Three players that could help the Avalanche for the playoff push

Adam Henrique

Adam Henrique is a player the Avalanche should pursue. He’s a leader, currently in his thirteenth season in the NHL, has playoff experience, having played in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011-12 with the New Jersey Devils, and has the ability to put points on the board, with 42 points through 60 games this season for Anaheim.

Henrique is an ideal candidate to step into the second line for the Avalanche and offer needed stability. Henrique has 11 seasons of more than 15 goals, and has scored 18 goals for Anaheim this season. There’s no reason he wouldn’t be able to continue that with better all-around talent in Colorado. His 24 assists are a serviceable number, and he likely has chemistry with Zach Parise from their days together in New Jersey.

The trouble with Henrique comes with some injury issues of late, as he has not played more than 62 games in a season since 2020-21. He appears healthy this season, and the hope is obviously that his health would maintain through the playoffs.

The issue with acquiring Henrique is his salary cap number. His cap hit is $5.825 million which is a high number for a team in a salary cap crunch. MacFarland would have to be creative in moving money to obtain Henrique. There’s an opportunity to ship out Ryan Johansen and his $4 million cap hit in return or attempt to persuade Anaheim to eat some of Henrique’s money. It would likely take a sweetener of a draft pick or maybe an extra prospect to entice Anaheim. Henrique is an unrestricted free agent after this season, so hopefully MacFarland wouldn’t have to give up a ton to get him.