What to do with Huberdeau?

[Hack&Lube]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1722110067686695079

That's tough to watch. Some players are poker faced but Huberdeau shows so much emotion on his face. Later on he was just completely slouched against the stanchion on his right with a grimace on his face looking devastated.

[CF84]

Originally Posted by RM14

Him looking down was because he had an iPad or whatever. His body language interpretation is way overblown

No. I watched it again and he was face-down like someone praying. Kids don't even watch an ipad like that. There is nothing wrong with a guy feeling a bit defeated by a benching...It's how a person responds that actually matters.

I Hope he's able to shake this off and use it as motivation.

[Hockey_Ninja]

I really wish his contract was tradable. Not just because of the anchor that it currently is, but also because I think the guy deserves a clean slate somewhere else. I just think him and Calgary was a bad mix from the start and he’s never gonna live up to expectations in a Flames jersey

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Closest thing I've witnessed to a player being "allergic" to Calgary.

Voodoo, Space Jam ####.

[Southside403]

This is bad wow poor guy . Can the player and team come to agreement to terminate his contract ?
Really bad situation I don't see him lasting he is mentally checked out

[Igottago]

Situation is clearly not working for club or player, they need to make every effort to move him. There is no fix here. I'm sure he's gonna be open to a change in scenery.

[cannon7]

He needs to stop trying to make flashy plays or trying to thread the needle with his passes. It isn't working. Go back to basics. Having plays die on his stick repeatedly or him trying to force a play and turning it over just makes him look like a selfish player. At this rate he needs to find his way back to not being a liability on his line and go from there. Dump and chase. Make safe passes. Play a north-south game. Try to win a puck battle?

[SeanCharles]

This is a big reason why you shouldn’t sign the most lucrative contract in the organization’s history before the guy even played a single game for us.

He had a year still on his deal…

Why not wait and see how he did before making such a massive commitment you weren’t willing to do for Gaudreau or Tkachuk when they were RFAs?

The whole thing still boggles my mind.

He’s more talented than this too which just adds to the whole debacle.

[Mathgod]

With the Oilers getting increasingly desperate, could an opportunity be there to move him and his contract up the highway?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

This is a big reason why you shouldn’t sign the most lucrative contract in the organization’s history before the guy even played a single game for us.

He had a year still on his deal…

Why not wait and see how he did before making such a massive commitment you weren’t willing to do for Gaudreau or Tkachuk when they were RFAs?

The whole thing still boggles my mind.

Tre was under pressure to "get a win" after dealing a signed Tkachuk. Maybe pressure from Murray Edwards as well to get him under contract long term. Sometimes you just shouldn't go all in when you are at the poker table without seeing the river.

[ben voyonsdonc]

I wonder if the team looks to get him to stop focusing on the offensive side and instead try to buttress his defensive skills kind of similar to what they did with Alex Tanguay during his second stint. If he was to find some wins on the defensive side, maybe he can build some confidence that can bleed into his offensive game.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

This is a big reason why you shouldn’t sign the most lucrative contract in the organization’s history before the guy even played a single game for us.

He had a year still on his deal…

Why not wait and see how he did before making such a massive commitment you weren’t willing to do for Gaudreau or Tkachuk when they were RFAs?

The whole thing still boggles my mind.

He’s more talented than this too which just adds to the whole debacle.

Well, this is hindsight.


At the time, it was a huge win. UFAs get signed for big money contracts all the time without having the luxury of having played on the team first.



If the deal didn't get done, and Huberdeau was lighting it up, then during the entire season it would be a huge distraction. The team just lost Gaudreau for nothing, and would the same thing be happening all over again with Huberdeau? Sure, you can just say that you should have dealt him at the deadline, but what if the team was good last year? I mean, they were supposed to be very good, with every pundit proclaiming them as a contender that was even better than the previous season.


The expectation was that the Flames were going to be a good team, and the biggest question mark heading into the season was if they were going to be able to re-sign Huberdeau, or would the Flames watch another franchise-level player leave for nothing for a 2nd consecutive season?



The benefit of hindsight shows this to be the wrong move - obviously. However, even though I am happy that Treliving is no longer the GM in Calgary, I do think that at the time, re-signing Huberdeau was the right move.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Well, this is hindsight.


At the time, it was a huge win. UFAs get signed for big money contracts all the time without having the luxury of having played on the team first.



If the deal didn't get done, and Huberdeau was lighting it up, then during the entire season it would be a huge distraction. The team just lost Gaudreau for nothing, and would the same thing be happening all over again with Huberdeau? Sure, you can just say that you should have dealt him at the deadline, but what if the team was good last year? I mean, they were supposed to be very good, with every pundit proclaiming them as a contender that was even better than the previous season.


The expectation was that the Flames were going to be a good team, and the biggest question mark heading into the season was if they were going to be able to re-sign Huberdeau, or would the Flames watch another franchise-level player leave for nothing for a 2nd consecutive season?



The benefit of hindsight shows this to be the wrong move - obviously. However, even though I am happy that Treliving is no longer the GM in Calgary, I do think that at the time, re-signing Huberdeau was the right move.

Well I think what we are seeing is that there are worse things than losing a player for nothing which happens to every great team in every sport.

It's just a tough spot right now because I really don't think he is tradeable for any player in the league. Other bad contracts are shorter.

And that is probably increasing his frustration. He knows there is no way out of this other than him playing better.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Well, this is hindsight.

At the time, it was a huge win. UFAs get signed for big money contracts all the time without having the luxury of having played on the team first.

And at the time, you look at his track record and it's several PPG seasons and then a breakout season with the most points for a LW in NHL history.

You sign a contract expecting that to have the highest probability to translate to continuing success...not the lowest probability result of the player being a liability where your team performs better on the ice when he is not on it.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by cannon7

He needs to stop trying to make flashy plays or trying to thread the needle with his passes. It isn't working. Go back to basics. Having plays die on his stick repeatedly or him trying to force a play and turning it over just makes him look like a selfish player. At this rate he needs to find his way back to not being a liability on his line and go from there. Dump and chase. Make safe passes. Play a north-south game. Try to win a puck battle?

That's the thing. He seems unwilling to play like a normal player and do grunt work. I can't believe he is unable to. If he applied himself and dedicated himself to the system, I think he would be a lot more productive. Too many fans are giving him a free pass. Unless maybe he is unable to do what every other player on the team can do, including guys called up from the AHL. That's just as bad though.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Well I think what we are seeing is that there are worse things than losing a player for nothing which happens to every great team in every sport.

It's just a tough spot right now because I really don't think he is tradeable for any player in the league. Other bad contracts are shorter.

And that is probably increasing his frustration. He knows there is no way out of this other than him playing better.

Well, we don't have to think - we know what we are seeing happening, but that's with the benefit of hindsight again.



Re-signing Huberdeau with the benefit of seeing him play for the team was not some weird anomaly that happened. Teams regularly do this when acquiring new players. Vegas didn't wait and see how Mark Stone worked out when they got him. They could have waited at least a month to see how it worked, right?


I see this lamentation all the time: "It didn't make sense for Treliving to re-sign Huberdeau without first seeing him play in Calgary." I don't get it. It is normal to extend players, and not doing so is what causes distractions - like it was the season before with Gaudreau and how a statement had to be made whereby media were not allowed to ask Gaudreau about an extension.


Yes, the risk of signing any player to a long-term contract is that the player doesn't live up to it. This happens even when you have had the luxury of the player on your roster too. Nobody saw Huberdeau regressing this early. This is what we were expecting in year 8, 7 and possibly 6.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

That's the thing. He seems unwilling to play like a normal player and do grunt work. I can't believe he is unable to. If he applied himself and dedicated himself to the system, I think he would be a lot more productive.

Maybe it's because he played that way last year, ended up with 55 points and everyone called him a failure...

[sss1]

Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja

I really wish his contract was tradable. Not just because of the anchor that it currently is, but also because I think the guy deserves a clean slate somewhere else. I just think him and Calgary was a bad mix from the start and he’s never gonna live up to expectations in a Flames jersey

No way; Huberdeau needs to figure his #### out.

He was one of the league's top players a few years ago and when he came to Calgary he agreed to change his game. He hasn't adapted. He got benched because he needs to understand that.

Sometimes you beat yourself in life. You screw up your own outcomes. That's called failure, and there's a lot of growth that can come out of it.

Huberdeau has beat himself here. It's clear as day. He was fragile to start the season even though he claimed that he found his 'swagger' and told the cameras that he saw a psychologist like it was supposed to mean something. Whichever ways he prepped himself in the offseason were totally off the mark. We're 11 games in and he is broken. He is less half the player that he used to be, but at twice the cost (!). That's on him to change. Not the system. Not the coach.

The message is absolutely clear now, and as harsh as it may seem, I actually feel this might be a 'rock bottom' moment for him. The only way out is up.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

Maybe it's because he played that way last year, ended up with 55 points and everyone called him a failure...

I personally didn't see a major difference last year. I think it's just way more obvious now because Sutter isn't scaring him to at least try on occasional shifts.

[Dion]

I love how Huska makes his players accountable. Sitting a vet to send a message is a good thing in my books. Hopefully we see more this when it comes to other vest on our team.