What to do with Huberdeau?

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Flames need to recruit a witch doctor.

Jobu 2.0

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Sadly this is becoming the Yankees and Arod.

At the time there was a suggestion in NY that fans needed to stop booing the guy because he played better when he wasn't stressed about the fans.

Huberdeau hasn't complained, but he's clearly lacking confidence, and I'm guessing social media turning on him (justifiably for his output / contract) likely isn't helping.

I would hope most pro athletes are smart enough to steer clear of fan-rage on social media.

[rollie619]

Originally Posted by timun

Player···············2021-22 Pts····2023-24 Pts (82-GP pace)
Connor McDavid···········123···········131
Johnny Gaudreau··········115············42
Jonathan Huberdeau·······115············41
Leon Draisaitl···········110···········100
Kirill Kaprizov··········108············73
Auston Matthews··········106···········106
Steve Stamkos············106············88
Matthew Tkachuk··········104············57
J.T. Miller···············99···········118
Mitch Marner··············97············97


My god that is absolutely spectacular.

Weager is having the best career out of anyone in the deal post-trade.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by rollie619

Weager is having the best career out of anyone in the deal post-trade.

Tkachuk absolutely lit it up last year. Surprised me. Weegar is having the best 2023-24.

[Igottago]

Huberdeau has had more than his fair share of opportunities to show something. Saying he hasn't been able to play with good enough players is bogus. He's had chances to play with the best goal scorer on the team in Lindholm and it didn't work. Huberdeau was supposed to be able to elevate other players, not be an anchor that needs to be lifted by others.

Seems some people are still grasping at straws to find some other reason for his abysmal play -- Sutter, the Flames organization, fans, Huska, the internet, the media, chinooks. At the end of the day the player isn't good enough, full stop. I don't care what he did in Florida 2 years ago. In a Flames uniform, he hasn't looked remotely exciting to watch or worthy of his contract, at any point. I can't recall a single game where I thought this guy looked like the real deal. He would be vastly overpaid at $5M, let alone $10.5M.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

I get the exact same sense.

I don't doubt that Huberdeau is giving it his all.

The downside of this is if Johnny decides to start giving more effort, he might just start to produce.

Huberdeau, not sure what else he can do.

Maybe there's effort still but I see a player who's gone soft as well. Not a lot of grit in Huby's game these days. A few nifty passes a game alone aren't going to pull him out of this rut. He needs to simplify and do other things competently, including playing up to his frame.

In his brief bump in production in November he was getting his nose dirty and being much more of a puck hound out there. Now we're back to hot grenades and one-and-dones. He needs to be more involved physically.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Huberdeau has had more than his fair share of opportunities to show something. Saying he hasn't been able to play with good enough players is bogus. He's had chances to play with the best goal scorer on the team in Lindholm and it didn't work. Huberdeau was supposed to be able to elevate other players, not be an anchor that needs to be lifted by others.

Seems some people are still grasping at straws to find some other reason for his abysmal play -- Sutter, the Flames organization, fans, Huska, the internet, the media, chinooks. At the end of the day the player isn't good enough, full stop. I don't care what he did in Florida 2 years ago. In a Flames uniform, he hasn't looked remotely exciting to watch or worthy of his contract, at any point. I can't recall a single game where I thought this guy looked like the real deal. He would be vastly overpaid at $5M, let alone $10.5M.

This is a mischaracterization of what people are saying, and the whole point of the thread. No one's trying to excuse the lack of production. No one is blaming other players. Saying what might help is just that - ideas on what might help the situation.

At this point, who cares what he was expected to do, or what his salary says he should do - that's just useless whining. You say "he's not good enough". OK, and so what? Thanks for your opinion on his performance, I guess. But that's all it is. It has nothing to do with this topic.

He's here for 7 more years. He's not moveable right now, and probably not for a long time. Not unless his performance improves. So how do you improve his performance?

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Maybe there's effort still but I see a player who's gone soft as well. Not a lot of grit in Huby's game these days. A few nifty passes a game alone aren't going to pull him out of this rut. He needs to simplify and do other things competently, including playing up to his frame.

In his brief bump in production in November he was getting his nose dirty and being much more of a puck hound out there. Now we're back to hot grenades and one-and-dones. He needs to be more involved physically.

Last night he was digging along the boards and corners all night long.

IMO That's actually the problem though, he's spending way too much time stapled to the boards. He's never going to be effective playing that game, they need to find a way to get him some open ice but they are anemic off the rush and don't really cheat to try to create odd man rushes at all (plus his skating has declined which hurts that too).

[rollie619]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Tkachuk absolutely lit it up last year. Surprised me. Weegar is having the best 2023-24.

I agree if you include the Playoffs. I just didn't think it was fair because the Flames didn't make it. Chuck was a Hart candidate though.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Last night he was digging along the boards and corners all night long.

IMO That's actually the problem though, he's spending way too much time stapled to the boards. He's never going to be effective playing that game, they need to find a way to get him some open ice.

He's not terrible on the boards - he wins the puck his fair share of times. But he's not fast so he doesn't get there in time as often as, say, Coleman or Sharangovich.

But yes, he needs more open ice (which a guy like Bennett created with his bull in a china shop routine). And yes, I really don't get "soft" comments. He goes into corners and in front of the net as much as any of the skill guys. He's in scrums, he's knocked guys down (to raspberries from the CP peanut gallery).

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by rollie619

I agree if you include the Playoffs. I just didn't think it was fair because the Flames didn't make it. Chuck was a Hart candidate though.

I don't even have to include POs. He had 109 regular season points - a career year. In 3 less games than his previous 104.

This year is another tale. 20 points, only 5 goals. 8 Flames have more goals than Tkachuk.

[Strange Brew]

Look it's unrealistic to come into this thread and start complaining that not enough people are offering suggestions. Even the people saying this are spending most of the time knocking other posters or defending his performance for things like winning a board battle or not missing the net in a shootout. These aren't suggestions either.

If you're going to have a discussion about Huberdeau, there's going to be some negativity since t fans can only offer so many suggestions. It's mainly on him to play better.

I don't really want our GM making a bunch of trades to acquire guys for the single purpose of trying to get Huberdeau going. I don't see that working and it's a sure way to get crappy trade value in return.

[dino7c]

Flames could use more speed and talent Huberdeau or no Huberdeau

if you can get a speedy vet basically free (Duclair) why not try it though? Getting Huberdeau going isn't just about now...even if the goal is moving him it's a lot easier to do if he looks a productive NHLer again.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

This is a mischaracterization of what people are saying, and the whole point of the thread. No one's trying to excuse the lack of production. No one is blaming other players. Saying what might help is just that - ideas on what might help the situation.

At this point, who cares what he was expected to do, or what his salary says he should do - that's just useless whining. You say "he's not good enough". OK, and so what? Thanks for your opinion on his performance, I guess. But that's all it is. It has nothing to do with this topic.

He's here for 7 more years. He's not moveable right now, and probably not for a long time. Not unless his performance improves. So how do you improve his performance?

I do think overall team performance is still more important than Huberdeau's individual performance. They shouldn't do whatever it takes to have Huberdeau succeed at the expense of other lines and team outcomes. Perhaps both are possible though.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Flames could use more speed and talent Huberdeau or no Huberdeau

if you can get a speedy vet basically free (Duclair) why not try it though? Getting Huberdeau going isn't just about now...even if the goal is moving him it's a lot easier to do if he looks a productive NHLer again.

This.

The goal of getting Huberdeau looking like a 80-90 point player again wasn't to keep him, it's to be able to move him.

Honestly though with these back to back seasons now I think moving him will be pretty much impossible unless you can find another situation where a team is desperate and are taking bad contract (or contracts) back for him.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Huberdeau has had more than his fair share of opportunities to show something. Saying he hasn't been able to play with good enough players is bogus. He's had chances to play with the best goal scorer on the team in Lindholm and it didn't work. Huberdeau was supposed to be able to elevate other players, not be an anchor that needs to be lifted by others.

Seems some people are still grasping at straws to find some other reason for his abysmal play -- Sutter, the Flames organization, fans, Huska, the internet, the media, chinooks. At the end of the day the player isn't good enough, full stop. I don't care what he did in Florida 2 years ago. In a Flames uniform, he hasn't looked remotely exciting to watch or worthy of his contract, at any point. I can't recall a single game where I thought this guy looked like the real deal. He would be vastly overpaid at $5M, let alone $10.5M.

Lindholm was never the best goal scorer on the team, he's not even on pace for 20 goals this year. It's very clear that he benefited from playing with Tkachuk and Gaudreau. He's never come close to that number any other season, and he wasn't even the best goal scorer last year when he had the opportunity to be the man. I guess linemates only matter when it's Huberdeau. He set up 3 or 4 prime chances just last night, if two of those go in people are saying "there's the Huberdeau we expected". But he's setting up Backlund, Coleman, and Kadri (though Kadri has been good since he got new linemates, because linemates matter).

Huberdeau has played with Lindholm for a handful of games, then spent the rest of time with Lucic and Backlund.

Again, I haven't seen anyone defend Huberdeau, or anyone say he's been good enough so these posts talking about his defenders are strange, it's almost like people aren't reading them.

There are no 10 million dollar players as bad as Huberdeau right now, but none of them have linesmates as offensively inept as Huberdeau either.

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Maybe there's effort still but I see a player who's gone soft as well. Not a lot of grit in Huby's game these days. A few nifty passes a game alone aren't going to pull him out of this rut. He needs to simplify and do other things competently, including playing up to his frame.

In his brief bump in production in November he was getting his nose dirty and being much more of a puck hound out there. Now we're back to hot grenades and one-and-dones. He needs to be more involved physically.

Have you not been watching? He hasn't been soft at all. He's been in the corners, he's been hitting people even. Problem he's not the one who should be doing that.

Huberdeau has more hits Dube, Rasmus, Tanev, Sharangovich, & Ruzicka. He has one less hit than Hanifan. He's not playing soft. I expected him to play way softer than he does to be honest.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

This is a mischaracterization of what people are saying, and the whole point of the thread. No one's trying to excuse the lack of production. No one is blaming other players. Saying what might help is just that - ideas on what might help the situation.

At this point, who cares what he was expected to do, or what his salary says he should do - that's just useless whining. You say "he's not good enough". OK, and so what? Thanks for your opinion on his performance, I guess. But that's all it is. It has nothing to do with this topic.

He's here for 7 more years. He's not moveable right now, and probably not for a long time. Not unless his performance improves. So how do you improve his performance?

You don't. That's up to him. Spending a significant amount of time, energy, assets and a good portion of the organizations future plans around getting him to be halfway decent is a waste.
I would hope the Flames are getting creative with ways to potentially move this contract along, as challenging as it might be.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Look it's unrealistic to come into this thread and start complaining that not enough people are offering suggestions. Even the people saying this are spending most of the time knocking other posters or defending his performance for things like winning a board battle or not missing the net in a shootout. These aren't suggestions either.

If you're going to have a discussion about Huberdeau, there's going to be some negativity since t fans can only offer so many suggestions. It's mainly on him to play better.

I don't really want our GM making a bunch of trades to acquire guys for the single purpose of trying to get Huberdeau going. I don't see that working and it's a sure way to get crappy trade value in return.

I think at this point though many people are at a loss as to what to do with him.

They have tried:

- pretty much every line combination looking for chemistry
- top line minutes
- 3rd line sheltered minutes
- 1st PP time
- benching him

There’s not much left outside of switching him to D.

[AustinL_NHL]

The only thing that's been suggested but hasn't been tested yet is acquiring Duclair, but that would be an absolute waste of an asset at this point in the season.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL

The only thing that's been suggested but hasn't been tested yet is acquiring Duclair, but that would be an absolute waste of an asset at this point in the season.

I don't think it would fix things anyway to be honest. What is lacking is a fit for Huberdeau at center, not on the wing.

-Lindholm not the most fleet of foot, and not a great puck carrier through the neutral zone. Also likes the find soft spots to try to release his shot, not really a guy that drives the middle of the ice creating chaos.

-Kadri can skate well, and attacks the middle of the ice to create that chaos. But isn't great at give and go's and quick passing plays. Holds on to the puck too much at times. (As an aside Zary has helped Kadri because he actually forces Kadri to play off the puck a bit more since he will carry through the netural zone).

-Backlund can skate well but is a poor finisher, and doesn't really attack the middle of the ice or the net with speed. Also they don't generate a ton off the rush because they don't cheat at all defensively and tend to want to generate more off the cycle and forecheck.

If you watch Huberdeau in Florida they would generate most offense off the rush. And it would generally be the center with strong puck carry through the neutral zone attacking the middle of the ice, dish to Huberdeau at the zone entry at the offensive blue line, and then continue to drive the center lane right to the net where Huberdeau would have time to then either hit that player in stride attacking the net or find the trailing winger or dman for an opportunity.

Depending who they move to center once Lindholm is moved I think that any of Zary, Sharangovich, or Dube playing center could actually be a fit at center ice with Huberdeau.