Edmonton Oilers get: Forward Adam Henrique, forward Sam Carrick, Ducks’ 2024 seventh-round draft pick.
Anaheim Ducks get: Oilers’ 2024 first-round draft pick, Oilers 2025 fifth-round draft pick, which becomes fourth-rounder if Oilers win the Stanley Cup (also retain 50 percent of salary on Henrique and Carrick).
Tampa Bay Lightning get: Oilers’ 2024 fourth-round draft pick (retain 25 percent of salary on Henrique and Carrick).
Eric Duhatschek: In Henrique, the Oilers landed the best available center option after Elias Lindholm (to Vancouver from Calgary) and Sean Monahan (from Montreal to Winnipeg) came off the board – and then added a gritty bonus in Sam Carrick, a sneaky good addition. Adding Henrique allows them to move Ryan McLeod to the wing, where he’s better suited to play, and provides the same sort of center depth that Nick Bjugstad provided the Oilers at last year’s deadline as a rental.
In order to make the dollars work, because Henrique is at a hefty $5.825 million on an expiring contract, the Oilers needed to involve a third team (the Tampa Bay Lightning) – again, the same modus operandi they used to get Bjugstad aboard last year for miniscule dollars against the cap.
In some ways, Henrique offers many of the same qualities as Monahan. He’s good in the faceoff circle (52.9 percent). He’s a veteran player with the versatility to play center or the wing, depending on where a team has a greater need. He can kill penalties – his five short-handed points this season are only two off the league lead and he can be a presence on a team’s second power-play unit.
In Anaheim this year, because the Ducks wanted to develop both Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish as centers, Henrique played mostly the left side — but he has the ability to move smoothly from one position to the other without much difficulty. You can imagine a scenario in which Henrique plays on the third line with former Ducks teammate Corry Perry, which would represent a vexing and challenging matchup for any opponent.
I spoke at length to Henrique about the trade deadline a few weeks back, ironically on a morning when they were playing the Oilers, with Edmonton GM Ken Holland in the building. So, Holland got a first-hand look that night at what Henrique can bring. And of course, Holland has a relationship with Ducks GM Pat Verbeek that dates to their Detroit days.
You can read Henrique’s thoughts here. He spoke about the possibility of a move (he sounded both ready and willing), about how he became a better faceoff man over time in the NHL and how, if you came up through the ranks as a center, it’s easier to switch to play a different forward position if asked.
Mostly, what you get with Henrique is a thorough professional. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine a scenario in which Henrique plays a pivotal role in the Oilers’ stretch drive and playoff run and then signs back with the Ducks as a UFA after July 1. He has captain material written all over him.
Often, the biggest issue with an incoming player as a trade-deadline rental is adjusting and adapting quickly to a new city, a new organization and a new system. With Henrique, that transition should be as seamless as possible.
The main reason it took until now to move Henrique was his contract (the longer a team waited, the greater the breathing room on the cap). Lindholm and Monahan were far less costly. Even with retention, it took some maneuvering to make the dollars work.
But Edmonton, since the coaching change, has been playing like a legitimate contender. Carrick adds depth down the middle and plays with a sneaky edge. You get 12-and-a-half hard minutes per game out of him. The ideal fit up front would have been a top-six right winger to slot in on Leon Draisaitl’s line. Maybe that’s still in the works.
As for the Ducks, they do OK. Edmonton sacrifices its 2024 first-round pick, plus a conditional fifth-rounder in 2025 that upgrades to a fourth if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup. Edmonton’s prospect pool, beyond Dylan Holloway and Phillip Broberg, is a little thin, which presumably is why the deal went down the way it did. Some of the trades so far have seemed a bit one-sided. This seems fairly even.
Oilers grade: B
Ducks grade: B
Lightning grade: B
Shayna Goldman: The Oilers have room for improvement at forward and defense and in goal. That means the team really can’t afford to go to splashy at any single position. The good news is, considering their star power at the top of the lineup, the team does not a game-breaker at forward. That makes Adam Henrique a great fit.
At this point in his career, Henrique is more of a passenger on a line than a driver. That’s fine because that’s all the Oilers should need at this point. The team has Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ahead of him on the depth chart. If anything, he is a very solid option to round out their top-nine forward group. Henrique doesn’t really stand out in just one area, instead adding a solid effectiveness all-around. And he adds some lineup flexibility with his ability to slot down the middle or on the wing.
That gives the Oilers another middle-six center option if/when Draisaitl jumps up to McDavid’s wing. When both players are slotted at center, he can easily shift to wing in a top-six capacity. The fact that he has been able to put up pretty steady results on a bad team is promising for Edmonton, where he will have a lot more two-way support and high-end skill around him. So, he brings the potential to bolster their depth scoring and add another penalty-killer to the mix.
Sam Carrick bolsters the team’s bottom six, lessening the chance of the team needing to go 11 forwards and seven defenders down the stretch, as they did last year. It doesn’t hurt for Edmonton to go 11F/7D sometimes, but having four reliable lines to primarily lean on is the best way to preserve their top talent through a long playoff run.
Centers are going at a premium this year, so the cost of acquisition isn’t surprising here. Is it a little steep? Sure. But the Oilers need to be focusing on bettering their chances right now (especially before Draisaitl and McDavid’s next contracts), so draft picks are more valuable as trade assets. Only having to take on 25 percent of Henrique’s cap hit is worth paying for when there are now other areas of need to turn their attention to.
As for the Ducks, this all checks out — a first-round pick for a pending UFA is a good bit of business. The pick may end up being closer in value to an early second-rounder, but that’s just fine, especially with the potential of that fifth-rounder upgrading to a fourth-rounder.
Tampa Bay joining the fold and netting a fourth-rounder is a win for them, too, considering how few draft picks they have at their disposal after these last few deadlines. The team has the cap space to work with, with Mikhail Sergachev’s contract on LTIR. That fourth-rounder may not seem like much, but it’s another asset to spend to help extend their window.
Oilers grade: A-
Ducks grade: B+
Lightning grade: A
(Photo of Adam Henrique: Jamie Sabau / USA Today)
