What to do with Huberdeau?

[Bingo]

Digging into Huberdeau's underlying numbers the biggest change to his game in the last year and a quarter vs the previous four seasons is powerplay success.

His metrics five on five are similar with less pucks going in.

On the powerplay his on ice expected goals per 60 is actually higher, but actual production is in the toilet.

I think the way back for this guy is a powerplay heater. Hopefully they can figure it out.

[Flamesfan05]

So Huska decided to take him off the power play. smart guy

[EVERLAST]

Hitch is bang on. Sutter didn't trust Huberdeau at all even though JH did was he was told Sutter making comments like he's taking a S certainly didn't help.

That was on full blast volume for fans , media , players to hear

Man Sutter really F ed up there and Hitchcock knows enough about coaching and mindsets that putting Jonathan out against top
Players builds a foundation for him to grow his game so he's doing all the little things the best (things we don't notice) it's not about the points as Hitchcock says it's TRUST.
When he does those things well then you intuitively put him in those other situations where his game excels .

Martin Gelinas was a complete player . No one really remembers him for that after being famously remembered as the eliminator but I do. Marty just came to work every day did his job and you never worried about him being out of place. Whoever coached him just knew looking down the bench with the game on the line he'd put Marty on the ice .

Do this with Jonathon and the results will come. Even when Iginla struggled with slow starts it was always the same thing....move your feet and the rest will come.....oh and don't wake Jarome up....you'll regret it.

[klikitiklik]

Great win last night against Vegas.


Watching Huber'doh handle the puck is so frustrating. I'm not sure if the NHL keeps track of how many times one player turns over the puck but Every play dies on his stick.

He is just awful.

The team wins not because of him, but in spite of him. We have many who defend him for his effort but at what point do you take him out of the line up?


Send him down. Bench him. Who cares? Just get him away from the positive thing we have going. His body language is so negative and he seems completely emotionally checked out.

He barely participates in the celebration after a win.

Watching him on the bench hunched over and hiding his face is so unprofessional in my opinion.

I would not complain if the Flames sent him down to the Wranglers so he can once again have an appreciation of what it takes to make it to the show.


I've tried so hard to like this guy, but his play and body language lacks likeableness. Soft as butter. How is he on the first line?

Sorry Rant over. Again this is just my personal opinion on watching him "play". Many will not agree as he seems to be a great guy and advance stats may prove me wrong.

[Erick Estrada]

Seems like an odd time to post something like this when the team is having some success of late.

[Phil Russell]

Huberdeau looks to me like a good veteran third liner. Would be very happy if he was earning $3 million. All those passes into skates and the bobbles wouldn't bother me one bit. Alas.

[klikitiklik]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Seems like an odd time to post something like this when the team is having some success of late.

Seems like the perfect time.



The team is winning in spite of his ineffectiveness. That's why we should sit or demote him and bring up someone more useful.


Not like someone would pick him up of waivers. And if they did then awesome.


I'm not even sure if we can demote him honestly.

[mrdonkey]

Huberdeau isn't just a normal, run-of-the-mill, bad deal for a veteran on the back 9 of his career. For one reason or another, his drop off in Calgary is setting NHL all-time records. I think that's worth discussing in any context.

We all knew that he was not likely to repeat his heyday Florida numbers, but I don't think even the most ardent Flames haters living in the deepest, darkest armpits of Edmonton would have predicted this kind of decline. It's 100% a mental thing that might not ever be fixable here. Sometimes a guy's values and skills don't align with the environment in which he works - city, team, or role - whatever. It's common in a lot of workplaces... but, in this case he's contractually obligated to that environment, with no forseeable escape, for a long time, and that burden can weigh heavy on a person's motivation, whether they realize it or not.

Similar thing seems to be happening to Johnny in Columbus. At what point does a swap start to look reasonable for everyone involved?

[Paulie Walnuts]

No thanks to bringing Gaudreau.

Send him to Chicago for Seth Jones and a 1st. He can help mentor Bedard now that Perry is gone.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

Huberdeau isn't just a normal, run-of-the-mill, bad deal for a veteran on the back 9 of his career. For one reason or another, his drop off in Calgary is setting NHL all-time records. I think that's worth discussing in any context.

We all knew that he was not likely to repeat his heyday Florida numbers, but I don't think even the most ardent Flames haters living in the deepest, darkest armpits of Edmonton would have predicted this kind of decline. It's 100% a mental thing that might not ever be fixable here.

Similar thing seems to be happening to Johnny in Columbus. At what point does a swap start to look reasonable for everyone involved?

Never.

Huberdeau has been looking a little better, but he still doesn’t know where he belongs, and hasn’t developed any chemistry with anyone.

Backlund and Coleman will get him through this stage, and eventually he’ll find his groove playing with a younger, speedier centre and a big-shot RW.

The longer he sticks it out here, the more endearing he’s going to be to the people of Calgary.

By the time the rebuild is in full swing, you will have story after story about what a good influence Huberdeau is on the young players, and how his resurgence is the result of sticking with it and never giving up etc.

If you’re looking for him to become 90 point Huberdeau with this lot, it won’t happen.

And that’s okay.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

No thanks to bringing Gaudreau.

Send him to Chicago for Seth Jones and a 1st. He can help mentor Bedard now that Perry is gone.

I have no love for how Johnny handled his exit. So I understand the sentiment, I really do. It was cowardly at best, scumbag move at worst.

But how else do the Flames solve their Huberdeau problem at this point? Nobody else in the entire league presents a realistic trade opportunity, and the guy is not getting bought out. So the only alternative is that you hope he turns it around at some point, out of nowhere.

My personal opinion, knowing what I do about human psychology and based on my own personal experience with similar circumstances, is that it just isn't going to happen here. I still believe Huberdeau is still an NHL star. You don't simply forget how to do your job the way it seems he has here.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by klikitiklik

Great win last night against Vegas.


Watching Huber'doh handle the puck is so frustrating. I'm not sure if the NHL keeps track of how many times one player turns over the puck but Every play dies on his stick.

He is just awful.

The team wins not because of him, but in spite of him. We have many who defend him for his effort but at what point do you take him out of the line up?


Send him down. Bench him. Who cares? Just get him away from the positive thing we have going. His body language is so negative and he seems completely emotionally checked out.

He barely participates in the celebration after a win.

Watching him on the bench hunched over and hiding his face is so unprofessional in my opinion.

I would not complain if the Flames sent him down to the Wranglers so he can once again have an appreciation of what it takes to make it to the show.


I've tried so hard to like this guy, but his play and body language lacks likeableness. Soft as butter. How is he on the first line?

Sorry Rant over. Again this is just my personal opinion on watching him "play". Many will not agree as he seems to be a great guy and advance stats may prove me wrong.

The on ice play is 100% frustrating at times.

But I really disagree with the bolded. Outside of the game where he was benched I feel like he's generally pretty good in the locker room, and with his body language. If anything his frustration is generally only towards his own play, but still remains excited for his teammates.

And really he's allowed to show frustration with his own play. If he was playing the way he has been and was sitting on the bench smiling and happy he'd get blasted for that too "Look at him, doesn't even care that he's playing bad, just happy to sit on the bench and collect his $10.5M".

He was one of the first guys off the bench to congratulate Weegar last night. Generally one of the most excited guys when anybody on the team scores, especially the young guys.

I am not seeing him being a bad locker room guy at all, actually seems like the opposite most of the time.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

The on ice play is 100% frustrating at times.

But I really disagree with the bolded. Outside of the game where he was benched I feel like he's generally pretty good in the locker room.

Was one of the first guys off the bench to congratulate Weegar last night. Generally one of the most excited guys when anybody on the team scores, especially the young guys.

I am not seeing him being a bad locker room guy at all, actually seems like the opposite most of the time.

Yeah, if the one thing you can’t hate Huberdeau for is that he actually does seem to care. Even when he was benched he was celebrating goals.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Never.

Huberdeau has been looking a little better, but he still doesn’t know where he belongs, and hasn’t developed any chemistry with anyone.

Backlund and Coleman will get him through this stage, and eventually he’ll find his groove playing with a younger, speedier centre and a big-shot RW.

The longer he sticks it out here, the more endearing he’s going to be to the people of Calgary.

By the time the rebuild is in full swing, you will have story after story about what a good influence Huberdeau is on the young players, and how his resurgence is the result of sticking with it and never giving up etc.

If you’re looking for him to become 90 point Huberdeau with this lot, it won’t happen.

And that’s okay.

It's okay, but I simply want to question if it's best for Huberdeau's sake to ask him to stick it out for an indefinite period of time, for the hope of a post-rebuild contender that may or may not ever arrive. He may have his own reasons for not wanting to be a Calgary Flame that we don't (and shouldn't) know about. So is a trade for his only contemporary strugglebus player a reasonable out for both? He's done everything a person can do to try and tough it out and be a professional, but the results still aren't there. That's why I think it might just be a mental block that he either isn't acknowledging or can't voice publicly.

It's absolutely understandable that there's baggage around Gaudreau in this city. But is it possible that Huberdeau and Johnny are two exceptional players stuck in the wrong environment? It's worth digging deeper into.

[PuckSlap]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Yeah, if the one thing you can’t hate Huberdeau for is that he actually does seem to care. Even when he was benched he was celebrating goals.

A 10.5 million dollar a year, cheer leader. Ra ra ra

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[Bonded]

Originally Posted by PuckSlap

A 10.5 million dollar a year, cheer leader. Ra ra ra

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Better than a 10.5 million dollar James Neal.

[PuckSlap]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Better than a 10.5 million dollar James Neal.

True enough. I definitely agree the team needs someone whos motivated and positive. But I wouldn't pay the wallmart greeter more then the manager

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[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

It's okay, but I simply want to question if it's best for Huberdeau's sake to ask him to stick it out for an indefinite period of time, for the hope of a post-rebuild contender that may or may not ever arrive. He may have his own reasons for not wanting to be a Calgary Flame that we don't (and reasonably shouldn't) know about. So is a trade for his only contemporary strugglebus player a reasonable out for both? He's done everything a person can reasonably do to try and tough it out and be a professional, but the results still aren't there. That's why I think it might just be a mental block that he either isn't acknowledging or can't voice publicly.

It's absolutely understandable that there's baggage around Gaudreau in this city. But is it possible that Huberdeau and Johnny are two exceptional players stuck in the wrong environment? It's worth digging deeper into.

Huberdeau signed the immovable, buyout-proof contract. He knew there was no certainty of success, but he had the chance to secure his family’s future for generations and he took it.

I don’t begrudge him that for a second - every one of us would’ve signed it in his position.

But now that he’s getting $110M Canadian to be a Calgary Flame, he’s gonna have to hunker down and figure out a way through this rough patch. He’ll be better for it.

He’s got a far better chance turning it around here than he does in Columbus.

And really, this team is not that far off from being interesting. They always have good middle six talent. Add a couple blue chip pieces, and if Zary/Honzek/JP1/JP2/Morin are all regulars, things can turn around in a hurry.

Like, based on where they are now, I don’t ever see this Huberdeau contract preventing them from doing anything they want to do.

Unless it’s something stupid like giving Lindholm $9M.

[Pekkerhead]

CP really should close this thread. Enough already with the Huberdeau bashing. He and the whole team are actually playing really well this month. If he was making less money we’d just spend that money on signing the UFA’s this year. So let’s be grateful he’s making so much.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by PuckSlap

True enough. I definitely agree the team needs someone whos motivated and positive. But I wouldn't pay the wallmart greeter more then the manager

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He was paid to the be the manager and isn’t playing up to it but the contract is locked in