Quote:
Originally Posted by GullFoss
Here is a really great article from 2022 explaining that in Huby's best season, the following happened:
https://theathletic.com/3174467/2022...consideration/
1) Huberdeau did not drive play
2) Huberdeau was not good at winning puck battles and board battles
3) Huberdeau was bad a defensive recoveries
4) Huberdeau was bad at retrieving pucks in offensive zone
5) Huberdeau was often the first man out and last man in
Summary of article:
"Without Barkov ahead of him in the lineup eating crucial tough minutes, it’s difficult to imagine Huberdeau having a similarly strong offensive season. He’s at his best when playing defense isn’t a high priority, a luxury he’s afforded on the second line. Combine that with his style of play — one where he does cheat for offense — and his totals start looking a little inflated."
"The Panthers get a lot more good than bad out of Huberdeau’s affinity for a rush-based game, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with some drawbacks.
Combine that with Huberdeau’s below-average defensive game in general and there are real issues here worth discussing that do lower his total value. For all the offensive vision he has, he doesn’t always make the right defensive reads. He either looks out of place while attempting to defend, is straight up out of position defending no one, or he overcommits and ends up behind the play."
Pretty obvious why he didn't mesh with Sutter. Huby is not capable of playing the 200ft game. Super excited to watch this guy for the next 8 years. It sounds like a winner style for the playoffs /sarcasm
Sure sounds like when it came to playoff hockey, Panthers did some addition by subtraction. |
You are fooling yourself if you don't think those criticism's aren't commonly shared by nearly all of the top end offensive wingers in the game. Kucherov, Pastrnak, Ovechkin, Kane, Draisaitl, etc.. all cheat on the defensive side of the puck and receive favorable offensive deployments in order to create offense.
Do you know what the difference is however? They have/had coaches who understood their strengths and weaknesses as players instead of one that diminished their creativity and confidence by attempting to change them into player's they are not.
When you have a player with elite level offensive ability - it is actually a good idea to manage the matchups they receive and to allow them to exchange chances with the more exploitable talent(s) on the opposition side.
The need to always have to look for faults in a players game is ridiculous. That article comes off as a hit piece digging into a players season whom finished second in the league in scoring.. Is it at all necessary?
Huberdeau routinely win his matchups and has not had a negative goal differential at five on five since his second year in the NHL. We paid the man 80+ million dollars for a reason. Let him play his game.