game that we're trying to play here in Pittsburgh. I think with each day that he gets under his belt and gets a little bit more familiar with how we're trying to play, it's just going to help him. But I thought he had a real good effort tonight."
