New Jersey Devils: Adam Henrique Needs To Play Like A Veteran
By Nick Villano
With a major injury keeping usual New Jersey Devils top-line center out for the first few months of the season, the team will look to Adam Henrique to pick up the slack. He needs to play like the veteran he is for the first time in his career.
It seems like just yesterday that Adam Henrique was the young-faced centerman playing over his head on a first line between Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise. Much has changed with the New Jersey Devils since then. The team has gone through a five-year playoff-less streak that seems like forever. It’s ironic since it seems like Henrique’s career has been flying by, but the Devils losing season streak seems like its lasted forever.
Henrique has had trouble staying completely consistent. He remains many Devils’ fans favorite player, but he can be increasingly frustrating. He makes some mistakes that really hurt a team that can’t afford it, but he can make up for it with a pretty play. Henrique proved in the past he can be a 30 goal scorer, but then fell off last year with just 20.
With the torn pectoral of Travis Zajac keeping him out for at least the first three months of the season, Henrique needs to step up more than anyone else on the roster. Zajac doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t have the flash Henrique has, but you can trust him in almost any spot.
With an influx of young, raw talent, Henrique needs to shore up his game. The Devils don’t need flash from him, they need consistency. They need him to finish up chances and to win faceoffs. He needs to play well in the defensive end night in and night out. If the team is going to survive the time until Zajac returns, it’s up to Henrique to keep the boat afloat.
Devils head coach John Hynes officially announced that Henrique, Marcus Johansson and Pavel Zacha will fight to replace Zajac in camp. Henrique will go in as the favorite, being the second-line center last year.
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Henrique was given the opportunity to play with new star Taylor Hall last season, and it did not go well. Something was just off about their connection. It was weird, since the two played so well together in Juniors, but this is close to a decade later. This should be an easy opportunity. The ability to center a line with Hall and Kyle Palmieri should make his job a breeze. It seemed to just add pressure last season.
That pressure is magnified last season. The Devils have been in the headlines all offseason. Between taking Hischier first overall, and the ongoing Kovalchuk saga, there hasn’t been this much Devils chatter in years.
At the end of the day, Henrique will fall into place. Whether he remains a second-line center, moves to wing or solidifies himself in the first line, he will be fine. Unfortunately, fine isn’t good enough. He needs to play like he did two years ago. With Zajac out, he needs to be the veteran that he is.