Dillon Heatherington

Dillon Heatherington
Heatherington with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016
Born	(1995-05-09) May 9, 1995 (age 29) Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
AHL team Former teams	San Diego Gulls Dallas Stars Barys Nur-Sultan Ottawa Senators
NHL draft	50th overall, 2013 Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing career	2015–present

Dillon Heatherington (born May 9, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL). Heatherington was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the second round, 50th overall, of the 2013 NHL entry draft. He previously played with the Dallas Stars and Ottawa Senators of the NHL and Barys Nur-Sultan of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Playing career

Heatherington began his major junior hockey career with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL) during the 2011–12 season. After two years, he developed into one of the league's best defensive defencemen, tasked with shutting down the opposing team's top forwards, playing alongside Reece Scarlett. ^[1] Leading up to the 2013 NHL entry draft, Heatherington was lauded as a top prospect. ^[1] He played his entire junior career with Swift Current, scoring 13 goals and 84 points in 237 games. ^[2]

Heatherington was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round, 50th overall in the 2013 NHL entry draft. On March 1, 2015, Heatherington's signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets. ^[2] In his first full professional season in 2015–16, Heatherington was assigned to the Blue Jackets new American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. As a staple of the Monsters defense corps, Heatherington appeared in 63 games adding 19 points. In the post-season, he collected 3 assists in 15 games as he helped contribute to the Monsters claiming the Calder Cup in his rookie season. During the following 2016–17 season, Heatherington battled injury and collected 6 points in 38 games with the renamed Cleveland Monsters before he was dealt at the NHL trade deadline by the Blue Jackets to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Lauri Korpikoski on March 1, 2017. He was subsequently sent down to the Stars AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. ^[3]

Heatherington was called up by the Stars on January 13, 2018, to replace Marc Methot, who was placed on injured reserve (IR). ^[4] He played his first career NHL game against the team that drafted him, the Columbus Blue Jackets, on January 18, 2018. ^[5] He recorded his first NHL point in a shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 9, 2018, by assisting on Tyler Seguin's first period goal. ^[6] He appeared in six games with Dallas before being sent back to the AHL. ^[7] That season he narrowly missed winning his second Calder Cup after the Texas Stars were defeated by the Toronto Marlies in seven games. ^[8] He re-signed with Dallas in the offseason on July 16, 2018 to a one-year two-way contract. ^[9] In the 2018–19 season, Heatherington played in five games with the Stars registering one point. ^[10]

Having left the Stars organization as a free agent after four seasons, Heatherington signed his first contract abroad, agreeing to a one-year contract with Kazakh club, Barys Nur-Sultan of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on November 2, 2020. ^[11] He played in 41 games with Barys scoring two goals and seven points. ^[12]

After a lone season in the KHL with Barys, Heatherington returned to North America and the NHL in agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators on July 29, 2021. ^[12] During the 2021–22 season Heatherington appeared in nine games with the Senators without registering a point. ^[13] With Belleville, Heatherington has two goals and thirteen points in 45 games. In the offseason, Heatherington signed a two-year two-way extension with the Senators. ^[14] He was named captain of the Belleville Senators on October 11, 2022. ^[15] During the 2022–23 season he was recalled on December 7, 2022 after Artyom Zub and Jacob Bernard-Docker missed time due to injury. ^[13] He played in one game before being returned to Belleville. He was recalled again on December 27 ^[16] and then in the new year on February 19, 2023. ^[17]

Heatherington attended Ottawa's 2023 training camp, but failed to make the team. He was placed on waivers ^[18] and after going unclaimed, was assigned to Belleville to start the 2023–24 season. ^[19]

Following three seasons within the Senators organization, Heatherington left to sign as a free agent to a one-year AHL contract with the San Diego Gulls, primary affiliate to the Anaheim Ducks, on July 2, 2024. ^[20]

International play

Medal record
Representing   Canada
Ice hockey
IIHF World U18 Championship
	2013 Sochi
IIHF World U20 Championship
	2015 Canada

Heatherington played with Team Canada ^[21] at the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships, winning a gold medal. ^[22] He was selected to play for Team Canada's junior team at the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship and won the gold medal in a close 5–4 win over Russia. ^[23]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2010–11	Calgary Flames Midget	AMHL		31	0	11	11	44		4	0	0	0	2
2010–11	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		57	2	8	10	63		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		71	4	23	27	80		5	0	3	3	0
2013–14	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		70	6	29	35	63		6	0	1	1	8
2014–15	Swift Current Broncos	WHL		48	1	14	15	48		4	0	0	0	4
2014–15	Springfield Falcons	AHL		3	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		63	3	16	19	50		15	0	3	3	6
2016–17	Cleveland Monsters	AHL		38	1	5	6	30		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Texas Stars	AHL		22	2	6	8	21		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	Texas Stars	AHL		55	3	14	17	47		21	0	3	3	18
2017–18	Dallas Stars	NHL		6	0	1	1	26		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Texas Stars	AHL		73	2	22	24	75		—	—	—	—	—
2018–19	Dallas Stars	NHL		5	0	1	1	0		1	0	0	0	0
2019–20	Texas Stars	AHL		59	2	12	14	55		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Barys Nur-Sultan	KHL		41	2	5	7	40		6	0	0	0	2
2021–22	Belleville Senators	AHL		45	2	11	13	22		2	1	0	1	0
2021–22	Ottawa Senators	NHL		9	0	0	0	7		—	—	—	—	—
2022–23	Belleville Senators	AHL		60	4	11	15	63		—	—	—	—	—
2022–23	Ottawa Senators	NHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2023–24	Belleville Senators	AHL		60	3	7	10	31		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				23	0	2	2	33		1	0	0	0	0
KHL totals				41	2	5	7	40		6	0	0	0	2

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2013	Canada	U18			7	1	0	1	4
2015	Canada	WJC			7	0	0	0	2
Junior totals					14	1	0	1	6

Awards and honours

Awards	Year
AHL
Calder Cup (Lake Erie Monsters)	2016	[24]
International
IIHF World U18 Championships Gold Medal	2013	[25]
IIHF World U20 Championships Gold Medal	2015	[23]

References

1. Friesen, Kelly (June 5, 2013). "NHL draft tracker: Dillon Heatherington, Swift Current Broncos". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
2. "Blue Jackets sign 2013 second-round draft pick Dillon Heatherington". Columbus Blue Jackets. March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
3. "Stars acquire Heatherington from CBJ for Korpikoski". Dallas Stars. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
4. "Stars' Dillon Heatherington: Called up to highest level". CBS Sports. January 13, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
5. Helka, Mike (January 18, 2018). "Stars' Dillon Heatherington wanted to 'stick it to' the Columbus Blue Jackets in his NHL debut". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
6. "Lehtonen, Seguin lead Stars over Penguins in SO". TSN. The Canadian Press. February 9, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
7. "Stars reassign Heatherington, McKenna to Texas". Dallas Stars. April 8, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
8. "Toronto Marlies beat Texas Stars 6-1 to win AHL Calder Cup final in seven games". CTV News. The Canadian Press. June 14, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
9. "Stars sign defenseman Dillon Heatherington to one-year, two-way contract". Dallas Stars. July 16, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
10. "Stars reassign Gurianov, Heatherington to Texas". Dallas Stars. November 11, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
11. "ДИЛЛОН ХЕТЕРИНГТОН ПЕРЕШЁЛ В "БАРЫС"" [Dillon Heatherington Moved to Barys] (in Russian). Barys Nur-Sultan. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
12. "Sens agree to terms with Heatherington and Sherwood". Ottawa Senators. July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
13. "Senators recall defenceman Dillon Heatherington from Belleville". CityNews. December 7, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
14. "Senators sign defenceman Dillon Heatherington to a two-year, two-way contract extension". Belleville Senators. July 7, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
15. "Belleville Sens announce Dillon Heatherington as fifth captain in club history". Belleville Senators. October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
16. "Senators recall D Heatherington, F Lucchini from Belleville". Sportsnet. December 27, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
17. "Tim Stutzle extends point streak to power Senators past Blues 7-2". CTV News. The Canadian Press. February 19, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
18. "Senators' Dillon Heatherington: Lands on waivers". CBS Sports. September 29, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
19. Warne, Steve (September 30, 2023). "Cutdown Day: Senators Place 2019 First-Rounder Lassi Thomson on Waivers". The Hockey News. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
20. "Gulls ink four to AHL contracts". American Hockey League. July 2, 2024. Retrieved July 2, 2024.^{[ dead link ]}
21. "Heatherington earns long overdue recognition". Prairie Post . February 2, 2013. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
22. Kerr, Ben (June 2, 2013). "Dillon Heatherington: 2013 NHL Draft Player Profile #51". Last Word On Sports. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
23. "Heatherington credits family atmosphere for World Junior gold". SwiftCurrentOnline. January 9, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
24. Brown, Tony (June 12, 2016). "Bjorkstrand's OT goal clinches Monsters' first-ever Calder Cup championship". Columbus Blue Jackets . Retrieved June 12, 2016.
25. "Canada's National Men's Under-18 Team wins gold medal at 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship". Hockey Canada. June 2, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database