The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone. It’s the time of year when contenders alike bolster their teams in hopes of a long playoff run. At this time last year, we saw the Edmonton Oilers add Mattias Ekholm and Nick Bjugstad to their lineup. The moves were an outstanding success as after the deadline, the Oilers went 17–2–1.
They were on fire until they met their match against the Vegas Golden Knights. After a terrible, nightmarish start, the Oilers have regained second place in the Pacific Division, and had quite a few holes to fill up. As you’ve heard by now, the additions of Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick and Troy Stecher happened this week. Were these moves wise? Well, today we’ll do a deeper look into each three of these players. All stats are from JFreshHockey.
Adam Henrique
If you remember, I wrote a piece on who the Oilers could target at the deadline. One of those names I mentioned was Adam Henrique. Here I quoted:
While the cap number is hefty, the Oilers can make the Ducks retain 50% since he has a year left, and could probably get another team to retain another 50% to bring his number down to $1.46875M which is an absolute bargin for Henrique. Also, we all know he’s a clutch playoff performer. A price would be a second-round pick, a mid-tier prospect to Anaheim, and probably a fourth-round pick to a broker team as we’ve seen before like with Toronto and Ryan O’Reilly.
Well…. that’s pretty spot on, eh? Anyway. Adam Henrique was a pretty productive player on a putrid Anaheim Ducks squad. Henrique has consistently been one of the Ducks’ best 5v5 play drivers in the past prior seasons, along with being somewhat capable defensively and finishing at a solid rate.
He’s been steadily at a 40–50 point pace every season. The Oilers got him at a cap number of $1.46875M! Exactly like I predicted! Henrique’s role on the Oilers would either be to play as a winger for Leon Draisaitl, or play 3C to allow young Ryan McLeod to step up on Leon’s wing. It gives Edmonton much-needed flexibility.
There are a few things Henrique struggles with though. He’s not the fastest skater by any means which absolutely hinders his offence off the rush. However, the Oilers as a whole aren’t the fastest or youngest team at all either. Also, as someone who won’t get power play time here, you’d think Henrique would get some penalty kill time… which is another area he struggles in.
I like the player a lot, that’s why I advocated for him. However, I would have liked to see this type of move after acquiring a legit top-six right winger like Tyler Toffoli. The price itself was fairly okay but I think you could of at least tried to bargain with two second-rounders and Xavier Bourgault instead.
Grade: B
Sam Carrick
I have…. some stuff to say about Sam Carrick. Listen. I don’t think he’s as bad as his analytics and on-ice stats show. Anaheim’s a terrible team. Look at Simon Benoit for example, who’s killing it in Toronto. Carrick had a few decent shifts in Columbus as well.
That being said… acquiring a guy who basically hits and fights who has no offensive or defensive game whatsoever is terrible. Teams like Vegas and Colorado have strong bottom-sixes who can both score on you and shut you down. Carrick can’t do either of that. I understand the bottom-six is small and that you like to see more size for the playoffs… but at least get a guy who can defend and somewhat produce if #97 and #29 get shut down.
The Oilers desperately need more depth scoring… Carrick isn’t that player. I’m cheering for the guy and I would love to be wrong. Right now though, you cannot convince me the Oilers’ bottom-six is better. It’s a lateral move.
If there are some positives to take from his game, Carrick is a decent forechecker and could open up some space for his teammates in the offensive zone and is somewhat decent off the rush (look at his zone entries statistic.) As I said though… I don’t think there’s much here. I would be thoroughly surprised if he’s any sort of an impact player for the Oilers for the rest of this season.
Grade: F
Troy Stecher
Troy Stecher! A player I advocated the Oilers to sign this past free agency as their seventh defenceman. Well, months later, Edmonton went and traded for him for that exact role. A bit of a journeyman now, Stecher is coming off a somewhat okay season with the Coyotes—who traded him last season to Calgary, then got him back in free agency. Stecher’s best seasons came in his early days with the Vancouver Canucks. As well, you may recall Stecher being a pain in the Oilers behind in the 2022 playoff series against the Kings.
Stecher, in my opinion, is one of the stronger seventh defenders in the league. He’s really good at creating offence from the blueline and is great at defending in his own zone. Off the rush, however, he’s horrendous and allows way too many zone entries from opponents. He’s said to be like the modern-day Andrew Ference, a small but gritty warrior on the backend.
All it cost was a fourth-round pick. However, like Henrique, I would have liked this move to be after we acquired a legit top-four RHD to replace Ceci. The acquisition once again is good… but there was a larger need/hole in the lineup to be filled.
Grade: C+
Final thoughts on the Oilers trade deadline performance
The Oilers are improved, mostly due to Henrique. The backend barely changed and the bottom-six will remain ineffective. As you’ve noticed throughout this article, I’ve stated the additions themselves weren’t bad (besides Carrick). It’s what Ken Holland didn’t do, along with what the rest of the West did, to earn this grade.
Overall grade: C-
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