It's pretty apparent by some posters attitudes as to why this organization hasn't had much success. Such risk averse attitudes.
Everyone wants players to prove it and then reward them. In Huberdeau's case, its a C. Treliving wanted Tkachuk to prove his worth and signed him to a bridge deal. Look how that turned out. The world's changed. You have to work diligently and essentially manifest the future. You need to put players in a position to succeed.
You have to set a direction, envision the future and really believe in that plan. That's the only way it works.
Huberdeau has had 90+ points or over point per game 4 years (Age 25-28 seasons) in this league. He's a 3rd overall pick who is in the 1st year of a 8 year contract with the largest value in franchise history. Your success is essentially tied to his success. This is where I think Sutter went wrong. I don't think he ever believed that. This team is going to go as far as Huberdeau takes them so it's probably the best idea that they build around him. They should be reaching out to him (and I bet you they are) and having his input on the potential future coach and direction of the team- play style etc. They need to give him the C as a show of good faith that everyone is in this together. I think that is the only way you will be able to extract the best version of him as a player out on the ice.
Once that happens, everything else falls in line and you have a pecking order. Kadri should have an A for sure as well. Then you just go from there.
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