Heinrich displays as a physical, two-way blueliner. He is a wide base skater but has deceptive speed; when he isn’t skating all that hard it looks like he’s slogging around but when he has to really crank it up, which isn’t needed that often because of his positioning and instincts, He has pretty good pace, though backwards acceleration can improve, however. His lack of foot speed can be exposed at times. He’s an active participant in the rough stuff and will mug players in his crease to protect his goalie. He stands up for teammates, and it doesn’t matter who is the offender. Simply put, Heinrich has a heavy sandpaper element to his game; pushing, shoving, stick work, trash talk, etc. but he rarely goes overboard to where it can be detrimental although it does happen. He’s incredibly calm presence on the ice; maintains the same at line demeanor throughout. He has amazing poise in terms of moving the puck; consistently gets the puck to the open man or passes a teammate open, allowing the puck to get out of the zone. Competitive. Uses his body and smarts well to defend. (May 2013)