[Signing] Flames sign Huberdeau to long term extension (8 yrs, $10.5 mil AAV)

[Johnny Makarov]

Biggest takeaway is that we dont have Tkachuk at 9.5mil a year!! The Panthers are going to regret this in the next few years.

I STILL can't believe they made this trade!!!!!

[Gaskal]

Hope he ages like Pavelski lol. Although, I guess Joe is a bit of a freak of nature even at 37?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1502363704859504641

[EVERLAST]

Nice way to start the day. Now just Weegs and maybe another player or maybe someone makes a case in training camp and stays .

Love to see Cole prove he's worth it. Big body , soft mitts and wins faceoffs .....and yes that's in the minors but by all accounts this kid has a leader mentality and is spoken of highly.

[USflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Biggest takeaway is that we dont have Tkachuk at 9.5mil a year!! The Panthers are going to regret this in the next few years.

I STILL can't believe they made this trade!!!!!

I think you are right. Tkachuk craves attention and he is going to hit a wall when he realizes there is not much hockey passion in Miami like a Canadian city. I think he will regret it eventually

[Huntingwhale]

Wooo! Happy to wake up to this deal. Big big money, but I was more than fine to give this to Gaudreau. Now the team has given it to a player who is slightly better than Johnny, relatively the same age and has more of a variety of skillsets. Not much to be upset about.

If you are going to give a large contract to a player on the latter half of his career, it better be an elite player. JH is that player.

Good day for Flames' fans and sweet redemption for how brutal not only this off-season had been, but getting spanked by the Oilers in the playoffs.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

When is this $120M cap rolling around? The players still have a billion dollars in escrow to repay. That isn't being returned quickly. The CBA will expire before the potential for a $120M cap is likely to occur. Signing this deal with the expectation that revenues are and the cap going to grow by 43% is foolhardy. Spend to what you know you have not what you think you're going to get.

There is already a giant HHR increase that isn't showing up in the cap from the US TV deals that kicked in last year. $120M seems steep, but $90-$100M once the players pay off 'balance owed' in 2 years or so.

[transplant99]

https://nationgear.ca/collections/fl.../products/duby

[PeteMoss]

I do think it will be a big change in how the Flames play. Gaudreau was constantly carrying the puck into the offensive zone in a way that Huberdeau doesn't. Can they get as much offensive time without a Gaudreau operating as the one man break out.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Hope he ages like Pavelski lol. Although, I guess Joe is a bit of a freak of nature even at 37?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1502363704859504641

Has an NHL forward ever produced like this in the back half of his 30's? 81 points in 82 games as a 37 year old is unheard of and it's not like he's playing a one-dimensional game. Amazing player and I just wish he played in the Eastern Conference because he's been a thorn in the side of the Flames.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Biggest takeaway is that we dont have Tkachuk at 9.5mil a year!! The Panthers are going to regret this in the next few years.

I STILL can't believe they made this trade!!!!!

From a Panthers perspective, you only makes this trade for two reasons:

1. You really really like the player - Chucky
2. You are trying to avoid the downside that everyone who is being negative about the extension for Huberdeau are correct about - long term extension on an older player will sting in the back half of the contract.

They aren’t wrong on #2 and in their mind they probably feel they swapped 8 year deal for 8 year deal on comparable (impact wise) players while removing having to over pay on the backside of the contract, in fact if cap goes up, maybe even a bargain contract near the end.

The risk they took, IMO is if Chucky really is comparable (impact wise) to Hubs, time will tell. But regardless of that, where I’m left scratching my head on their end is the price they were willing to pay to get out of the long term extension for older player and swap for younger. Adding a top 4 Dman, a good prospect AND a first round pick on top of swapping top wingers just to get younger seems insane. But who knows. Right now to me looks like amazing GM work by BT.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

A fan can have the opinion that the Flames will miss Tkachuks skills and intangibles, that Huberdeaus deal is a little too rich and a little too long, that we’ll miss some of Johnny’s magical zone entries.

All of that might be true, but even so…

This team is a strong team with Huberdeau and Weegar in the fold. Different from last year, but still an excellent team with a chip on its shoulder and a coach with unfinished business. New voices, new systems, new leadership.

Feel good Flames fans, feel good.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

So, first of all, I don't agree with that. The last city that had this stigma of being "the team that can't get its stars to stay" was Columbus, and that seems to have gone away. But more importantly than that, we know exactly what it would take to change the image of the team in terms of its ability to attract talent: new facilities. The facilities suck. Calgary isn't Winnipeg, it's not Buffalo, it's not Arizona. It's not Vancouver or Toronto either, as far as that goes, but I think the pendulum of "no one wants to come here" has swung a little bit towards the doom and gloom. If Huberdeau walked next summer but at the same time they broke ground on the new home for the Flames, I don't even think it would make an impact.

It would, however, be devastating to Treliving. That would be the end of him, for sure... and I don't think having a GM fighting for his job is a good place to be in the NHL.

I get the sentiment that, well, the Flames will be bad for the last 4 years of his deal anyway, so who cares. My counterpoint is, first of all, no one can really predict where any team in the NHL will be in 4 years, and second, if the plan is to suffer through 4 years of darkness and pain, that's... I just don't think that's a good thing to be ready to accept. I don't EVER want to be the current San Jose Sharks.

The current San Jose situation is possible - although they also just sort of aged out of being good with Thornton and Marleau declining. They have 3 aging guys on big contracts (Karlsson, Vlasic, Couture). The Flames have 1 now - Huberdeau and then possibly Weegar if he resigns.

Coleman and Markstrom are more mid-level contracts and both are possible buyouts in the way the Huberdeau deal isn't.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by USflamesfan

Exactly, I think Florida underestimated how much Huberdeau meant to the team. I think there offense takes a hit this year. Tchakuk does offense better with an elite passer and vision guy.

I don't think they underestimated what he meant to the team. I think after successive seasons of playoff failures they wanted to make a change to the makeup of their roster and a lot of GM's seem to be in love with Tkachuk's pest factor. Also they are up against the salary cap and were going to surely lose one of Weegar or Huberdeau in free agency next season so they flipped both of them for a younger player that they could sign for less than what Huberdeau would likely sign for. The only thing I would be critical of the Panthers in the trade is giving up the 1st round pick in addition to the three players but they clearly wanted to shake up their core and we have seen in Calgary first hand that sometimes you can have a good core of players that just can't get the job done in the playoffs. I don't know if they will be better for these changes but I understand why they did it. I just don't think Tkachuk is a guy that has another gear for the playoffs. When the pace picks up he's not a guy that can keep up. Time will tell.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

I do think it will be a big change in how the Flames play. Gaudreau was constantly carrying the puck into the offensive zone in a way that Huberdeau doesn't. Can they get as much offensive time without a Gaudreau operating as the one man break out.

Huberdeau does carry more than Tkachuk though, and Lindholm will have to also carry more, which he can do. And we’ll see who slots RW. At the end of the day, having a more balanced transition on the top line might be better.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think they underestimated what he meant to the team. I think after successive seasons of playoff failures they wanted to make a change to the makeup of their roster and a lot of GM's seem to be in love with Tkachuk's pest factor. Also they are up against the salary cap and were going to surely lose one of Weegar or Huberdeau in free agency next season so they flipped both of them for a younger player that they could sign for less than what Huberdeau would likely sign for. The only thing I would be critical of the Panthers in the trade is giving up the 1st round pick in addition to the three players but they clearly wanted to shake up their core and we have seen in Calgary first hand that sometimes you can have a good core of players that just can't get the job done in the playoffs. I don't know if they will be better for these changes but I understand why they did it. I just don't think Tkachuk is a guy that has another gear for the playoffs. When the pace picks up he's not a guy that can keep up. Time will tell.

I agree on Tkachuk. His reputation is that of a Corey Perry or a super charged Ryan Smyth who scores goals from dirty areas - guys who typically excel in the playoffs. But he's much more of a finesse guy offensively (at least right now) and it hasn't translated into the playoffs.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't think they underestimated what he meant to the team. I think after successive seasons of playoff failures they wanted to make a change to the makeup of their roster and a lot of GM's seem to be in love with Tkachuk's pest factor. Also they are up against the salary cap and were going to surely lose one of Weegar or Huberdeau in free agency next season so they flipped both of them for a younger player that they could sign for less than what Huberdeau would likely sign for. The only thing I would be critical of the Panthers in the trade is giving up the 1st round pick in addition to the three players but they clearly wanted to shake up their core and we have seen in Calgary first hand that sometimes you can have a good core of players that just can't get the job done in the playoffs. I don't know if they will be better for these changes but I understand why they did it. I just don't think Tkachuk is a guy that has another gear for the playoffs. When the pace picks up he's not a guy that can keep up. Time will tell.

You're the second person in this thread to use the playoff success argument, but Tkachuk has very notably lacked playoff success through his career thus far. 15 points in 27 games and a -11. 4 playoff appearances and only 1 series win (5 total series.) Never led an offense through the playoffs.
Huberdeau on the other hand has 21 points in 26 playoff games. 4 Appearances and only 1 series win as well, but notably led the offense through the 20-21 run where he put up 10 points through 6 games.

Change up? Sure. But I think you'd have to be pretty blind and dumb to pick Tkachuk for playoff success.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

I agree on Tkachuk. His reputation is that of a Corey Perry or a super charged Ryan Smyth who scores goals from dirty areas - guys who typically excel in the playoffs. But he's much more of a finesse guy offensively (at least right now) and it hasn't translated into the playoffs.

Yeah he's got an amazing set of hands and will be productive offensively for the Panthers. Like I said before he reminds me a lot of Phaneuf in that he fancies himself as a leader but lacks natural leadership intangibles. Maybe as he matures more that will come to him but to be a good leader but I have a hard time picturing veteran players looking up to him for leadership given his antics and immaturity.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

You're the second person in this thread to use the playoff success argument, but Tkachuk has very notably lacked playoff success through his career thus far. 15 points in 27 games and a -11. 4 playoff appearances and only 1 series win (5 total series.) Never led an offense through the playoffs.
Huberdeau on the other hand has 21 points in 26 playoff games. 4 Appearances and only 1 series win as well, but notably led the offense through the 20-21 run where he put up 10 points through 6 games.

Change up? Sure. But I think you'd have to be pretty blind and dumb to pick Tkachuk for playoff success.

Where did I say they traded for him because they think he's a playoff beast? I said they wanted to shake up their core. I'm well aware that Tkachuk was a major disappointment in the playoffs for the Flames thanks.

[JohnnyB]

While I don't love the money and term, having a star player who wants to be with the team is better than a star player who wants out. Hopefully that's a good thing for the team culture and success.

[flame4life]

The guy hasn’t even played a game in a Flames jersey and some are already talking contract not aging well and how it is buyout proof. My goodness, why don’t we just enjoy the fact that we signed an elite player who wants to be here. I wish there were two threads - one for us who would like to celebrate a fantastic signing and optimism for the season and the other for those who just hate life and complain about everything. I love Calgary puck and the super intelligent posters that are on here but some of the group who just love to crap on everything… is there anything that makes you happy?