[Speculation] Avalanche, Oilers Pursuing Adam Henrique

[RWJC]

Avalanche, Oilers Pursuing Adam Henrique

March 4th, 2024 at 11:03am CST • By Josh Erickson

The Avalanche and Oilers are among the teams that have expressed interest in Ducks forward Adam Henrique ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said Monday. Now on an expiring deal with a $5.825MM cap hit, the 34-year-old Henrique is nearly guaranteed to be moved in the coming days after receiving strong interest from contenders going back months.

Both teams have 2024 first-round picks to dangle for Henrique, and Edmonton has made it known theirs is on the table. However, it appears they’re more likely to leverage that asset for a defenseman – meaning, speculatively, that their offer for Henrique revolves around a high-end prospect, not a pick.

 

Henrique would immediately slot into a second-line role for either team, although he’d more likely be utilized as a center in Colorado. He, along with Valeri Nichushkin, would anchor the Avs’ second line behind their top unit of Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.

 

That’s not considering the potential return of captain Gabriel Landeskog from back-to-back knee surgeries during the postseason, which could give them an absolutely dominant two-way trio of Henrique, Lehkonen and Nichushkin backing up their stars.

 

The Ducks are expected to retain 50% of Henrique’s salary in a potential deal, bringing his cap hit down to $2.91MM. Colorado and Edmonton would need to carry a third party into trade talks to retain an additional 25% of his salary to remain cap-compliant. The Avs have $2.23MM in projected deadline space, while the Oilers have $2.37MM with an artificially small 21-player roster. At a 75% discount, Henrique would cost $1.46MM against the cap.

 

For Edmonton, Henrique would help stabilize a second line alongside Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at center. He also helps shelter Evander Kane on the opposite wing, whose possession impacts have been considerably worse than his linemates.
 

Henrique is among the Ducks’ scoring leaders with 18 goals, 24 assists and 42 points in 60 games. In addition to logging 17:35 per game and winning 53% of his draws, Henrique has some of the better possession stats on the team, boasting a 48.2 CF% at even strength. The Brantford, Ontario, native reached the Stanley Cup Final as a rookie with the Devils in 2012 and earned Selke Trophy votes in 2013 and 2016.
 

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/03/avalanche-oilers-pursuing-adam-henrique.html#ref=home

Edited March 4, 2024 by RWJC

[Canuck You]

LOL, Do the Oilers even know what defense is?!? They can keep loading up the front but I can't see them going far with that D and G....Don't forget when they went on that streak, They played mostly mediocre teams.

[Dom]

1 minute ago, Canuck You said:

LOL, Do the Oilers even know what defense is?!? They can keep loading up the front but I can't see them going far with that D and G....Don't forget when they went on that streak, They played mostly mediocre teams.

They're winning it all. 

[PhillipBlunt]

4 minutes ago, Dom said:

They're winning it all. 

How?

[HKSR]

1 minute ago, PhillipBlunt said:

How?

Because they had a 16 game winning streak... get with the program man!  16 games!  Same as Columbus

[grumpyone]

1 hour ago, Canuck You said:

LOL, Do the Oilers even know what defense is?!? They can keep loading up the front but I can't see them going far with that D and G....Don't forget when they went on that streak, They played mostly mediocre teams.

they are going to try to use 5 forwards and a goalie, to try and see how that works. 

[Coconuts]

1 hour ago, PhillipBlunt said:

How?

 

Winning playoff games, allegedly 

[PhillipBlunt]

1 minute ago, Coconuts said:

 

Winning playoff games, allegedly 

Playoffs haven't started yet, brah.

[Coconuts]

9 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Playoffs haven't started yet, brah.

 

Holland doesn't seem as sharp as he used to be, he did take a job in Edmonton 

Edited March 4, 2024 by Coconuts

[DownUndaCanuck]

Henrique will really put the Avs over the top. These TDL trades are going to be interesting - it seems like all the contenders want a top-6 center who can play wing. We made our mark with Lindholm which so far doesn't look good. Wennberg and Henrique are out there, you know Guentzel will go to a contender too. Obviously these trades will get judged by their playoff performance but it seems like a lot of teams, mainly in the West, want a bit of extra forward depth. Maybe it's even to keep up with the Canucks?

[Rekker]

1 hour ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

We made our mark with Lindholm which so far doesn't look good. Wennberg and Henrique

Henrique was definitely better than Lindolm last night. Lindholm has to pick it up.