2024-25 Huberdeau - new and improved?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Sheva #7

Dude i'm not sure system is at fault for not being able to win battles and turnover the puck spinorama style on every play

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Yeah I don’t know why all these people trying to say it’s the team’s fault that he sucks

At this level of suck, it’s 100% on him. He doesn’t even produce 1/3 of expectation.

Yeah...blind passes and pucks-in-skates are on him. His highly-touted passing ability is complete BS.

Again, there is a reason Florida was more than happy to walk him to the door.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

We sure do read a lot about how he would produce more with better linemates. A statement which is true of every NHLer.

What team in the league who is trying to compete would put Huberdeau on one of their top lines?

The Flames

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

I understand it's buyout proof in terms of cap savings - but at a certain point, they can't keep having the guy around if these are gonna be the results.

If they buy him out in July 2028, these are his cap hits:

$8.111
$10.6
$6.111
$1.111 x3

So two more years of this, at most, before it becomes possible to ditch him.

The rest, I shan't dignify with a response.

You understand you are saving about $3M in salary and cap? That will not happen.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

You understand you are saving about $3M in salary and cap? That will not happen.

I think the Flames may need to consider swallowing the poison pill here much like the Wild did with Sutter and Parise. I don’t think that happens in the next two years but once they get to the point of having three years left on the contract, it needs to be an option unless, somehow, Huberdeau can prove himself to be a useful contributor. I can’t foresee a situation where he would still be a top 6 forward on this team by that point. His special teams mins will be with someone else. He could be a 30 point forward by then.

If Huberdeau can’t play or is replacement level (already is, at least recently) at an NHL level by then, what option do they have? Place him in the press box/13th forward? That’s not an acceptable solution either. I think a chance of a buyout was always part of the picture, it’s just going to arrive much earlier than expected.

The best off ramp the Flames might have at that time is a Lucic-Neal type trade but that’s years away.

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by TOfan

I think the Flames may need to consider swallowing the poison pill here much like the Wild did with Sutter and Parise. I don’t think that happens in the next two years but once they get to the point of having three years left on the contract, it needs to be an option unless, somehow, Huberdeau can prove himself to be a useful contributor. I can’t foresee a situation where he would still be a top 6 forward on this team by that point. His special teams mins will be with someone else. He could be a 30 point forward by then.

If Huberdeau can’t play or is replacement level (already is, at least recently) at an NHL level by then, what option do they have? Place him in the press box/13th forward? That’s not an acceptable solution either. I think a chance of a buyout was always part of the picture, it’s just going to arrive much earlier than expected.

The best off ramp the Flames might have at that time is a Lucic-Neal type trade but that’s years away.

He might be a 30 point forward now.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by dirk diggler

He might be a 30 point forward now.

Yeah...he might be lucky to touch 30 this season, forget about the future...

Unless they start handing out points for blind giveaways.

[FlamesAddiction]

I know signing bonus money is typically paid out yearly when the yearly contract kicks in otherwise it would be an exorbitant amount of money in one lump sum, but is that a hard rule do team have any flexibility on that?

For example, after this season, Huberdeau is owed $40.5 million in signing bonus money and only $12 million in base salary over the next 5 years. Could the Flames theoretically say hey, we'll give you the rest of your signing bonus and then we can mutually terminate the contact? As disappointing as Huberdeau has been, he would only need to sign a 5 year/$2.4 million AAV with another team to make up the difference which would probably be easy to do (in fact he could probably do better than that).

I am assuming you aren't allowed to do that, and I doubt the Flames owners would just cut a $40.5 million cheque, just wondering if it would be theoretically possible.

[Locke]

Lets do something that Locke is famous for!! Lets look at the bright side!!

Huberdeau sucks. His contract also sucks. The team? Mostly sucks. Its a giant #### sandwich.

However...Huberdeau himself isnt killing us. We're nowhere near a window of competition, nowhere near the Cap, its really not that bad of a situation all things considered.

We and the chucklehead pundits can 'hurr durr worst contract in the League' and thats not wrong, but its not like that contract is the single boat-anchor that is keeping this team down.

Now...I'd prefer just sitting him. Because Huberdeau sucks. He sucks now. He'll likely suck more in the future. He makes others around him suck. He's French which sucks. He's expensive which sucks and he's essentially stealing icetime from prospects that at least have the possibility of not sucking in the future.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

You understand you are saving about $3M in salary and cap? That will not happen.

Yes. I do. For three years - and then you’re basically rid of him. $1.1M against a $120M cap is inconsequential.

If you think nobody wants to watch Jonathan Huberdeau now, give it two more years.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Yes. I do. For three years - and then you’re basically rid of him. $1.1M against a $120M cap is inconsequential.

If you think nobody wants to watch Jonathan Huberdeau now, give it two more years.

Why not just keep him the three years and be actually rid of him instead of basically rid of him.

[VilleN]

I don’t think Huberdeau is a real problem… yet. I think he’s fine for say the next 2-3 years, when the cap may start to become a real problem. We don’t have any big signings coming up any time soon. Parekh - maybe in 3 years. This years draft pick? Not until 29/30 at the earliest. By the time we may need to add strategic UFAs, or a big UFA signing, we’re likely no longer paying Huberdeau. We signed the worst contract in history, but at the perfect time - thankfully I don’t think it’s going to do much damage to the franchise… in fact it’s probably helping the rebuild.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Why not just keep him the three years and be actually rid of him instead of basically rid of him.

That depends on how positive you view the rebuild. There’s a chance that 9.5 million in cap space could come in handy. I don’t think the turnaround will be that quick personally but who knows.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Why not just keep him the three years and be actually rid of him instead of basically rid of him.

If he's a viable player, sure.

If he's the fringe 30/30 all-situations winger he was last year, then you let the contract play out.

But let's not pretend this can't get uglier - if he's this bad next year, they have to look long and hard at buying him out, and if he's even worse the year after that, they have an obligation to do it.

Again, this is the owner's mistake. The owner is on the hook to fix it. There's a reason Huberdeau got the exact same number they offered Johnny.

I don't care if they hate paying guys to not play for them - Huberdeau barely plays for them now.

It removes the distraction, and with the state of the cap and the state of the roster, it doesn't impact their ability to do anything.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by 5abi

It’s crazy to think that because he did it work out is why the flames suck and now he’s the ideal tank commander

I disagree entirely. IMO the reason the flames suck is because we didn't want to throw out "team culture" and build around the loud new guy, who was asking for us to make him captain and build around him. Instead, we favored vets who told him to calm down and not play like himself. So he took the hardest path to get himself out of town to somewhere that would let him control the room. And now he has 2 cups without us.

Let's not make this same error with Parekh.

[GioforPM]

I've been out of this whiny thread because I'll be called a Huberdeau defender. So to start with, he's obviously not producing anywhere near what he should or could be - injury, linemates, losing his steam, whatever.

But there's a lot of hyperbole about how bad he is exactly. A lot of things that are glossed over or even praised for other players are called mistakes for him. A shot that misses, a 50-50 board battle that he doesn't win, a puck thrown to the net hoping for a linemate to tip or shoot, are all called giveaways, when for any other player, they are just plays. Look at Gridin - he had a night that looked a lot like Huberdeau's the game before - he made a number of passes to the slot that were picked off, never reached the target or were simply blind passes. He was on the wrong end of most of his 50-50 board battles. he was close to good chances, but didn't convert. And he made one eggregious play that led to the first goal. But people said he had a decent game and sure didn't call him a replacement level/fringe/AHL level player. And I agree with that assessment. The same could be said about a bunch of guys in the last game.

And yes, more is expected from Huberdeau as a veteran, and yes, he makes a lot of money (which is not impacting the team at all). But he doesn't usually cost the team goals against (like, say Bouchard) - he just doesn't have his production where it should be. So, unless someone is stepping in to produce more (and still not be a defensive liability) there's no real reason to do anything drastic like a bad buyout. And right now, there's no one I can see who would step in as a LW and produce more.

As for "distractions" - that's in fans' heads. There's no indication he's a distraction on the team.

[PaperBagger'14]

^^^

[Saqe]

Buyout would free a roster spot for a young guy. Also on the PP. That's the best gain from it.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Huberdeau becomes less of a problem if the Flames draft Mckenna. I think McKenna is best served going back to the NCAA for another season to work on his weaknesses as well as to bulk-up a bit for the NHL, as I wouldn't want him to have the type of season Jack Hughes had in his rookie year.


Still opportunity cost and definitely touches Huberdeau's last year, but only affects a year. The last year of a deal is when a contract is most easily traded away, or LTIR'd, or bought-out if absolutely needed.


Not saying that the Flames should draft McKenna due to Huberdeau of course - that's silly. Just saying that if they do draft McKenna, it does help with the problem somewhat. Everything else still stands, however - Conroy still has less flexibility and he also absolutely can't make a single mistake on another big deal - no room for error.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Locke

Lets do something that Locke is famous for!! Lets look at the bright side!!

Huberdeau sucks. His contract also sucks. The team? Mostly sucks. Its a giant #### sandwich.

However...Huberdeau himself isnt killing us. We're nowhere near a window of competition, nowhere near the Cap, its really not that bad of a situation all things considered.

We and the chucklehead pundits can 'hurr durr worst contract in the League' and thats not wrong, but its not like that contract is the single boat-anchor that is keeping this team down.

Now...I'd prefer just sitting him. Because Huberdeau sucks. He sucks now. He'll likely suck more in the future. He makes others around him suck. He's French which sucks. He's expensive which sucks and he's essentially stealing icetime from prospects that at least have the possibility of not sucking in the future.

If anything, his contract is a blessing. It allows them to bring a bunch of kids in on ELCs where they literally can't be paid anymore than a maximum of a million bucks plus bonuses for a few years. You need someone to help them get to the cap floor in the early days of the rebuild.

2 or 3 years down the road he's likely going to be a prime candidate for a buyout, but until then, he's doing a fantastic job of fixing the salary structure of a young team.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

If anything, his contract is a blessing. It allows them to bring a bunch of kids in on ELCs where they literally can't be paid anymore than a maximum of a million bucks plus bonuses for a few years. You need someone to help them get to the cap floor in the early days of the rebuild.

2 or 3 years down the road he's likely going to be a prime candidate for a buyout, but until then, he's doing a fantastic job of fixing the salary structure of a young team.

Except teams do get pay with draft picks for picking up bad contracts

Huberdeau is just a complete negative, no way to spin it