OILERS EXPERIMENT WITH HENRIQUE
Versatile forward acquired at trade deadline gives Knoblauch a wide range of options
When Adam Henrique was traded from Anaheim to Edmonton three weeks ago, he knew he was going to an Oilers team with the best player in the world in Connor Mcdavid and one of the three or four best centres in Leon Draisaitl.
But until Thursday against Los Angeles, the time on the ice with both five-on-five was about the same as the Zamboni drive — 42 seconds in his first 10 games. But there Henrique was in the final minute of the second period, tie game. Before you could say Mcdavid to Draisaitl to Henrique, Henrique had the eventual game winner. After Draisaitl was tossed out of the faceoff circle, Mcdavid won the draw, got it over to Draisaitl and he swept around the net, lobbed a puck at Henrique's gut, and goal.
“Pretty good chest bump,” said Henrique.
While the transition pace of the Oilers game and how they play compared to the Ducks is a different animal, one thing we're seeing from Henrique is he has the stomach offensively to go to where you have to score from, the blue paint. He has three goals in his last six games and if you added up the distance from the shot to the net, it might be the length of said Zamboni. Two goals off Mattias Ekholm passes, the other from Draisaitl with Henrique getting inside position on all three plays.
As he said post-game Thursday of his latest goal: “I'm trying to establish a good net-front presence and I got a fortunate bounce on that one.”
Putting out Henrique in the last minute of a 1-1 game rather than, say, Zach Hyman was as much good luck and good planning from the guy behind the bench.
“He was underutilized most of the game. Ice time, his shifts were shorter and with the penalty kill and very little power play time, his ice time was down,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.
“I certainly feel he is a big part of this team and I want him to have those opportunities to be on the offensive side of it and have an offensive zone faceoff.”
Henrique, who reached the 900-game mark Tuesday in Winnipeg, has three goals and an assist in his 11 games as an Oiler. At times, he has looked like he's playing maybe a little too safe a game in new surroundings, also trying to get up to speed on the rush and when the puck's turned over, but he has given general manager Ken Holland and Knoblauch options.
Knoblauch is trying to find where he fits best with the playoffs three weeks away and Henrique's Ducks in town Saturday afternoon. Perhaps he stays where he is, but Evander Kane, who had a robust, heavy game against L.A., might still play with Draisaitl on the second line, yet Kane looked very good with Ryan Mcleod and Corey Perry against the Kings. Or perhaps Mcleod moves up with Draisaitl.
“His (Kane) line was very good against Los Angeles and he (Kane) was the best player on that line,” said Knoblauch.
So Kane will stay there against the Ducks, with Henrique and Draisaitl. All coach decisions on the fly, though, before the playoffs start.
Why zero in on Henrique more than others at the deadline? Options, especially in the playoffs.
“He plays centre, he plays the wing ... he's versatile. He's centred the third line, he's played left wing on the second,” said Holland. “He kills penalties, he's been on the ice when we're four-on-four. Again, versatility and you can never have too many centres.”
This is a lot to digest, even for a veteran like Henrique. He's trying to fit in, all while he and wife Lauren welcomed a second daughter Sophia just nine days before the trade to the Oilers. Their other daughter Blake is only 16 months old.
Different system, new players, less ice time than with the Ducks because his PP time here is minimal. He's played 6:29 total on the power play in 11 games.
Even-strength, PP and PK, he averaged 17:35 a game in Anaheim. It's 14:46 here.
“I feel like I've been building and I need to continue to do that,” said Henrique.
Getting traded with just six weeks to go in an NHL season isn't a lot of runway to figure things out for players moving to a new team.
Holland isn't sure where Henrique fits best.
“He can play centre or left wing. That's why we wanted him, right?” he said.
“If the coach wants to move Mcleod up to play with Draisaitl like he has, Adam can play centre. If we want Mcleod in the three hole as centre, Adam can play left wing on the second or third line. Right now, touch wood, we haven't had a lot of injuries, but you have to be prepared for some. The more people you can move around, the better it is. You can't just have, say, four centremen. What if two get hurt for a game or two? Adam can play centre, wing, he knows how to check, he's got hockey sense and hands.”