The Columbus Blue Jackets will bring back forward Danton Heinen for the 2026-27 season. Heinen has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Blue Jackets, returning for a full season after joining Columbus in a December trade that sent Yegor Chinakhov to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Heinen spent the second half of the 2025-26 season with 33 games in the Blue Jackets lineup. He recorded 10 points, split evenly. It was a resurgence for Heinen, who failed to catch a spark in the Penguins lineup through the first half of the year, marked by just two points in 13 games.
Heinen has gone on a journey across the NHL over the last three seasons. His first tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins – from 2021 to 2023 – was ended by a reunion with the Boston Bruins for the 2023-24 season. That was a career year for the bottom-six forward, with 17 goals and 36 points marking new personal bests.
Heinen sought a raise from his league-minimum deal and found it in 2024’s free agency, signing a two-year, $4.5MM contract with the Vancouver Canucks. He failed to find the same spark in Vancouver and was traded to Pittsburgh after 51 games, and just 18 points, with the Canucks.
While Heinen looked the part of a fourth liner in Columbus’ lineup, his burst in scoring could be an encouraging sign. He averaged 39 points per 82 games over the course of five years and 294 games with the Bruins – but has only averaged 29 points per 82 games in five seasons away from Boston. Those scoring fortunes seemed to change with a move to the Blue Jackets, so much so that Heinen was able to avoid the AHL track he seemed set for with the Penguins.
A two-way deal will keep Heinen on the fringe of Columbus’ lineup for the 2026-27 season – but he’ll enter training camp as a potential X-factor, depth forward.