Lowetide: What will Adam Henrique bring to the Oilers down the stretch?

Adam Henrique was the key acquisition by the Edmonton Oilers at the 2024 trade deadline.

He is a veteran two-way centre with enough offence to step up in the lineup plus enough hockey acumen to be trusted in a shutdown role.

That’s a valuable player.

He has been doing it since the fall of 2011 and has a chance return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2012, when he was a member of the New Jersey Devils.

At first blush we can assume penalty kills, defensive-zone faceoffs, mentoring young wingers and outscoring at five-on-five will be his job description in Edmonton.

How good is he?

The new Horcoff?

Henrique’s role with the Oilers this spring will be similar to Shawn Horcoff’s over a decade ago in Edmonton. Henrique’s results with the Anaheim Ducks this season have some things in common with Horcoff in 2010-11:

The 2010-11 Oilers and 2023-24 Ducks are both bad teams, highlighted by a ghastly five-on-five goal share. Both centres delivered higher than average results and did it with young players.

Henrique has the edge in most areas, the offence represents a strong positive if he can deliver in a third-line role with the Oilers.

Mentor role

In 2010-11, Horcoff was asked to play mentor to rookie wingers Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.

Before his trade to Edmonton, Henrique was also playing with younger players and giving them all the defensive support required to have success.

For the Oilers, that could mean a player like Ryan McLeod benefits from the Henrique acquisition. Dylan Holloway, currently with the AHL Bakersfield Condors, would no doubt profit from time with the veteran should he have the opportunity. Holloway was injured in a game on Saturday night versus the Colorado Eagles, and even if healthy a recall is not likely at this time.

If Holloway doesn’t get a chance to play with Henrique, consider it an opportunity missed.

Utility

Henrique is excellent in the faceoff circle and that allows some interesting wrinkles in deployment.

If he can ease the load for Leon Draisaitl in that area, it will give coach Kris Knoblauch a chance to use his best offensive players in promising situations that could lead to more goals.

Acquiring third-line centres

Since 2010, the Oilers have spent a lot of money and many assets in an attempt to acquire a third-line centre. It could be argued that the acquisition of Henrique (and Sam Carrick) is overkill at the position, but Henrique is a cut above based on his own performance over the years.

All numbers five-on-five

It’s unfair to project Henrique’s number on to previous Oilers teams, but if he can score at 50 percent or better, while posting 1.50-plus points-60, Henrique will be a unique addition over the last decade plus.

Special teams

Henrique averaged 12 minutes at even strength in Anaheim, and played a regular role on both special teams.

On the penalty kill, he averaged 2:34 a game and allowed 7.78 (second best) goals per 60 among Ducks regulars this season.

He also spent time on the power play, averaging 2:21 and scoring 4.24 points per 60.

In all three game states, Henrique is a productive NHL player.

Speed

One of the concerns expressed about Henrique is foot speed, and using NHL Edge numbers, he is one of the more challenged skaters among the forwards this season.

Looking at the totals, both top speed and number of bursts over 32 KPH tell a story.

Connor McDavid is the fastest rocket, no surprise, and the eye test judges Ryan McLeod as second best and the numbers confirm.

After that, it gets interesting.

Average speed is 35.55 KPH, meaning only four Oilers forwards are below average in this metric. Henrique is one of them, but his foot speed is close to average.

The average number of “bursts over 32 KPH” is 61, and there are six men (including Henrique) below average among Oilers forwards.

Edmonton is one of the fastest teams in the NHL, so finding two fleet wingers shouldn’t be a problem.

The speed numbers are interesting, but so far (small sample) the most success enjoyed by a Henrique line has Perry and Evander Kane on the wings. The new “Grumpy Old Men” line has played 12 minutes together, has 1-0 goals and 59 percent expected goals.

A faster trio has Connor Brown replacing Perry, the line has played nine minutes together (all numbers five-on-five) with a 58 percent expected-goal share on 3-3 shots.

It’s important to remember Henrique has been highly successful going at the speed listed above.

He doesn’t have any points through three games, but would’ve had an assist on Sunday versus the Pittsburgh Penguins if not for an errant shot on a wide open net by a teammate.

Bottom line

By eye test or math, Henrique is a good fit for the Oilers. He can play multiple roles, is experienced and effective in all game states and should serve as a mentor for young forwards like McLeod and Holloway.

Offensively, he has enough torque to score consistently and would be considered a strong offensive centre based on this season’s numbers.

Many Oilers fans were disappointed in Henrique, believing a scoring winger would have had more impact.

Considering that two of the established centres on the team (Draisiatl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) often see time at wing, Henrique (who can also play wing) is a versatile and effective addition.

He can play against elite competition, per Puck IQ, but the heavy load in Anaheim (almost 40 percent of his five-on-five minutes were versus elites) saw him struggle.

Henrique won’t have to play against elites as often (just 22 percent through two games) and should have strong results with the Oilers.

His ability to take minutes that include PK and own-zone faceoff work away from men like Draisaitl allows the coaching staff to wheel in a way that wasn’t available before he arrived.

Combined with his own scoring and outscoring ability, and a possible mentor role for McLeod as a linemate, there is an abundance of opportunity for Henrique to make a difference in Edmonton this spring.

(Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / USA Today)