I don't hold anything against Huberdeau here. It is nice to have some honesty.
I think Zito is a bit smarter than I originally gave him credit for. He cashed-out on Huberdeau. Regardless of the system in place, it still requires a fair bit of skill to hit 115 points and break the all-time points record for a LW. Huberdeau deserves accolades for this.
With that being said, I remember Sutter talking about systems after the Huberdeau Tkachuk trade, at some earlier point in the season. He specifically mentioned how Florida is learning how to play playoff hockey, and they haven't learned how to play it before. I think Zito basically got rid of Huberdeau because he wanted to switch the Panthers into a team that is better suited to playoff hockey.
With that being said, Huberdeau is being paid to put up a certain amount of points. So either he finds a way to be productive in the existing system, or Huska lets him (and whatever linemates he has) to freewheel. I believe Huberdeau will be an untradeable asset even at a PPG for at least a few years, so I would rather the focus be on the young players being brought up in a good system. Flames will be better able to figure out which young players are effective in this system, and which aren't, and make appropriate decisions then.
Huberdeau is just a sunk cost. He is a .5PPG player on this team and within a responsible system. He is here to help with the culture, and from our vantage point, he has been doing exactly that. Other than his dead cap (50% of his salary, by my estimate), he isn't a detriment to the team, and isn't really deserving of being a target. He didn't ask to get traded. He was hesitant to sign here. If there is blame to be assigned, then the blame falls on Treliving in allowing Gaudreau to walk and signing Tkachuk to that horrendous bridge deal.
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