Why Ducks’ Adam Henrique is third most attractive center option on the market for Trade Deadline

Credit: Adam Henrique (© Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

With just over one month until the NHL’s trade deadline on March 8, we’ve got you covered at Daily Faceoff with at least one trade-focused story every day until Deadline Day.

Today we continue our player profile series with Anaheim Ducks center Adam Henrique, who ranks No. 6 on our Trade Targets board.

2024 Trade Deadline Countdown: 38 Days

ADAM HENRIQUE
Center, Anaheim Ducks
Shoots: Left
Age: 33
Height: 6-foot-0 | Weight: 195 lbs
Cap Hit: $5.825 million
Term: Pending UFA
2023-24 Stats: 48 GP, 15 G, 17 A, 32 Pts, 17:15 TOI
Career Stats: 14th season (New Jersey, Anaheim), 878 GP, 254 G, 257 A, 511 Pts
Best Year: 2015-16, 80 GP, 30 G, 20 A, 50 Pts, plus-10
Playoffs: 2 appearances, 3 rounds won, 28 GP, 5 G, 8 A, 13 Pts

Archetype and Ideal Role

Net Front Scorer, 2nd / 3rd Line Center

If not for an untimely injury that kept him out during the trade deadline, enough teams were calling the Anaheim Ducks that it’s a strong bet Henrique would have been moved last year. Now, as a top rental piece on the rebuilding Ducks, it’s a near certainty Henrique will be traded by March 8. Henrique is a high-value addition and if he’s playing on your third line, that means you have a deep team.

Scouting Report

Henrique’s best trait, his hockey intelligence, is the reason why he’s been consistent year-in and year-out as a crafty net front scorer. He can score. Henrique is on pace to hit 20 goals for the seventh time this season. The vast majority of his goals come from right around the net, the area where playoff series are won and lost.

Of Henrique’s nine even-strength goals scored this season, six are from the inner-slot. According to NHL EDGE, Henrique is in the 91st percentile among all forwards in high-danger shots and goals. That explains why his shooting percentage is high. At 17.4 percent, he is 19th among all left-shooting centers.

How is Henrique able to get there? He is sometimes out-of-sight, out-of-mind. He is able to find soft areas of the ice and make slight movements for pass options and decoys.

Perhaps the best way to explain Henrique is “under control.” He doesn’t overcomplicate things with the puck. He makes simple, efficient plays, he understands space, and he sets up teammates well to receive passes in a timely fashion on breakouts. Among left-handed centers with 600 faceoffs, Henrique ranks 10th at 53.2 percent.

He is also versatile. In late-game situations, Henrique can be moved to left wing. On the power play, he can play the bumper position, or goal line and low flank for playmaking options.

Buyer Beware

The biggest knock against Henrique is his footspeed. He isn’t a burner by any means, so if a team is looking for pure speed, he isn’t the guy. According to NHL EDGE, Henrique is well below league average in top speed and number of speed bursts. Again, Henrique is a heady player who plays with poise. He doesn’t rush to spots. And that converse of that is he is rarely in the wrong spot.

Henrique also should not be confused as a defensive forward. He isn’t near the top in any defensive category. His defensive zone touches aren’t high. He is in the middle of the pack among forwards to recover pucks, which sometimes leads longer stretches where his team is pinned in their own end – but it’s always tough to determine how much of that is on Henrique, the four other players he is with, or his team’s planned structure.

Henrique plays a lot on the penalty kill, fifth in the NHL among centers in shorthanded time on ice per game (2:36), but the Ducks struggle on the kill. They rank 25th in the league (77.4 percent) and Henrique has been on the ice for 14 of the 44 goals that unit has given up.

Potential Suitors

Boston Bruins: Still looking to fill the void from Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Short on assets.
Colorado Avalanche: Ryan Johansen isn’t cutting it. Also fair to ask how big of an upgrade he is over Johansen.
Dallas Stars: Can’t count out Henrique’s fit under Pete DeBoer in NJ, even if Stars are deep down the middle.
Edmonton Oilers: Henrique would allow the Oil to keep Ryan McLeod on the wing, or load up with McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line for stretches. Both are intriguing options.
Florida Panthers: The Cats’ third line has struggled to produce a bit this season and Henrique would give them some versatility up the lineup.
New Jersey Devils: Henrique was there once, could he go back to where it all began?
New York Rangers: No question the Rangers are in the market for a player like Henrique.
Toronto Maple Leafs: It’s easy to see a Henrique upgrade in Toronto’s bottom six.
Vancouver Canucks: They’re on the prowl for a top-six forward, but a complementary center would make a ton of sense.
Winnipeg Jets: The Jets have played their way into contender status and an understated center like Henrique fits the bill.

Comparable Trade Returns

April 11, 2021
To Toronto: Nick Foligno (75% retained), Stefan Noesen
To Columbus: 2021 1st Rd Pick (No. 25 overall, Corson Ceulemans), 2022 4th Rd Pick (Dennis Hildeby)
To San Jose: 2021 4th Rd Pick, 50% of Foligno

Feb. 24, 2020
To Tampa Bay: Barclay Goodrow, 2020 3rd Rd Pick
To San Jose: 2020 1st Rd Pick (No. 31 overall), Anthony Greco

Feb. 26, 2018
To Winnipeg: Paul Stastny (50% retained)
To St. Louis: 2018 1st Rd Pick (No. 29 overall), 2020 4th Rd Pick, rights to Erik Foley

Here’s the thing about Henrique: He is likely third in the pecking order of centers available this deadline, behind Calgary’s Elias Lindholm and Montreal’s Sean Monahan (Click links for their individual breakdowns). Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. Henrique is four years older than both of them. More than that, he’s got the highest salary cap hit of all three, and it’s nearly three times as much as Monahan’s. That will require more gymnastics in our frozen cap world. Lindholm is clearly the highest impact guy. Henrique and Monahan move about as well as each other, but Monahan is certainly better defensively, in addition to the way lower cap hit.

Nonetheless, it’s hard to envision Henrique not garnering a late first-round pick. Lars Eller went for a second-round pick last year from Washington to Colorado and Eller appeared to be out of gas last year. Even if his tank was full, Henrique is consistently more productive than Eller, a higher-end option. (Still not entirely sure why Pittsburgh signed Eller to a multi-year deal, but that’s a digression.)

There is one other thing that bears watching with regard to Henrique, but it isn’t necessarily buyer beware, because it’s not really on him. Henrique has played 14 years, but his teams have only made the playoffs twice. In his rookie year, which is still arguably his best year, the Devils went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. He hasn’t won a round since, and it’s been six years since he’s played in the postseason at all. It’s not his fault the Ducks have embarked on a rebuild since acquiring him, but teams are usually pretty suspect of productive players who have spent long periods of time on bad teams.

Summary

Henrique is poised, versatile and makes his living playing in the dirty areas of the ice, which is at a premium in the postseason. He isn’t fast, he doesn’t have a hard shot, and he won’t contribute much defensively. He is clearly the third best option available at the center position this deadline period.

Daily Faceoff analyst Jon Goyens contributed to this report. Find him on Twitter: @gourmet_hockey

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