I listened to Huberdeau today and I continue to be impressed with how he Carrie’s himself. Great job owning his performance but remaining confident in his ability. This is a massive adjustment for him to go from obscurity in Florida to a hockey hotbed in Calgary where everything is scrutinized and the Flames are front page material. Also there is a much different expectation on defensive play and team structure.
He got the huge contract and is the new face of the franchise who everyone expected to be better than Gaudreau/Tkachuk (or at least on par). I think it will come but the fact he is struggling is not a shocker.
I thought Kadri would struggle more given his short summer but the guy is a gamer and a leader. He is used to playing at altitude in Colorado where the other guys are at sea level.
Weegar has been okay. Hanifin-Anderson feel like the top pair on this team where I expected the Weegar pairing to take that mantle. I think he is still adjusting and look forward to see all 3 of our new players in the game 20-40 timeframe really take off. It kind of feels like Weegar, Huberdeau, and Mangiapane are struggling under the weight of new contracts but I could be wrong
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