Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus
Yes. But this notion that Huberdeau can't be judged based on his contract? He absolutely can. Tkachuk and Gaudreau leaving left a big hole to fill in the room and talent-wise on the ice. It would be unfair to expect him to be something he's not in terms of TKachuk's sandpaper and compete level, but it is not something to expect him to drive the offense somewhat and to take charge of the power play.
Where is the pride? Even if your game has left you somewhat, great players find ways to evolve and there's no reason a guy like Huberdeau cannot be a game changer with the man advantage or in offensive zone time (which he is ridiculously slanted). Those tools don't just evaporate overnight and point squarely at a player that is checked out and doesn't care at all. Many fans seem to give him a pass in this regard and that really irritates me as he's one of the highest paid players in the league, and should at least flashing positively by breaking up plays or making people miss in space if the points aren't coming.
Would any of this be enough to turn the Flames fortunes around? Maybe in conjunction with Kadri doing more of the same it would be, but either way I don't see this group competing for the division even if it did happen, so maybe this is the best option to have the bottom fall right out and ideally finally change the directive of this franchise.
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Just to be clear, I wasn't saying he can't be judged based on his contract, I was merely trying to mention that contract aside he should be held to higher standards. He got that contract based on his performances. They both go together but if you forget about what he makes and see what he used to do, he should be better. He should look better. As you say, he should be finding ways to fit. There is no pride or professionalism from him at all. He took his skill and put it in his back pocket and is keeping his hands full of money in his front pocket.