You can explain his lack of production as just his 'slumps'. However, it immediately opens the door to the 'heater' argument. Maybe his PPG runs throughout his time in Calgary have been nothing more than unsustainable heaters.
I thought he had figured things out and that he would be a PPG+ player last season. How he had finished the year off, how the coaching staff were focusing on getting his production back up, how he had a chip on his shoulder, how he has finally 'settled' in Calgary, etc.. Lots and lots of very good reasons to believe that he would have turned things around. Instead, he ended up having a slightly worse season. has an even slightly worse season.
Can I find more reasons to think that he can rebound? Yep, I can, and I don't have to dig deep. Kuzmenko here a full season that should help the PP Maybe he finds chemistry with Mantha. Now that Calgary has entered a rebuild, the pressure may be off. I bet I can think of solid reasons to believe every off-season for the next couple of off-seasons that Huberdeau is going to return to form.
I think that until he does, it is simply better to think of him based on what he has been so far in Calgary - a complimentary 2nd line player who puts up 50+ points. If he ends up exceeding that, I will be happy. If he hits that (or lower), well, this is what I expected anyway. I don't think anyone should be trying to raise their expectations this season. At least head into the season with tempered expectations, and just see what actually happens. Lots of players that don't put up many points go on heaters. It is what it is. Great players find ways to put up points more regularly. This is the danger of trying to extrapolate from small sample sizes - he is not the completely useless player that puts up zero points in an entire month's worth of games, but he is also no longer a PPG player either. In Calgary, he has been a 50-something point player. I entered last season with my expectations fairly high. This season I will temper them.
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