After a disappointing start to the season, the Edmonton Oilers have turned it around and put themselves in a position to become buyers. They moved on that position earlier today, acquiring Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for some draft picks. The Ducks retained 50 percent of Henrique’s $5.825 million cap hit, while the Tampa Bay Lightning retained 25 percent to get his cap hit down by 75 percent. Here are the full details:
The Oilers are one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Adding Henrique, who’s having another productive season, should bolster their depth scoring in their middle-six. As for the Ducks, they added another first-round pick to their cupboard, while the Lightning get some needed draft capital. Let’s grade each side.
Oilers Boost Their Scoring Depth
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman. The Oilers have plenty of high-end scorers, but what they’re lacking is some scoring depth outside of those three players. With Henrique, they’re getting a forward on pace for 25 goals and 57 points this season.
Henrique is a consistent scorer because he’s a plus finisher, having shot 15.4 percent for his career. That’s why his shooting percentage of 16.2 percent this season isn’t unsustainably high. He’s right on track with his career numbers. He generates plenty of high-danger chances, averaging 3.6 per 60 minutes this season, the fourth-most efficient rate on the Ducks. That’s been the norm for him throughout his career, hence why he converts on his shots.
Henrique has always had a reputation for being a solid two-way forward. It’s hard to evaluate this for certain because the Ducks have not been a good defensive team for quite some time, but it appears his two-way impacts have fallen off over the last few seasons.
Still, that’s not why I’d acquire Henrique anyway. He’s a very valuable player offensively and can play center or left wing, which also adds to his value. I don’t envision him playing on McDavid’s line; I don’t think he has the pace to keep up. But he’s going to help the Oilers somewhere in their middle-six:
Henrique isn’t the only player the Oilers got in this trade, too. Tough guy Sam Carrick also heads to Edmonton in this deal. Carrick’s impacts are quite poor, but I don’t think the Oilers are bringing him to do much other than provide some physicality. He has 137 hits and 11 points on the season, so I think we know what role the Oilers will give him.
The Oilers did give up a first-round pick to acquire Henrique and Carrick. While I don’t hate that, I would’ve liked to see them use their first to find a way to make Pavel Buchnevich or Jake Guentzel work. Buchnevich having an extra year on his contract probably complicated matters. But there was a path to acquiring Guentzel since his cap hit is only $125,000 more than Henrique’s.
That’s why I like this trade for the Oilers but don’t love it. Henrique is a good fit for them and will help, but I would have looked for other players to use a first-round pick on to help the team.
Oilers Grade: B+
Ducks Cash in on Thin Center Market
We knew the Ducks weren’t going to be competitive this season. They have a promising future with a bright prospect pool but need another year or two of rebuilding before taking the next jump. That’s why trading Henrique was inevitable, and fortunately, they cashed in with the center market being weak at this deadline.
The Ducks were reportedly looking for the equivalent of a second-round selection and two third-rounders for Henrique, with one pick being for retention. Instead, they got a first-rounder for a player whose value may have been just under that in any other year.
Sure, it’s going to be a late first, given where the Oilers are in standings, but there’s still value in that. They also got a conditional 2025 fifth that can turn into a fourth if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup. That’s pretty fair value and a bit better than what they were looking for, so Ducks fans should be quite happy with the return.
How the Ducks decide to use that pick remains to be seen. But for a rebuilding team, having multiple firsts in what looks like another solid draft — especially in the top 20 — is good work from general manager Pat Verbeek.
Ducks Grade: A-
The Lightning won’t get a grade for being third-party brokers, but they’re sorely lacking in draft capital. What year the fourth-round pick they’re receiving has yet to be specified, but buying a draft selection to make salary work for the Oilers is always a decent bit of business.
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