Quote:
Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper
It does tell a story does it not? He went from 1.44 ppg in the regular season to 0.5 ppg in the playoffs last year. That probably rang some alarm bells for Bill Zito who instead of re-signing this guy, shocked the hockey world by trading him with a 1st and Weegar.
I mean, the Florida GM of all people would know him best right? It's certainly what I noticed when I watched a few of his games after the acquisition. He struggled to make plays in tight quarters, didn't check well, his movement around the ice was uninspired. But then you'd see a heck of a play out of the blue that resulted in a no look, spinning highlight reel assist and you'd think, ok, that's the type of magic he has in him.
But again, for Huberdeau, it's very situational. He's not the same type of playmaker Gaudreau is who use to skate around and create/force openings. Huberdeau almost has to wait and then pounce when he sees the opening and I think therein lies the problem. In the playoffs, there aren't a lot of openings, no time or space, everything is congested and his spin passes that use to work end up on the stick of the opposition instead. At least, that's my "off the top of my head" theory.
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The other part of that is that a player like Huberdeau should be played with players who create space through speed and driving the net. If I'm the gm I'm bringing in 2 new players to play with our 10.5m player. Wouldn't be surprised to see another swap with Florida, Duclair would probably very cheap and if Treliving is gone we could bring back BENZO as well. Zad and Dube should be close to fair value. I dunno, I just feel like this team has to do something to get Huberdeau going.