i have never bought the excuse that he is an elite passer and has nobody to pass to. his work on the PP is invisible most times. I am not seeing him make great passes and guys just not finishing. his constant back passes really annoy me, for every time they work, more often the puck is turned over. Guy needs the heart of Lomberg or Coleman and he would at least be effective, not just going through the motions.
That doesn’t excuse his despondent play though. Surely he can see what you just posted as well. So he either bides his time as an effective winger in this system while he waits for such to players arrive, or he works hard to attract attention and get himself traded to a team that sees the same thing and has such players.
I just don’t see how his play helps anyone right now.
His play is helping the Flames. Winning isn’t the goal this season. I hope he stinks next season as well quite frankly. IMO this is the best season the organization has had since they began missing the playoffs. Finally making some progress to drafting difference makers.
I’m a lifelong Raiders fan and this is the happiest I’ve been since 2016 because the Raiders are picking 1st overall finally. The Flames picking 1st overall in the same calendar year would be maybe the best year of fandom since 2004 for me.
Last edited by Erick Estrada; 01-09-2026 at 01:27 PM.
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i have never bought the excuse that he is an elite passer and has nobody to pass to. his work on the PP is invisible most times. I am not seeing him make great passes and guys just not finishing. his constant back passes really annoy me, for every time they work, more often the puck is turned over. Guy needs the heart of Lomberg or Coleman and he would at least be effective, not just going through the motions.
Yeah, this is nonsense. His passes are often blind, back-passes or wind up in guys' skates or as turnovers.
He cant pass, he rarely shoots, barely uses his size and he's slow. Its no wonder Florida were willing to part with him, getting away from that roster he's been thoroughly exposed as a mid bit-part player.
The 'Wizard' just lapped that BS up.
Frankly, if you can get anything for him you jump at the chance. The last few games its been hard to tell if he's even been dressed and that includes the world's weakest penalty-shot attempt...
Ship him home to Habland...they can have him.
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To EE’s point, I assume anyone complaining and wanting to run Huberdeau out of town (much like the comments about Huska) are either not interested in rebuilding, or are evidence that the prediction that some people wouldn’t be able to handle an actual rebuild was true. Based on the poll results, I assume the latter comprise the vast majority.
When you’re a rebuilding team, especially one that wants to maintain the perception of being “competitive” while picking high, having high salary guys that severely under perform is a good thing, not a bad thing.
If Huberdeau suddenly finds the magic again after the influx of young talent, that’s a bonus. But for now he’s exactly the type of player you want in a rebuild. He can shelter young guys, help you meet the cap floor, but isn’t going to drag you out of the basement.
Yeah, this is nonsense. His passes are often blind, back-passes or wind up in guys' skates or as turnovers.
He cant pass, he rarely shoots, barely uses his size and he's slow. Its no wonder Florida were willing to part with him, getting away from that roster he's been thoroughly exposed as a mid bit-part player.
The 'Wizard' just lapped that BS up.
Frankly, if you can get anything for him you jump at the chance. The last few games its been hard to tell if he's even been dressed and that includes the world's weakest penalty-shot attempt...
Ship him home to Habland...they can have him.
Hahaha. They don't even want him.
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I gave him credit for trying, for a while he put in the effort, but once that stopped? It became abundantly clear that Treliving was sold a bill of goods.
Huberdeau sucks. Its no shocking surprise that Florida was uninterested in extending him and, once they jettisoned him, became an Elite team.
He's a Boat Anchor.
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It's a circular argument. Our scorers aren't consistent because they don't have an elite playmaker, but our elite playmaker isn't consistent because he doesn't have consistent scorers apparently. If it was so obvious that Huberdeau still had it in him to be an elite producer in the NHL, there would be multiple teams offering to take him for nothing, but I am positive that 31 other GMs are looking at him right now and saying nope, never. Even if they thought that they could perfectly engineer and replicate a situation where he could produce, no one wants a player making that much who needs so much specific attention.
I am reminded of that Florida Panthers Youtuber who commented on Huberdeau during his first season and Calgary.
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To EE’s point, I assume anyone complaining and wanting to run Huberdeau out of town (much like the comments about Huska) are either not interested in rebuilding, or are evidence that the prediction that some people wouldn’t be able to handle an actual rebuild was true. Based on the poll results, I assume the latter comprise the vast majority.
When you’re a rebuilding team, especially one that wants to maintain the perception of being “competitive” while picking high, having high salary guys that severely under perform is a good thing, not a bad thing.
If Huberdeau suddenly finds the magic again after the influx of young talent, that’s a bonus. But for now he’s exactly the type of player you want in a rebuild. He can shelter young guys, help you meet the cap floor, but isn’t going to drag you out of the basement.
Frankly amid all the whining about him, I don't think his game or effort are anything different than the rest of the team right now. Which isn't good, but watching the last couple games, he's no different than anyone else. They've all started 2026 just in a funk. Even Backlund and Coleman took their feet way off the gas. Kadri has phoned it in as much or more, so has Frost. Klapka didn't assert himself at all last night.
Last night Huberdeau had zero giveaways compared to a couple each for Kadri, Sharkey, Zary, Frost and Farabee. He only had one hit, but that was more than Kadri, Coronato, Lomberg (!), and Sharangovich.
The night before Huberdeau had a giveaway, but still that was less than Kadri and Sharangovich, and the same as every other forward in the top 6. Plus he led the team in shots with Coleman and Farabee (4 each).
I know he makes a lot, but as has been discussed a lot, that's pretty irrelevant. He's not playing very well, but I don't think it's him as much as the team at the moment. Name me a player who is playing well. There's maybe two or three names among the forwards this season.
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Frankly amid all the whining about him, I don't think his game or effort are anything different than the rest of the team right now. Which isn't good, but watching the last couple games, he's no different than anyone else. They've all started 2026 just in a funk. Even Backlund and Coleman took their feet way off the gas. Kadri has phoned it in as much or more, so has Frost. Klapka didn't assert himself at all last night.
Last night Huberdeau had zero giveaways compared to a couple each for Kadri, Sharkey, Zary, Frost and Farabee. He only had one hit, but that was more than Kadri, Coronato, Lomberg (!), and Sharangovich.
The night before Huberdeau had a giveaway, but still that was less than Kadri and Sharangovich, and the same as every other forward in the top 6. Plus he led the team in shots with Coleman and Farabee (4 each).
I know he makes a lot, but as has been discussed a lot, that's pretty irrelevant. He's not playing very well, but I don't think it's him as much as the team at the moment. Name me a player who is playing well. There's maybe two or three names among the forwards this season.
Sure he is. He is paid to drive play.
He is not 'every other forward' he is the highest paid player on the team and as such is held to a higher standard. A standard which he is not meeting. Frankly, not even trying to meet.
The guy with the biggest paycheque is also the one under the most scrutiny. So...eventually the time comes to stand and be counted.
He's playing like crap. You're right, so is the rest of the team. But he's playing like disinterested crap for $10.5M. The expectations are higher.
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He is not 'every other forward' he is the highest paid player on the team and as such is held to a higher standard. A standard which he is not meeting. Frankly, not even trying to meet.
The guy with the biggest paycheque is also the one under the most scrutiny. So...eventually the time comes to stand and be counted.
He's playing like crap. You're right, so is the rest of the team. But he's playing like disinterested crap for $10.5M. The expectations are higher.
The pay and cap hit is important if you wanted to trade him. Any veteran that isn't moveable is detrimental to the growth of the franchise over the next few years. A 40-50 point player making $5-6 million would at least be tradeable and would get you back a half decent asset to help the rebiggle.
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If things were different they’d be different. But they’re not.
It’s like the draft. Complaining about a guy because he’s a 3rd liner when he was drafted first overall ten years ago is completely asinine. Who cares? You can’t change it.
You can lament the contract making him immovable. But how much money he makes he totally irrelevant in evaluating his actual play.
Kadri isn’t a worse player today on the ice because he has two more years on his contract than would be ideal, right? lol
We all agree he is bad. We’d like to trade him. We can’t trade him because of the money. The money doesn’t matter.
The logic on this board sometimes.
No, the discussion we were having was actually about his play compared to the rest of the team's play. I argued it isn't different - the whole team is in the doldrums and he's no different. Locke suggests his pay is relevant on that topic and I say it's not. By that standard no one should ever complain about, say, Beecher or Kirkland because they are not paid much.
When I'm watching a game, I give zero thought to the salary of the players I'm watching. I just look at the plays each one makes, the mistakes they make, their effort, etc.
The discussion has nothing to do with trading him or not.
Last edited by GioforPM; 01-09-2026 at 02:52 PM.
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