Dillon Heatherington

Dillon Heatherington (born May 9, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for EHC München of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). 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 Amateur Heatherington was selected by the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the first round, 11th overall, of the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft. He joined Swift Current in the 2010–11 season, making one appearance and going scoreless. He established himself on the Broncos during the 2011–12 season, making 57 appearances, scoring two goals and eight assists for ten points. In 71 games, he tallied four goals and 27 points. In the series, he recorded three assists in five games. In November 2013, Heatherington and teammate Colby Cave were named to Team WHL for the 2013 Subway Super Series in November 2013. He appeared in both of Team WHL's games in the exhibition series. He made 70 appearances with Swift Current, registering six goals and 35 points. In the series, he recorded one assist. He was named to Team WHL for the 2014 Subway Super Series in October 2014. Heatherington went scoreless in the series.

Professional 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. Leading up to the draft, Heatherington was lauded as a top prospect. In his first full professional season in 2015–16, Heatherington was assigned to the Blue Jackets new 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 three 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 began the season injured, suffering a fractured wrist in training camp. Once healthy, he was assigned to the renamed Cleveland Monsters on November 16. He collected six points in 38 games with the 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. In 22 games with Texas, he recorded two goals and eight points. He played his first career NHL game against the team that drafted him, the Columbus Blue Jackets, on January 18, 2018. 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. He appeared in six games with Dallas before being sent back to the AHL. That season he narrowly missed winning his second Calder Cup after the Texas Stars were defeated by the Toronto Marlies in seven games in the final. In 55 regular-season games with Texas, he tallied three goals and 17 points. In 21 playoff games, he registered three points. He re-signed with Dallas on July 16, to a one-year, two-way contract. He began the 2018–19 season with Texas, but was recalled on November 2 after Dallas suffered a plethora of injuries to their lineup. He played on the third pairing with Joel Hanley. Heatherington appeared in five games with the Stars registering one point before being sent back to the AHL. He played 73 games with Texas, tallying two goals and 24 points. After injuries to Hanley and Taylor Fedun, he made his NHL playoff debut in Game 5 of Dallas' series with the St. Louis Blues, going scoreless.

In the 2019 offseason, he signed another one-year, two-way contract with Dallas on July 9. He was assigned to the AHL for the 2019–20 season, where he was made captain of the Texas Stars, the seventh in franchise history. In 59 games with Texas, he recorded two goals and 14 points before the season was paused on March 12, 2020, and then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 Barys Nur-Sultan of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on November 2, 2020. He played in 41 games with Barys scoring two goals and seven points. Barys qualified for the KHL playoffs and faced Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the opening round, whom they eliminated. They faced Avangard Omsk in the second round, who knocked them out in turn. In six playoff games, Heatherington went scoreless. He made his 2021–22 NHL season debut that night playing on the third pair with Michael Del Zotto in a 2–0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. He spent the rest of the season shuttling between Belleville and Ottawa, on both the main roster and Ottawa's taxi squad. Heatherington appeared in nine games with the Senators without registering a point. With Belleville, he recorded two goals and 13 points in 45 games.

In the offseason, Heatherington signed a two-year, two-way extension with the Senators. He was named captain of the Belleville Senators on October 11, 2022. During the 2022–23 season he was recalled on December 7, 2022 after Artem Zub and Jacob Bernard-Docker missed time due to injury. and then in the new year on February 19, 2023. He finished the season appearing in three games for Ottawa, going scoreless. In 60 games with Belleville, he recorded four goals and 15 points. and after going unclaimed, was assigned to Belleville to start the 2023–24 season. In 60 games with Belleville, he tallied three goals and ten points. He made 59 appearances for San Diego, tallying one goal and seven points.

International play

Heatherington played with Team Canada at the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships, winning a gold medal. 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.

In December 2023, Heatherington was selected to join Team Canada for the 2023 Spengler Cup. Canada advanced to the tournament semifinals, but lost to Dynamo Pardubice.

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 — — — — — 2024–25 San Diego Gulls AHL 59 1 6 7 43 — — — — — 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 International IIHF World U18 Championships Gold Medal 2013 IIHF World U20 Championships Gold Medal 2015