What to do with Huberdeau?

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Guy is under PPG and hasn't seen his own zone all year

substantial drop off from last season on both sides...also playing on a team with few fans that would rather lose games this season probably takes the pressure off just a tad

Columbus has been devastated by injury - no Werenski, Laine has missed time, and the best centres on the team are Jenner and Roslovic.

They could very easily go into next year with Connor Bedard between Gaudreau and Laine/Marchenko.

In any event, Gaudreau hasn’t had to adjust anything about the way he plays. He still looks like a dangerous player every time he has the puck.

Huberdeau often doesn’t look dangerous at all, and I think the lack of speed around him plays a huge factor in that.

I don’t think it’s been a struggle because the player is broken - there are an array of factors to consider, and given the contract situation, we’d better hope that’s the case.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by DazzlinDino

Some of his comments make me wonder if he doesn't have the right players. He is saying the plays are not developing the way he wants so he ends up making plays that he doesnt want.

This is 100% the case.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by zamler

It's easy to use Huberdeau as the scapegoat truth is Darryl's line combinations, ice time allocation and starting goalie decisions have been terrible. That doesn't mean Huberdeau and the rest of the lineup would march to a Cup win under a different coach.

Won’t disagree with you on the goaltending usage, that’s definitely all on Sutter. His decision to over play Markstrom instead of the much more steady Vladar is probably the worst decision he’s made all season.

But in terms or ice time allocation and line combinations, I think Darryl’s been fine in this department. He has a good sense of who’s going and generally plays guys deserving of the ice time.

He’s also changed up the lines when need be, he’s tried Huberdeau with basically every guy in the line up to try to find some chemistry. Ironically, the guy seemingly everyone hates to see #10 paired with in Lucic was probably the best fit so far or at the very least, there weren’t “Huberdeau is a bust” threads/posts littered all over when they were together that one month.

[dino7c]

Vladar has been getting the bulk of the starts lately...he hasn't exactly been stellar either

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Time to worry about Huberdeau IMO, is after next season.

I don't know if this season should count. It's not pretty but absolutely nobody would have imagined these kinds of production struggles. No. Body.

Huberdeaus body of work over his entire career says this shouldn't be happening at all. So what's the problem?

Possible explanations:
Trade sewered his mind.
Pressure of trying to be the leader of the new team and justifying his new contract.
Play style is square peg round hole type stuff.

I'll take all of the above. He's going to have to sort that out in the off-season and get back to normal.

Not to toot my own horn, but this is pretty much what I expected to happen last summer when Huberdeau was acquired. I suspected he would struggle in this system and that’s exactly what has occurred.

Even in the Florida games that I watched, there were long stretches of him looking invisible and innocuous in the offensive zone. Occasionally he’d make a slick no look pass or spin move to find an open linemate, but in tight checking playoff style hockey, those same passes he attempts would not work because there’d be a body in the way and it would be intercepted just like it is now.

I said this about a month or 2 ago, but I think it’s even more true today than it was then, I think the best explanation I have for Huberdeau’s struggles is that he’s the type of player who’s a product of his environment rather than the opposite. He’s a counter striker and with time and space, his elite vision, slick moves and deft passing can still be lethal, but it’s almost like he requires an environment that produces time and space naturally for him to unleash his counter attack i.e. rope-a-dope hockey.

Conversely, Huberdeau struggles badly playing in the opposite environment where time and space is extremely limited and you have to make quick decisions because the opposition is closing in. This is where Huberdeau gets “stuck” as he said, then he panics and makes the wrong play. From what I’ve seen so far, he doesn’t excel at absorbing contact or holding on to pucks to wait for seams to open up whereas Tkachuk and Gaudreau did excel at and it allowed them to succeed playing in this system.

Ultimately, I don’t know if Huberdeau can ever “figure it out,” here. I suspect he’ll need to completely transform and evolve his game which I don’t see happening. I suspect he’ll need a new coach, new system or at the very least, linemates who can generate more time and space for him which this current roster does not have in abundance. Ironically, his linemates were probably hoping he’d be able to do that for them which definitely has not been the case.

[Psytic]

Square peg round hole. I dont think he can be successful in Sutter's system. I think you move Sutter to a special advisor role like he did with the Ducks and get an up tempo coach. Try to build around Huberdeau. He needs to be worked around to be successful. He is not the type of player to be plugged in anywhere and carry the load. I dont think it makes sense to move picks and eat salary to move him.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Conversely, Huberdeau struggles badly playing in the opposite environment where time and space is extremely limited and you have to make quick decisions because the opposition is closing in. This is where Huberdeau gets “stuck” as he said, then he panics and makes the wrong play. From what I’ve seen so far, he doesn’t excel at absorbing contact or holding on to pucks to wait for seams to open up whereas Tkachuk and Gaudreau did excel at and it allowed them to succeed playing in this system.

Gaudreau did that last year, but in previous years lack of time and space killed him when it was applied. It was a recurring complaint the previous two seasons. He'd constantly dish off too early or give the puck up. Having Lindholm as a C rather than a RW helped him a lot because there was a guy up ice he could dish to, as opposed to Monahan, who usually trailed.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Psytic

Square peg round hole. I dont think he can be successful in Sutter's system. I think you move Sutter to a special advisor role like he did with the Ducks and get an up tempo coach. Try to build around Huberdeau. He needs to be worked around to be successful. He is not the type of player to be plugged in anywhere and carry the load. I dont think it makes sense to move picks and eat salary to move him.

and watch him score 100 points next season

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by FBI

Man.. This guy looks like a shell of a man compared to last year. It’s really sad. Curious as to what you guys think we can do here. Something has to change.

Is he skating too slow for some fans?

[Igottago]

Huberdeau was paid like a franchise player yet all this talk about needing the right linemates and needing the right coach pretty much means he's a complimentary player who produces only in the right conditions--so the Flames investment already looks like a really bad one.
How are the Flames going to land some other elite player just to get Huberdeau going? And why aren't other good players like Lindholm or Kadri good enough to get him going? Who is the magical player out there that is the perect fit for him? You don't pay guys 10.5M to have to go looking for other guys to get them going. At that level of investment, he should be producing based on the skillset that everyone presumed he has, regardless of system or chemistry issues.

[AFireInside]

I know the Phillips stuff has been beaten to death, but he seems like a player that would work really well on the Huberdeau line. A quick skater, who's willing to go where he needs to despite his size.

[dino7c]

the league is full of guys who didn't work well in certain places or situations but are doing really well where they are now

The deal is done, the player is here...do what you can to make him successful

saying he should be able to do it himself because he makes a lot of money doesn't help anyone

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

I know the Phillips stuff has been beaten to death, but he seems like a player that would work really well on the Huberdeau line. A quick skater, who's willing to go where he needs to despite his size.

Agreed

Still think he can be a player and huby and him can help each other

[FBI]

I remember Huberdeau having so many 4 point nights in Florida games last year when I was rooting for Johnny to pass him by..

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dino7c

and watch him score 100 points next season

I'd rather see him score 100 points for another team than 50-60 as a Flame.

[Teroy]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Huberdeau was paid like a franchise player yet all this talk about needing the right linemates and needing the right coach pretty much means he's a complimentary player who produces only in the right conditions--so the Flames investment already looks like a really bad one.
How are the Flames going to land some other elite player just to get Huberdeau going? And why aren't other good players like Lindholm or Kadri good enough to get him going? Who is the magical player out there that is the perect fit for him? You don't pay guys 10.5M to have to go looking for other guys to get them going. At that level of investment, he should be producing based on the skillset that everyone presumed he has, regardless of system or chemistry issues.

Totally agree. He's the player who's supposed to make the others better, not the other way around.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Teroy

Totally agree. He's the player who's supposed to make the others better, not the other way around.

He made Lucic better, but that still doesn't make Lucic a 2nd liner. Now he has a rookie. He hasn't been good, but he doesn't have a lot to work with.

[dustygoon]

Facts

You don’t suddenly go from elite for years to middling for the rest of the career. He is a rare talent. He will figure it out.

And Sutter may be an acquired taste, but we have seen “purely offensive” players have figure it out and have career years.

I think he needs to mentally get his swagger back.

[saillias]

Probably a new coach. For Huberdeau and the whole room at this point. I think a new coach would lighten the mood and allow him to get his confidence back.
Huska or Mitch Love until the end of the season with an extended candidate search with all the available candidates like Trotz and Boudreau.

That said I know they won't. They're going to keep going with this because they have extended Sutter and they don't want to pay his salary to not coach. So really things are not going to change.

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Huberdeau was paid like a franchise player yet all this talk about needing the right linemates and needing the right coach pretty much means he's a complimentary player who produces only in the right conditions--so the Flames investment already looks like a really bad one.
How are the Flames going to land some other elite player just to get Huberdeau going? And why aren't other good players like Lindholm or Kadri good enough to get him going? Who is the magical player out there that is the perect fit for him? You don't pay guys 10.5M to have to go looking for other guys to get them going. At that level of investment, he should be producing based on the skillset that everyone presumed he has, regardless of system or chemistry issues.

I agree but here we are. Have to make lemonade out of this lemon some how.