Newly acquired Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais jump right into Penguins lineup

For Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan and his staff, Saturday afternoon featured a departure from routine pregame preparation.

At about midnight Friday, news of the Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor trade surfaced, with the Vancouver Canucks sending back winger Danton Heinen and defensemen Vincent Desharnais, in addition to a conditional first-round draft pick and prospect Melvin Fernstrom.

Desharnais and Heinen arrived in Pittsburgh about noon Saturday and wound up immediately playing for the Penguins in their 3-0 shutout win over the Nashville Predators that night.

But in the hours beforehand, Sullivan needed to get his new players properly acclimated.

“I’ve always been a believer that when we bring guys into our group, we try not to paralyze them too much with information,” Sullivan said. “We want them to play the game with a free spirit and have the ability to trust their instincts.

“But we did give them a simple explanation of the foundation of how we play, most specifically without the puck and in the defensive zone, things that we felt that we prioritize.”

Heinen, who had six goals and 12 assists in 51 games as a Canuck pre-trade, factored in as right wing on the second line with center Cody Glass and left wing Michael Bunting. Heinen saw 12 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time, recording three shots and two hits.

Desharnais skated with Ryan Graves on the third defensive pairing.

Welcome to the Penguins Vincent Desharnais ????@SNPittsburgh pic.twitter.com/K8KvTdTtUx

— Hailey Hunter (@TheHaileyHunter) February 2, 2025

A healthy scratch for 17 games with Vancouver, Desharnais recorded 16:17 of ice time Saturday, leading the team with four blocked shots.

Heinen undoubtedly had the easier task regarding acclimation, as he returns to a club for whom he played 141 games from 2021-23 before departing in free agency after the 2022-23 campaign.

Heinen said he found out about the trade at approximately 11 p.m. Friday and was on a plane to Pittsburgh before 6 a.m. Saturday.

Returning to familiar surroundings made the adjustment with the Penguins less chaotic, but the 24-hour period still was challenging.

“It makes it a lot easier,” Heinen said. “You know the guys, you know the area, you know everything. Definitely makes it a lot easier for me.

“It’s kind of a whirlwind, so you’re kind of running off adrenaline a little bit, not thinking too much, trying to play and find some energy.”

Desharnais admitted he was operating on about three or four hours of sleep heading into Saturday’s game.

He and Heinen also had to wait a few hours to check into their hotel rooms after getting into town, leading to “a really short nap,” before the two drove to PPG Paints Arena and started going through pregame meetings with Penguins coaches.

After the game, Desharnais, who, at 6-foot-7, is among the tallest players to ever suit up for the Penguins, allowed himself to reflect on his new opportunity.

“I’m excited. I’m excited to play, and I’m excited to be with this group of guys. It’s a great group, and there’s a lot of talented players here, a lot of players that have won,” Desharnais said. “Yes, I’m here to play, but I’m here to learn and get better being around those guys and being around the coaching staff. It’s going to be one day at a time right now. It’s been a crazy day.”

What’s more, Desharnais felt like things went pretty well skating with Graves and the Penguins on the whole.

“The guys were great,” he said. “They made me feel comfortable right away. Playing with (Graves) was awesome. He made it easy for me right away. He was talking a lot. I told him, ‘Hey, just bark at me. Anything, just bark at me. I just need someone to talk to me.’

“The nerves were there, and you want to make a good first impression. I think as the game went on, we were pretty solid. Our gaps were good, our breakouts were good, and, hopefully, we can just build on it.”

For Sullivan, Heinen and Desharnais performed just fine.

“I thought they played well,” he said. “They kept the game simple.”