Henrique ready for emotional return to New Jersey with Ducks

WASHINGTON -- Adam Henrique was still absorbing the news that the New Jersey Devils had traded him to the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 30 when Devils coach John Hynes gave him one more thing to think about.
"I think you're back here in a couple of weeks," Hynes told Henrique.

Since then, Henrique has tried not to think about his return to Prudential Center to face the Devils on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, KCOP-13, NHL.TV), but it's been lingering in the back of his mind with a growing mixture of excitement and dread.
Now that the game is upon him, Henrique's prevailing thought is, "I just want to get through it, really."
That was a sentiment he repeated throughout an interview before the Ducks' 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Before the trade, the Devils were the only NHL organization Henrique knew. They selected him in the third round (No. 82) of the 2008 NHL Draft and he played seven seasons for them, scoring one of the most memorable goals in their history against the New York Rangers in overtime of Game 6 in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final.

Being back in that building and facing them for the first time won't be easy.
"It's going to be nuts," Henrique said. "It will be emotional, I'm sure. ... I won't do well emotionally], I'm sure."
Henrique, 27, understands the business decision the Devils made. They traded him, forward
[Joseph Blandisi
and a third-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft to the Ducks for a defenseman Sami Vatanen and a conditional third-round pick.
In Vatanen, 26, the Devils acquired the top-four defenseman they desperately needed. The Ducks like Henrique's experience and ability to play center and wing.
"I knew the trade made sense from a hockey standpoint," said Henrique, who had 257 points (122 goals, 135 assists) in 455 games with the Devils. "So when you look at it like that, everything made sense. It was still a shock. It didn't change any of that for me."
That shock has yet to fade completely, but Henrique has fit in well with the Ducks. He had a point in each of his first five games with them (three goals, three assists) before being held off the scoresheet in each of the past three games.

"He's been great," Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "I think he came with another sense of confidence. He's been around for a long time, played in some big games."
After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past five seasons, the Devils, with impressive rookies Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Will Butcher, and veterans Taylor Hall and Cory Schneider leading the way, have been one of the NHL's biggest surprises at 18-9-5, second in the Metropolitan Division. Henrique would have loved to stick around to see their rebuild through, but he sees an opportunity with the Ducks, who have qualified for the playoffs in each of the past five seasons and advanced to the Western Conference Final in 2015 and 2017.
Hampered by injuries, the Ducks are 14-11-8 and enter Sunday one point behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. But they have earned points in seven consecutive games (3-0-4), and Henrique believes they will climb into a playoff spot after they get healthy.
"To have that chance to get back [to the playoffs] is certainly exciting," Henrique said. "Things are looking that way in New Jersey, too. It's still early, but we were playing great all season long. But to come to Anaheim, which is where they expect to be year after year, to really be a contender, it's exciting."
As a 22-year-old rookie with the Devils in 2012, Henrique quickly forged a reputation as a clutch postseason performer by scoring in double overtime of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Florida Panthers and then putting the Devils into the Stanley Cup Final with his overtime goal against the rival Rangers. Although the Devils lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the Stanley Cup Final, that goal against the Rangers forever cemented Henrique's legacy in New Jersey.
"That's the one everybody brings up," he said. "Everybody has their story of where they were and what they were doing and how it helped them, which I love to hear."
At first, Henrique didn't realize how much the goal meant to Devils fans. They celebrated Stanley Cup championships in 1995, 2000 and 2003, but to defeat the Rangers in such a dramatic fashion, to them, in a way, avenged the Devils' Game 7 double overtime loss to them in the 1994 Eastern Conference Final.
Henrique was 4 years old in 1994, so his memories of that conference final came mostly from watching highlights, but he now understands the connection between the two series.
"Because of '94, it makes that goal even more special," he said. "If not for me, then for other people."
The goal will no doubt come up again Monday, probably in a video honoring Henrique's time with the Devils. Henrique said he doesn't know what to expect but is looking forward to seeing his former teammates.
He plans to visit with some of them Sunday after going back to his apartment in Hoboken to pack up more of his belongings. He's already spoken with Hall, his friend since their time as junior teammates with Windsor in the Ontario Hockey League, about what the game Monday might be like.
Hall, who was traded to the Devils from the Edmonton Oilers on June 29, 2016, went through a similar experience returning to Edmonton last season.
"He kind of said, 'There's nothing you can do to prepare for it and nothing anybody can tell you to prepare you for it. You're just going to have to get through it,'" Henrique said.
So that's what Henrique will try to do. Then, he'll try to turn the page and focus on what he called, "the second half of my career."
"It will be nice to see everybody and just go from there," he said. "Just get through it. That's it."