I think you ignore it. Keep him on Backlund's line as Backlund and Coleman are great defensive players able to cover for Huberdeau's turnovers.
Huberdeau showed a flash for a little while when he got inserted onto Backlund's line. Now it is gone. Huberdeau is regressing further. Flames are not competing this year, so at this point, you just have to say: "Who cares?"
I think it would be some kind of silly to go out and acquire Duclair. That's grasping at straws at this point. Might as well go out and acquire Bennett as well, and recreate the line? Just seems like an awful waste of assets at this point.
Huberdeau is supposed to be this amazing puck distributor. He keeps throwing pucks away, forcing plays through too many opposing bodies and sticks, and making bad decisions out there. Adding Duclair (and Bennett) to his line isn't going to fix that.
Once the Flames make their trades, have different players in the lineup to play with, and become an afterthought with the media, all the pressure will be off, most of the scrutiny will disappear (at least for the remainder of this season) and Flames can actively focus on resurrecting Huberdeau with the different mix of players they received, plus some of their young players that they promote.
Hopefully Huska and Savard can find a way to get Huberdeau back in form (or in some kind of form at least). The Flames are supposed to be playing with creativity rather than a structured offensive system. It looks structured often because that's what the players on the team are mostly used to still. Mangiapane, Dube, etc., all seem to be playing in that same system, but are struggling now, so I guess that they were either better fits for a system with more structure, or just haven't adjusted yet. Nearly all forwards are regressing in points (though a few have improved, like Coleman which I can't explain, and Sharangovich doesn't count as I am focusing on players who were here playing under Darryl for a few seasons, and even beyond).
Defensive scoring sure seems up (and I am sure it is up, even without looking). So Huska definitely has the defencemen much more involved in the plays, but the Flames forwards as a unit haven't quite figured out the offensive side of things yet. I don't think this team has enough talent, but when you see Dube, Mangiapane, and Lindholm all seemingly regressing offensively, even while playing on different lines, then I start assuming it is the way in which the team is playing - at least in partial.
Hopefully Huska can figure out at least how to get the rest of the forwards going, if only to elevate their trade value (I think Mangiapane and Dube would both be available if teams inquired about them).
I think Huska and Savard have to sit down and try to either simplify the structure (if there is a structure in place offensively) or go back and start adding structure (if there is no structure in place) just to see if they can get these guys going.
All I know is that Hanifin's trade value should be high, so that's great. As for Huberdeau - focus on him after the trade deadline.
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