The Bruins haven’t been to many arbitration hearings over the years, and now they’ll get to see if they can avoid one with winger Danton Heinen. The Bruins and their 24-year-old winger have set an Aug. 3 date for the forward’s potential arbitration hearing.
The 2014 fourth round draft pick made $925,000 last season at the end of his entry-level contract, and had a bit of a disappointing season while seeing his numbers drop to 11 goals and 34 points in 77 games last season. His numbers were down across the board from 16 goals and 47 points in 77 games as a rookie two seasons ago, and Heinen was a bit of a nonentity in the postseason with just two goals and eight points in 24 games for the Bruins in the playoffs.
Based on comparable contracts around the league, Heinen should be looking at something between $2.5-3.5 million on a one or two-year deal that he can opt for in salary arbitration. The Bruins winger’s situation isn’t all that different from Kasperi Kapanen, who just signed a three-year deal worth $3.2 million per season, and Andreas Johnsson with his four-year deal worth $3.4 million per season, both with the Maple Leafs. Both those players hit 20 goals last season for the Leafs, but Heinen has better numbers than each of them over the course of the last two seasons.
The Bruins and Heinen’s camp can continue to negotiate right up until the salary arbitration hearing a month from now, and the B’s can also opt to walk away from the arbitration award for Heinen if they are so inclined after the hearing has taken place.
Heinen and Peter Cehlarik were the only two Bruins restricted free agents eligible for salary arbitration, but Cehlarik opted to keep negotiating with the team and signed a one-year, two-way deal for $700,000 earlier this week.
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