New Jersey Devils Should Move Adam Henrique to Wing
Center depth is perhaps the only thing the New Jersey Devils don’t lack right now, and it’s only getting deeper. This will require some changes. Someone’s moving to the wing. It should be Adam Henrique.
Right now, the Devils have four players listed as centers – Travis Zajac, Adam Henrique Pavel Zacha, and Jacob Josefson. Top prospect Michael McLeod might go pro next year, and as Nick Villano pointed out earlier, he’ll likely change positions. If he doesn’t, things will get messy. Unless they go far off the board, the Devils are going to pick Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier first overall – both centers. This isn’t going to get any easier anytime soon. Josefson’s an RFA, but Henrique has two more years left on his contract and Zajac has four.
Based on ice time alone, Zajac is the team’s number one center. Both Zajac and Henrique will eventually get pushed back on the depth chart behind McLeod, Zacha, and the Devils’s likely first overall pick. (If this doesn’t happen, bookmark this article so you can laugh at me in the comments.) Josefson’s often injured and a third liner at best when he’s healthy, so he’s the least likely to be affected by any of this – but provided he is re-signed, his place in the lineup is subject to change.
The bottom line: as soon as next season, someone will either getting traded or will shift from center to wing. Given the fact that Zajac’s contract makes him hard to trade, Henrique is clearly in the team’s long term plans, and Zacha is still young, short of a blow-away trade offer, the latter is more likely.
Why Adam Henrique Should Move
As it stands, making Henrique a winger makes the most sense. The team experimented with him on the wing towards the end of this past season. At 27 years old, he’s probably squarely in his prime. Stats show a player equally adept as scoring and passing: he scored 66 goals to 67 assists overall, and even strength he has scored a square 38 goals and 38 assists.
Adam Henrique’s already one of the team’s most prolific shooters – he had the third most 5-on-5 shots on the Devils last year. He had the second most 5-on-5 goals on the team last year, behind Kyle Palmieri.
Henrique will also be at the tail end of his prime when Patrick/Hischier, Zacha, and/or McLeod are entering theirs.
He was also sub-.500 on the faceoff dot. While faceoffs are on average overrated, you want your center to win more than they lose. A move away from the draw might be for the best.
Too many centers isn’t the worst problem to have – especially on a team with hilariously little offensive punch in the past few years. Nonetheless, it hat must be addressed. So the veterans can contribute and the young players have time to develop.
How do you think the New Jersey Devils should handle overabundance of centers? Would you also put Adam Henrique on the wing? Let us know in the comments!
(Stats via NHL.com, Corsica, and stats.hockeyanalysis.com)