Quote:
Originally Posted by Elkyiv
Huberdeau's production more or less the same as last year, except he's -29 now. It's all downhill from here on  |
I am not disputing that he needs to be better, but -21 of that -29 comes while having the goalie pulled or from being scored on during a PP.
He also has the second worst PDO of his entire career this season with only his rookie year being worse.
This guy needs more talent to work with. It's that simple. He has an elite, if not unique skillset, and while that may make him a "complementary" piece, I have no doubts he can still be an effective and productive player with more talent injected into the lineup. To highlight that.. look at his production on the PP with Kuzmenko in the lineup vs out of the lineup.
With Kuzmenko - 13 PP in 28 games.
Without Kuzmenko - 6 PP points in 52 games.
I'd also like to point out that Ryan Huska despite having very clear signs of it not working, elected to have Mikael Backlund play as Huberdeau's most common center at five on five this year. In 304 minutes of icetime together Jonathan Huberdeau produced just 4 points (0.79 pts/60). That's a bad coaching decision.
Personally, I think the odds of it "going downhill" from here are almost non existent.