3 reasons why the Edmonton Oilers must make a serious push for Adam Henrique
Henrique’s versatility also makes Edmonton a dangerous team
The Edmonton Oilers are a team that ranks in the top-10 in both goals for and goals allowed, and in the latter category, they are in the top-five. But that also doesn’t mean a strong two-way player can’t make a great team on both sides of the ice even greater, and Henrique’s versatility would allow for that.
Rather than trade strictly for a pure scorer with little defense or a stay-at-home defenseman without much to give offensively, Henrique would give the Oilers another solid forward in the defensive zone.
We established earlier that Henrique’s presence would make Edmonton’s already dynamic team better when they have puck possession. But his ability to play defense would, in turn, create even more opportunities offensively.
You can see this displayed in Henrique’s 5-on-5 game, where despite the Ducks ranking 27th in the league with 180 goals against this season, the team’s on-ice save percentage with the 34-year-old in the game is a sparkling 91.2. Anaheim has also allowed just 24 goals in that same situation with Henrique on the ice through mid-February.
Better yet, he’s also good at helping the team move the puck up-ice at 5-on-5. When you look at Anaheim’s 40.5 offensive zone starting percentage with Henrique out there, then the corresponding 47.7 in the Corsi and 46.9 in the Fenwick, it shows us he’s partially responsible for the Ducks creating so many scoring chances offensively.
Those numbers would be much greater if he were playing for a viable hockey team like Edmonton not just this season, but also potentially in the foreseeable future.
feed
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference as of February 13th)