Heinen is having one of the biggest opportunities of his career at the moment, here's what it could mean

Jason Zucker is actually suffering a lower body injury, results: he is sidelined on a week to week basis. Zucker's bad luck could represent an important opportunity for Danton Heinen. Heinen is replacing him on the second line, alongside Malkin and Rust. Heinen has been having trouble scoring; he hasn't scored a goal in the last 20 games.

«We move him all around the lineup, but In times like these, when (Zucker) goes down and we're looking for somebody to move up into the top-six, he's a guy we look to who's capable of doing that. I thought he played pretty solid.» Said Sullivan, who seems to look forward giving him more minutes on the ice.

He even said that if this line turns out to produce many great things offensively, it could stay a possibility in the future. Malkin's injury complicates the equation as he may also need to be replaced, which wouldn't help Heinen getting consistent results on the second line. For now, the challenge for Heinen is psychological, he must stay strong and take advantage of this opportunity even though he is being dragged from a line to another.

Source: PHG Hockey Now