Junior Henrique grew up in the small rural town of Burford, Ontario, playing
minor ice hockey for the Burford Coyotes of the
Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) Southern Counties League. He played in the 2003
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Brantford 99ers. He then graduated to the AAA Brantford 99ers of the Pavilion League where he played until Minor Midget in the 2005–06 season. In May 2006, Henrique was selected by the
Windsor Spitfires of the
Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in the second round, 24th overall of the 2006 OHL Priority Selection Draft. In his OHL rookie season, Henrique was a member of the gold medal-winning Team Ontario U-17 team at the
Canada Winter Games in
Whitehorse,
Yukon, in February 2007. He then went on to win the
Memorial Cup with Windsor in both
2009 and in
2010. In 2014, his jersey number 14 was retired by the Spitfires.
Professional New Jersey Devils Henrique was selected by the
New Jersey Devils of the
National Hockey League (NHL) in the third round, 82nd overall, of the
2008 NHL entry draft. During the
2010–11 season, Henrique played with the Devils'
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
Albany Devils. He finished the season as the team's second leading scorer. Henrique was recalled by the Devils and on April 11, 2011, Henrique made his NHL debut for the Devils in a game against the
Boston Bruins. Two nights later, Henrique scored two breakaway goals against the
Winnipeg Jets, the second goal being the game winner in overtime. With the absence of centre
Travis Zajac due to injury, Henrique was matched up with wingers
Zach Parise and
Ilya Kovalchuk on the team's first line for a short time. He was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for December 2011. Henrique recorded his first career NHL
fight on January 10, 2012, against the
Calgary Flames. The same night, he also secured his first
Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game). He fought Flames' captain
Jarome Iginla in the first period and went on to record an assist and score a shorthanded goal in the second period. Iginla also recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick in the game, with a goal and two assists in addition to his fight against Henrique. Henrique was selected to compete in the
NHL All-Star Rookie SuperSkills Competition in
Ottawa on January 28, 2012. However, he did not participate due to a groin injury he received in a game against the
Edmonton Oilers on January 11. He missed two games due to the injury and returned in a game against the
Buffalo Sabres; he "tweaked" his groin again that night, initially causing him to withdraw from the competition. Rookie teammate
Adam Larsson also pulled out of the game due to wrist soreness. Henrique was replaced by
New York Rangers left winger
Carl Hagelin, while Larsson with
Montreal Canadiens defenceman
Raphael Diaz. He finished his rookie season with 16 goals and 51 points in 74 games. In the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the
2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, in Game 7 against the
Florida Panthers, Henrique scored two goals, the latter being the double-overtime winner sending the Devils to the Conference Semifinals. In doing so, he became just the second rookie in League history to score an overtime-winning goal in a Game 7. On May 25, Henrique scored 1:03 into
overtime to eliminate the New York Rangers and send the Devils to the
2012 Stanley Cup Final. This made him the first rookie to score two series-clinching overtime goals in the same playoffs. He was named to the NHL's 2012 All-Rookie Team. Once NHL play returned, Henrique was recalled and scored 11 goals and 16 points in 42 games. During the
2013–14 season Henrique tied a Devils record for consecutive games scoring a goal with six in March 2014. Henrique finished the
2014–15 season as the Devils' leading scorer. However, he was limited to scoring just 16 goals as he spent half the season playing with two torn ligaments and a bone chip in his left wrist. He underwent surgery to repair the injury on April 16, 2015. During the
2015–16 season, Henrique reached 30 goals for the first time. He scored two in the final game of the season against the
Toronto Maple Leafs on April 9, 2016 to reach the mark. He missed some time due to injury in December and January and struggled upon his return. In the
2016–17 season, on October 29, 2016, Henrique scored his 100th career goal against
Andrei Vasilevskiy in a 3–1 win over the
Tampa Bay Lightning in New Jersey. His season started off slow, despite playing with
Taylor Hall, with whom he had great success in Windsor with. Henrique improved as the season wore on, but slowed again towards the end. He finished the season with 20 goals and 40 points and played in all 82 games.
Anaheim Ducks During the
2017–18 season, on November 30, 2017, Henrique was traded by the Devils, alongside
Joseph Blandisi and a
2018 third-round pick to the
Anaheim Ducks in exchange for
Sami Vatanen and a conditional draft pick in
2019 or
2020. Henrique was acquired by the Ducks after injuries to centres
Ryan Getzlaf and
Ryan Kesler. He made his debut for the Ducks on December 1 against the
Columbus Blue Jackets, registering an assist. The next night on December 2, Henrique scored his first goal as a Duck in a 3–2 loss to the
Nashville Predators. When Henrique faced his former team for the first time on December 18, he was given a tribute video and an ovation from Devils fans. Despite a 5–3 Devils win, Henrique managed to score a goal by lifting the puck past Devils and former Ducks defenceman Vatanen. He finished the season with a combined 81 games between the two teams, scoring 24 goals and 50 points. Upon the return of Getzlaf and Kesler, Henrique was pushed down to the third line, which is where he played during the Ducks abbreviated postseason run where they were swept by the
San Jose Sharks in four games. On July 16, 2018, Henrique signed a five-year, $29.125 million contract extension with the Ducks. He led the team in scoring during the 2019–20 season, registering 26 goals and 43 points. However, his poor play to begin the
2020–21 season saw Henrique scratched from the Ducks lineup for the first time in January 2021. and the Ducks placed Henrique on
waivers on February 20. despite missing time with a lower body injury in December. During the
2022–23 season, on December 17, 2023, Henrique recorded his first career
hat trick in his 859th NHL game, a 5–1 win over the New Jersey Devils. He suffered a knee injury in a 6–1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 22, 2023 that caused him to miss several games. He returned to the lineup on April 5 in a 3–1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Henrique registered his 500th career point with an assist on
Troy Terry's goal in a 5–3 win over the Nashville Predators on January 10, 2024. He played in 60 games with Anaheim during the
2023–24 season, scoring 18 goals and 42 points.
Edmonton Oilers On March 6, 2024, in the final year of his contract with the now rebuilding Ducks and unexpected to re-sign with the team as the trade deadline approached, Henrique was traded to the Edmonton Oilers along with
Sam Carrick in a pair of trades with Henrique getting swapped to the Tampa Bay Lightning first to limit the amount of Henrique's salary being taken on by Edmonton. The Ducks received a first-round draft pick in
2024 and a conditional fifth-round pick in
2025 in the exchange, with Tampa receiving a fourth-round pick in
2026 as compensation for alleviating a quarter of Henrique's salary. In his second season with the Oilers, Henrique recorded 27 points across 81 games in the regular season and 7 in 22 playoff games. The Oilers would make the final for the second consecutive year, marking Henrique's third trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers would end up falling to the Florida Panthers for the second year in a row, this time falling in six games. Henrique had one assist in the six-game series. Henrique played his
1,000th NHL game on October 21, 2025, becoming the first Edmonton Oiler to play in his thousandth while wearing an Oilers jersey. Henrique ended a career-high 51-game goal drought when he scored the opening goal of an eventual 3-1 win over the
Chicago Blackhawks on April 2, 2026. ==International play==