Sunday: Henrique has cleared waivers. Despite a career of consistent scoring and quality two-way play, it seems that teams were too frightened by Henrique’s lengthy contract and slow start to the season to risk a claim. This may not be over though; it is hard to imagine that there are not teams in the NHL that could benefit from the dynamic Duck’s services if they can make the salary cap work in a trade.
Saturday: There have been some notable veterans placed on waivers in recent days and Saturday has yielded another of those moves as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Ducks have placed center Adam Henrique on waivers. While it’s not common for a GM to comment on a player hitting the waiver wire right away, Bob Murray did release a brief statement to Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register:
Adam is not alone in this. But I’m tired of talking and waiting. We need results and difficult decisions must be made.
It has been a tough year for the 31-year-old, to put it lightly. Henrique has just three goals and an assist in 16 games this season despite logging over 16 minutes per game and nearly two per night with the man advantage. For someone that’s expected to be a top-six forward, that type of production hasn’t been good enough which has resulted in this move. The drop-off offensively comes as somewhat of a surprise considering that Henrique actually led Anaheim in scoring last season with 26 goals and 17 assists in 71 games; had it not been for the pandemic, he would have had a realistic chance at reaching the 30-goal mark for only the second time in his career.
Henrique still has three years left on his contract after this season with a $5.825MM AAV and salary and with many teams being capped out (only five teams can afford to claim him), it’s quite unlikely that he’ll be claimed on Sunday. Instead, the placement will give them a bit more roster flexibility and allow them to shuffle him to the taxi squad on non-game days, allowing them to temporarily clear $1.075MM off their salary cap. It could also serve as somewhat of a wakeup call to Henrique and the rest of the Ducks who are off to a bit of a sluggish start to their season having won only six of 17 games so far, though that’s still enough to be just two points out of a playoff spot in the West Division.
I’d like to see the Rangers pick him up or trade for him. Tony D could go to Ducks for him. His 4 million would save ducks almost 2 million in deal for Tony D
That’s actually a pretty good proposal and makes sense for both sides. The contract is long though which could scare the Rangers off.
No one wants Tony D. He is stuck until he is bought out or the contract ends. Awful signing for the Rangers, should have traded him when they had the chance. His political views are his own he doesn’t need to change them, he should have been better at being a pro athlete when not on the ice..
He’s getting bought out at 1/3rd penalty because of his age. Rangers aren’t taking on 5 million in dead money just to get out of 1.5 million
I say this as a Ducks fan: Time for the Ducks to officially blow it the rest of the way up… they probably aren’t going to get into the playoffs and if they do they won’t last long. Maybe keep the veneer of trying for now, but I think they will be sellers at the deadline… and if not major sellers at the deadline then after the season when Canadian travel restrictions (mainly quarantine protocols in Canada) won’t inhibit trades from being made between clubs.
Canes would probably sell the entire farm for Gibson.
So Riemer, 1st, top prospect plus a decent player currently on roster to get done. I think Gibson is one of the best goalies in the league and is making considerably less then the top guys driving up his value
Gibson is past his prime. That is way to much to give up.
Past his prime? He’s 27. That’s far from “past his prime”. He has a terrible team in front of him. No goalie is going to look good playing for the Ducks.
With an annual salary north of $5.8 mill for the next three years, Henrique is not tradable unless the Ducks assume another equally loony contract in return. I suspect he will be bought out over the summer. This team literally has no offense–they hardly ever bother to shoot the puck. I would also put Silfverberg, Rakell, Getzlaff and Backes up for trade. Unfortunately, none of them will command much of a return because they are third line or AHL players with no upside. If Getzlaf (with his no movement clause) nixes a trade, he should be cut. The best offensive player (Zegras) in the system sits in the minors while while inept veterans stumble all over the ice. That’s pathetic. These underachieving veterans are negative influences because they set a bad example for young talent. They are like weeds taking over a garden. and need to be removed.
I’m shocked because everything Boozer Bon touches turns to gold.
I’m surprised the Sens didn’t claim him. They’re trying to movie Stepan for personal reasons so seems like he’d be a logical fit to replace him.