Adam Henrique performed well after the Oilers acquired him late last season, producing nine points in 22 regular season games and had a decent playoff run overall, despite injuries that saw him in and out of the lineup. He missed eight games and didn’t consistently light up the scoreboard, recording just seven points in 17 playoff games. However, he scored timely goals, including a game-tying tally in Game 3 against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final and a Game 4 game-winner against the Florida Panthers, while playing a strong two-way game.

With Henrique developing chemistry with Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark on the third line during last season’s Stanley Cup Final, this may have influenced the Oilers’ decision to trade centerman Ryan McLeod to the Buffalo Sabres, ultimately leading to Henrique being settled on as the team’s third-line center for the near future. That said, by making this move, the Oilers sacrificed some speed down the middle for more veteran savvy play and scoring potential at 3C. With that in mind, let’s explore what a successful season might look like for Henrique in 2024-25.

The Oilers finished the 2023-24 regular season with a 79.46% success rate on the penalty kill and put on an absolute clinic in the playoffs, killing off an impressive 94.29% of their penalties, with Henrique playing the seventh-most minutes among forwards (19:01 minutes).

With the departures of McLeod and Warren Foegele, who played big minutes on the PK last season, Henrique should get an increase in ice time on the unit. The 34-year-old doesn’t have the wheels that McLeod showed during his time in Oil Country, so he’ll have to use his smarts and veteran instincts—like anticipating plays and having an active stick—to be effective on the PK, which he showed during his stint with the Oilers last season.

Additionally, in the 19 minutes the Oilers’ centerman played shorthanded last regular season with Edmonton, he won 60% of his draws. That said, a successful season will see him helping his team return to success on the PK, which includes consistently winning crucial faceoffs during penalty kills, which will reduce the time the opposing team has to set up their power play formation.

The trio of Henrique, Brown, and Janmark was one of, if not the best, lines for the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final last season.

They played together at 5v5 in the Finals for just over 50 minutes, generating 3 GF and 1 GA while playing tough minutes—forechecking hard and being defensively reliable. All three were pending free agents when the 2024 playoff run ended, but to Edmonton’s advantage, Henrique mentioned that the trio had discussions in the offseason, which ultimately led to them all signing new deals to return.

On that note, head coach Kris Knoblauch indicated that Henrique will likely start the season at center and said about the trio, “We like how that line played in the playoffs, we’re going to start with that and hopefully they can gain some momentum where they left off.”

Moreover, Henrique also offered a glimpse of what he expects from his line:

It’s unlikely that the trio will stay together for the full 82 games, but if they play to their potential and rekindle that chemistry when they do play together, they’ll drive the engine of the bottom six. Overall, both Henrique’s success and, to an extent, the team’s success might lean on that renewed connection between him, Brown and Janmark, since every Cup-contending team needs a reliable third line to be good defensively and chip in offensively.

Additionally, the Oilers’ centerman may not play a lot of minutes on the power play this season and with Edmonton short on high-end scoring threats in the bottom six, his success in putting up points might largely depend on the chemistry he has with his linemates, which we’ll take a look at next.

Last season, Henrique tallied 51 points in 82 games split between the Anaheim Ducks and the Oilers. In 59 games with the Ducks, he averaged 2.38 minutes of power-play time per game, producing 10 power-play points during that span. However, in the final 21 regular-season games with the Oilers, his power-play time dropped to less than a minute per game, cutting his man-advantage time in half, which means fewer PP minutes this season might mean fewer points for him overall.

Also, according to Natural Stat Trick, last season with the Ducks at 5v5, Henrique spent most of his time playing with Max Jones (15 points last season) and Troy Terry (54 points), with Terry being the bigger scoring threat of the two. Henrique, who posted 42 of his 51 points with the Ducks, 32 of which came at 5v5, won’t have the benefit of playing with a steady point producer like Terry this season with the Oilers.

As noted, the 34-year-old will likely spend most of his ice time this season with Brown and Janmark at 5v5, who combined for only 24 regular-season points last year, meaning building on the chemistry they showed in the playoffs will be key. That said, Brown is expected to have a stronger start to the 2024-25 campaign and should be ready to contribute offensively instead of needing to catch up to game speed, as he did early last season after coming off a knee injury. Meanwhile, the Oilers are hoping for a motivated Janmark and are crossing their fingers that his stellar performance from the Stanley Cup Final carries over into this season.

All in all, a 40-point season should be considered a success for Henrique, given his limited power-play time, expected linemates this season, and his role as a defensively responsible centerman. Oh, and one more thing—after some deep hockey discussions with Baggedmilk and pooling our collective smarts, we’ve agreed that Henrique should also definitely aim to stay in the top three of “the most handsome Oilers” category this season.

While we’ve primarily discussed regular-season performance as a measure of success, but obviously winning the Stanley Cup is the Oilers’ ultimate goal for success, and I’d imagine it’s also Henrique’s. Nevertheless, what are your bold predictions for Henrique for the upcoming season?