Perhaps it is not who you thought it would be, but Adam Henrique was by far the best Anaheim Duck of 2019-2020. With the most goals, most points, tied for most games played at a full seventy-one, most even strength and power play goals, most offensive point shares, and the second most face-offs won, Henrique tops almost any chart you could look at.
This was Henrique’s third full season played, and his second in a row. He has not missed a game in almost two full seasons, and his numbers definitely show it. Twenty-six goals, seventeen assists, and forty-three points in total was where he finished, and he already surpassed his point total from last year with eleven games remaining. He also lowered his penalty minute total from last year by two minutes, which saved the Ducks a lot of stress, but he alleviated the struggles in most places. On defense, he was on pace to beat last season’s hit totals at seventy-five, but he regressed significantly in the takeaways and blocks departments at twenty-six takeaways and thirty-two blocks. His role did change quite a lot under new head coach Dallas Eakins, so it is to be expected that he reaches into new territories and losses some numbers in other categories, and he has become the bonafide goal-scorer next to Ryan Getzlaf. He was still on pace to reach his career best thirty goals very easily before the NHL season was paused, so he has not lost any of his offensive touch at the age of thirty.
Adam Henrique is also averaging less time on the ice than Getzlaf and has ninety-four less minutes and still is surpassing his production in almost everything but face-off wins and assists. In general, the Anaheim Ducks would have tanked much more efficiently without Henrique in the lineup, but thanks to that trade back in 2017, Henrique has kept the Ducks afloat in most situations. Even when he is not on a five-point tear in four straight games, Henrique is as proficient of a center as anyone on any struggling team. Despite his efforts and his production, he is still somehow a -3 in the +/- category, and that is absolutely absurd.
In theory, his five-year contract extension and Getzlaf’s last year being up after next season possibly opens up the door for Henrique to be the next captain of the Anaheim Ducks, and it would be very well deserved for him to dawn the captain’s C along with other Ducks legends. Depending on how much hockey is left in him, we might see number fourteen in the rafters of the Honda Center someday, but for now, he is the best Duck from the 2019-2020 season.
In closing, the list of the best Anaheim Ducks players was a tough one to make due to the circumstances that saw the rest of the season completely disappear for now. The Ducks were in the middle of another tank year, and it was really hard to gauge who was really outstanding and who was just mediocre, but the five players that came out on top definitely had a helping hand in winning quite a few games that seemed impossible to snatch up. For Derek Grant, Ryan Miller, Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, and Adam Henrique, Ducks nation is in credibly thankful. Even for the people who did not make it on the list, it was still a valiant effort, and perhaps we will see a lot of new names and faces on our top five list next season. Trevor Zegras is a name that all Ducks fans hope to see on plenty of top five lists in the near future, and that might just be the next list.
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