Huberdeau was paid like a franchise player yet all this talk about needing the right linemates and needing the right coach pretty much means he's a complimentary player who produces only in the right conditions--so the Flames investment already looks like a really bad one.
How are the Flames going to land some other elite player just to get Huberdeau going? And why aren't other good players like Lindholm or Kadri good enough to get him going? Who is the magical player out there that is the perect fit for him? You don't pay guys 10.5M to have to go looking for other guys to get them going. At that level of investment, he should be producing based on the skillset that everyone presumed he has, regardless of system or chemistry issues.
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A few weeks after crashing head-first into the boards (denting his helmet and being unable to move for a little while) following a hit from behind by Bob Errey, the Calgary Flames player explains:
"I was like Christ, lying on my back, with my arms outstretched, crucified"
-- Frank Musil - Early January 1994
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