Huberdeau is a Bust

[Joborule]

Yet another big fishing Treliving acquisition that's been underwhelming.

We're in the playoff push portion of the season now where enough time has past for acquisitions to settle in with their team. Huberdeau has primarily been only visible when turning over the puck, or giving his best Tanguay impression when he has a great shooting lane, passing up a good scoring chance.

You could say he has put players in position to make something happen, but they couldn't control the puck. But you figure a player that has had as many points as he has produced the past few years would make things happen in his own, and be a impact player as advertised. I don't think there's been a single game this season where you can say he was the best player on the ice?

I find it hard to believe that Sutter has had this negative of a impact on him. Gaudreau who was a smaller player, and wouldn't have been considered a player with defensive traits became a dominant, complete player with Sutter, and was an anchor on the best line in hockey last season.

Backlund, who isn't as talented as Huby, is night in, night out one of the best Flames players on the ice, and centering the best line on the team; which is the 3rd line. How is Backlund outperforming the most expensive Flames player in franchise history all season long?

This bad performance is on Huberdeau, and playing bad hockey. He's not contributing positively his team, and it's a BIG problem. Guess Florida knew that they've got the best out of him, and why they made the trade.

[Karl]

Wonder what the size of Huberdeau's bust is?....

[Manhattanboy]

Treliving was absolutely fleeced, and then having been fleeced, awards the subject of the fleecing with the biggest contract the fleeced franchise has ever signed to said subject of said fleecing.

[Ferarri]

I’m definitely not a fan of Huberdeau. In fairness to Tre, who could have predicted this type of regression? Most people on this board, myself included, thought this was a terrific acquisition. It’s baffling how this has unraveled but I anticipate most people were excited about having the “leagues best passer.” The contract extension was definitely a knee jerk reaction from wanting to salvage the Johnny and Tkachuk situation.

Our GM has many faults but I can’t really blame him for Huberdeau’s poor play. That’s on the player. Maybe coaching plays into it but I’ve grown tired of making excuses for him. At some point he needs to prove his worth and step up. Not happy being a Flame? Too bad. Don’t like the coach? Oh well. You’re getting paid to be the teams richest player of all time. Start taking that seriously like Jarome did. Have some pride and elevate your game.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Because one Huberdeau-centric thread was not enough!

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Because one Huberdeau-centric thread was not enough!

Who is getting the most internet points for negativity tonight?

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Ferarri

The contract extension was definitely a knee jerk reaction from wanting to salvage the Johnny and Tkachuk situation.

things like that are easy to say with hindsight. After what happened with Gaudreau and Tkachuk, people would have called for Tre's head if he hadn't signed Huberdeau. "This only becomes a win if we re-sign him", "we can't go into the season with this hanging over us", "you either have to sign him or trade him again". This board was full of those sentiments during the summer, and it made sense, too.

now it hasn't worked on the ice, obviously. That's on Huberdeau and Sutter. We can debate who's to blame more, but I think they both deserve a good chunk of the blame. Sutter's hockey has frustrated the hell out of me this season and I'm sure most people will feel the same, but even with that, Huberdeau has been underwhelming. Unlocking his undoubted quality will be a challenge for the Flames, and also a necessity ... because with this contract, he's going to be here for a while.

[Flamesfan05]

It’s a direction issue.
Instead of rebuilding, they chose to go long term with 30 yrs old.

And they married the wrong guys

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by devo22

things like that are easy to say with hindsight. After what happened with Gaudreau and Tkachuk, people would have called for Tre's head if he hadn't signed Huberdeau. "This only becomes a win if we re-sign him", "we can't go into the season with this hanging over us", "you either have to sign him or trade him again". This board was full of those sentiments during the summer, and it made sense, too.

now it hasn't worked on the ice, obviously. That's on Huberdeau and Sutter. We can debate who's to blame more, but I think they both deserve a good chunk of the blame. Sutter's hockey has frustrated the hell out of me this season and I'm sure most people will feel the same, but even with that, Huberdeau has been underwhelming. Unlocking his undoubted quality will be a challenge for the Flames, and also a necessity ... because with this contract, he's going to be here for a while.

This. I would also add that Calgary seems to be on a lot of players no trade clauses. I don’t blame him for signing him straight away. We had a supposed great player willing to sign in Calgary . That’s not happening every day for this franchise. Even though I wanted a full rebuild , I’m not sure ownership would have allowed Tre to do that.

[Flamesfan05]

Can’t blame Treliving?

He went all in on a bad hand. Who else do you blame?

[Goriders]

Looking like there’s going to be a big Huberdeau or Sutter decision coming in the next 4-6 months. That would be my guess.

Just wonder if Treliving will be involved in the decision as he generated the problem and may not be rewarded for doing so.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Sutter is a bust. There is talent in the lineup, it's just not being encouraged to play the game in a manner that leads to success in this league. No speed. No creativity. Ring the puck around the boards and pound low percentage shots at the net from the point. No skill hockey. Huberdeau has said it himself, the Flames play too slow and don't play with skill.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Sutter is a bust. There is talent in the lineup, it's just not being encouraged to play the game in a manner that leads to success in this league. No speed. No creativity. Ring the puck around the boards and pound low percentage shots at the net from the point. No skill hockey. Huberdeau has said it himself, the Flames play too slow and don't play with skill.

100% agreed. It's not just Huberdeau either. Weegar is also a much different and worse player in Calgary than he was in Florida.


Meghan Mikkelson made some good comments about Sutter's system just before christmas and how his man-to-man defensive approach requires zero mistakes from every player on the ice. That's just not sustainable in a league that's averaging the most amount of goals per game since the wide-open days of the early '90s.

Sutter deserves more blame for not adjusting to the current state of the NHL than Huberdeau does for not fully adjusting to Sutter's system

[Erick Estrada]

Huberdeau has a track record of an elite offensive winger. I simply do not accept that he has declined and lost all of his talent. This is simply a case of a player that has moved for the first time in his career to a new team and city on the other side of the continent, playing under a coach that employs a style of hockey that's not conducive to career offensive seasons. Yes I know what the first line did last season but that that was lightning in a bottle as you only have to look at offensive production of Kings players after he was let go in LA as well as Iginla's production that went from a 60/70 point player under Sutter to successive seasons of 94, 98, 89 after he went upstairs. I'm not going to panic here until I see him struggle under another coach.

[madmike]

Originally Posted by Goriders

Looking like there’s going to be a big Huberdeau or Sutter decision coming in the next 4-6 months. That would be my guess.

Just wonder if Treliving will be involved in the decision as he generated the problem and may not be rewarded for doing so.

There’s no Huberdeau decision to be made. His contract makes him untradeable.

Given Sutter’s relationship with Edwards, I also fail to see anything happening on that front. We’ll likely just see more of the same next year unfortunately.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm not going to panic here until I see him struggle under another coach.

It doesn't even have to be a new coach. Let's see how he does next season. People wanting to run him out of town when he hasn't even played a full season is silly. Any player can have a bad year and unfortunately it's happening for him this season.

[Flames_F.T.W]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Sutter is a bust. There is talent in the lineup, it's just not being encouraged to play the game in a manner that leads to success in this league. No speed. No creativity. Ring the puck around the boards and pound low percentage shots at the net from the point. No skill hockey. Huberdeau has said it himself, the Flames play too slow and don't play with skill.

I'm on board with this sentiment. Sutter has not impressed me at all this season and I think he shoulders a lot of the blame for how this season has gone

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Sutter is a bust. There is talent in the lineup, it's just not being encouraged to play the game in a manner that leads to success in this league. No speed. No creativity. Ring the puck around the boards and pound low percentage shots at the net from the point. No skill hockey. Huberdeau has said it himself, the Flames play too slow and don't play with skill.

Your first line has gone from Tkachuk to Toffoli and Gaudreau to Dube. No offense to either player - they have been playing admirably - but that is a cataclysmic drop off to players that don't create in their ownright, but are excellent top 6 linemates. So yes, there's talent, but when is the last time a Flame has wowed you this year with an individual effort or high skill play? And don't counter with "Sutter hockey doesn't allow for it" because we all know that is bunk. We saw it regularly last year and for the parts of the previous season when he took over and this season, these types of player just aren't there enough of the time because the talent is not at the level it has been.

As one of the slowest players on the team, I find it hard to imagine that Huberdeau is on record criticizing the team speed. In fact, I would ask, why can't Huberdeau be effective driving a PP or manage the puck and create in OT? These are 2 big areas of regular season hockey that the head coach has very little say in and they have arguably been two of the most glaring reasons as to why the team has been so mediocre.