Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
Most likely thing is that the aging curve hit him and it hit him hard. He doesn't have the skating or agility to be an elite NHLer anymore and that has changed from his last season in Florida. He's a poor skater now and because of that can't create any time or space for himself to make a play.
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How? He's 30, not 40. Guys don't drop off a cliff physically, at least that drastically at 30. If he could skate 2 years ago he's not going to be unable to now.
The likely truth is, he was never that good. There was a system, or structure in Florida that somehow allowed him to flourish while other teams had to deal with the real threat of Barkov and other players. Huberdeau collected points in a perfectly catered situation for him. Suddenly when you make him a franchise player, he's not up to the task. He has likely never been a number one franchise player or the type of player that opposing teams had to prepare for. the Flames got duped into making him one, to catastrophic results.