Player Discussion #10 Jonathan Huberdeau

[SlovakFlame]

He is locked in a long and expensive contract. Flames have decided to make him a key player and built a team around him. Now they HAVE TO find him the right linemates. There is no reason to keep playing Lucic with him with more existing options available (Pelletier, Ruzicka etc.).

 

[super6646]

 

[PapaQ]

Did they ever try to play him with Ruzicka? He usually adapts well when put on lines with better teammates.

 

[Felidae]

I agree with the bulk of what he's saying. But even before last year he was still consistently pacing for 90 points starting in 2018.

The overpassing, coasting.. yes, that's always been a part of Huberdeau. What he is not however, is a 50 point player. He hasn't been one since 2014, and even those years were better than what he's doing now since the early to mid 2010s were a noticeably lower scoring environment.

To put it simply, this is his worst season production wise since his sophomore year.

I truly don't think Huberdeau will be this unproductive going forward, but I've been wrong before.

 

[DFF]

Jonathan, you are the real deal

 

[Kranix]

Blowhard full of shit florida guy. Thanks for posting

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

What he is not however, is a 50 point player.

Well, evidently thus far he is one. I told this on the Panthers board like five years ago that Huby is probably most one dimensional player in the most narrowest category in the league. He needs linemates that can do the heavy-lifting for him and then finish the job by putting the puck into the net. He excels at making risky passes (doesn't make him a playmaker) which often creates turnovers at the o-zone blueline. In everything else he's below average.

The Cats' coaching/mgmt force fed him easier minutes and an excessive, at times unwarranted PP time in order to keep this facade of a great playmaker intact. He's fundamentally a very poor player but I think he'll turn it around after three, four years into his contract extension and just as the Flames' fans have gone through the five stages of grief, kinda like how it's been with Bobrovsky in Florida.

 

[Backlund]

I'm already wondering why he wasn't traded this off-season. I don't see his contract ending well in the slightest. Should've let some other team figure out how to maximize him, he isn't going to lead us anywhere. With all the problems Johnny had, he still can do more than Huberdeau.

 

[Felidae]

Well, evidently thus far he is one. I told this on the Panthers board like five years ago that Huby is probably most one dimensional player in the most narrowest category in the league. He needs linemates that can do the heavy-lifting for him and then finish the job by putting the puck into the net. He excels at making risky passes (doesn't make him a playmaker) which often creates turnovers at the o-zone blueline. In everything else he's below average

You know what I meant. This season is an outlier production wise until proven otherwise. Just like how last year didn't make him a 100 point player. If he starts being a 50-60 point player going forward then sure.

he creates chances for his teammates through his risky passes. How he does it is irrelevant when talking about whether he qualifies as a playmaker.

The numbers also support this. He's finished top 10 in assists 3 times (9th, 8th, 1st). Now whether his playmaking style has its limitations is a discussion to be had, but saying he isn't one is pretty out there to say the least.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Just like how last year didn't make him a 100 point player. If he starts being a 50-60 point player going forward then sure.

He can accrue anything from 50pts to 115pts... but I'm not just talking about the point totals. His lazy style of play doesn't bode well for the playoff aspirations of any team because in order to get him to 115pts pace you need to reorganize the team around him and he's not some plug'n play-type piece who immediately elevates a team to another level.

How he does it is irrelevant when talking about whether he qualifies as a playmaker.

If you take into account the numerous breakaway chances he created for the opposing teams with the Panthers then, yeah, he's a playmaker. However, if you subtract those instances from the amount of scoring opportunities he created for the Panthers then his impact was on par with some run-of-the-mill bottom6er. I know that most of the ppl on the Panthers board do not see it this way because for them it's all about point totals when it came to Huby and not about the overall style of play he created those points. imo Huby was a prima donna who expected the best possible treatment from the Panthers organization for the past five years and probably still doesn't get it why the Panthers had to string together multiple pieces to get Tkachuk.

Tkachuk traded to Florida

forums.hfboards.com

 

[MM917]

He is locked in a long and expensive contract. Flames have decided to make him a key player and built a team around him. Now they HAVE TO find him the right linemates. There is no reason to keep playing Lucic with him with more existing options available (Pelletier, Ruzicka etc.).

This isn't a shot at you because you could very well be right that those are the best (only?) options we have to try and get something to work with him internally but it is pretty scary that we are looking at ok-ish prosects that have shown very little as options to play with what should be our top player. What is even more scary is to think we might need to pay major assets to bring in to help getting a 10m guy going.

I did not like the move at the time because I thought the rebuild was the right way to go but even for the most pessimistic of people at the time of the trade this deal (both the trade and contract) have turned out worst than could have been expected.

I know people will say it is still early and there is plenty of time for him to make the contract look good but it is hard to see positives that would lead you to think that is going to happen.

 

[Felidae]

If you take into account the numerous breakaway chances he created for the opposing teams with the Panthers then, yeah, he's a playmaker. However, if you subtract those instances from the amount of scoring opportunities he created for the Panthers then his impact was on par with some run-of-the-mill bottom6er. I know that most of the ppl on the Panthers board do not see it this way because for most of them it's all about point totals when it came to Huby and not about the overall style of play he created those points. imo Huby was a prima donna who expected the best possible treatment from the Panthers organization for the past five years and probably still doesn't get it why the Panthers had to string together multiple pieces to get Tkachuk.

Tkachuk traded to Florida

forums.hfboards.com

Lol what? Him bleeding goals against has nothing to do with him being a playmaker or not. It's simply a description of the type of player he is. A player that creates chances for his teammates. The one thing he did at a very high level.

Just because his style of playmaking is more limited then say, Gaudreau or Crosby, that doesn't disqualify him from being a playmaker. There's multiple playstyles that can lead to setting up your teammates.

If you want to define a playmaker by how much they create chances for the opposing team through being a defensive liability, and subtract that with the amount of chances he creates. Then sure, but I'm pretty certain that is not the consensus on what a playmaker is. That's what most would call a defensive liability, which would be true in Huberdeau's case.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Lol what? Him bleeding goals against has nothing to do with him being a playmaker or not. It's simply a description of the type of player he is. A player that creates chances for his teammates. The one thing he did at a very high level.

Just because his style of playmaking is more limited then say, Gaudreau or Crosby, that doesn't disqualify him from being a playmaker. There's multiple playstyles that can lead to setting up your teammates.

If you want to define a playmaker by how much they create chances for the opposing team through being a defensive liability, and subtract that with the amount of chances he creates. Then sure, but I'm pretty certain that is not the consensus on what a playmaker is. That's what most would call a defensive liability, which would be true in Huberdeau's case.

Sry but if you can't see the majority of the ice well enough then that disqualifies the title of a playmaker. Just because Huby can see his teammates doesn't make him a great playmaker. If he were to cut back on those passes that the opposing players are gifted via easy interceptions then he would've needed to reduce the total amount of passes he made.

Haven't seen how Sutter wants the Flames to play but I'd reckon that the core issue with him is this: Sutter wants him to play it safe. (Paul Maurice commented about this when he was hired: making safer plays). This in turn means that his status as a "great playmaker" is over, at least as long as Sutter is their head coach because he needs a framework where he can cut corners and just focus on making risky cute little passes.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

oof.

Jonathan Huberdeau is on pace to break an unfortunate NHL record this season - The Win Column

Looking at Jonathan Huberdeau's drop in point production and comparing it to historical numbers in the NHL.

thewincolumn.ca

 

[BRobMint]

oof.

Jonathan Huberdeau is on pace to break an unfortunate NHL record this season - The Win Column

Looking at Jonathan Huberdeau's drop in point production and comparing it to historical numbers in the NHL.

thewincolumn.ca

I really hope he can turn it around. He seems like a genuinely good guy who was blindsided by a big trade. Has to adjust to a colder climate than the one he was living in. And has to adjust to a brand of hockey that he isn’t used to.

Now it’s not entirely Sutter’s fault for Huby’s disappointing season. But his coaching this year hasn’t exactly been helping him. The only positive I can think of is that Huby’s defensive analytics are the best they’ve ever been. But we ain’t pay the guy 10.5M to win Selkes

 

[DFF]

His passing skills is amazing. He finds guys nobody else can

Too bad his line mates can’t shoot let alone score

Also for 10.5 you need more than nice passes

 

[doorbag]

Reading this thread from the beginning until now is an absolute rollercoaster. Going from a 7pt gap from McDavid last year to nearly 100pt gap this season has got to be some kind of record. How does someone fall off like that?

 

[Tofveve]

His passing skills is amazing. He finds guys nobody else can

Too bad his line mates can’t shoot let alone score

Also for 10.5 you need more than nice passes

A small part of me can see that with the right mix and gelling with that mix, combined with confidence from all of that, he probably could be a high level player still. It's hard to believe 10.5 good, but yeah. Unfortunately I think it's probably going to be rough ride here because of how lacking the rest of this club is. Maybe we just had a really bad year. I think next year could tell a lot whether or not he survives and thrives in Calgary. Otherwise we're going to be creatively scrambling to solve this.

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

 

[Mobiandi]

Huberdeau more than deserved his boos last game but Huska also has this team playing idiotic hockey

Why Huberdeau has struggled in Calgary, and trends to watch this season

In his first season as a Flame, Jonathan Huberdeau's point totals dropped by 60 year over year. This season he has five points in 10 games and is a minus-11. So what's happened here? Vanessa Kezwer looks at some video to seek out root causes.

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[deleted user]

Blasting him on a hockey forum is one thing. I've done my share.. but I really, really hope he's not hearing it from the public at large in our city. You can criticise harshly without being rude or confrontational in person. I remember those stories Stajan had to say. Hopefully ppl stay classy if they see him out and about.

 

[Kranix]

I don't think he's ever recovered from the shock and betrayal of the trade, and the nice man who flew to montreal to have dinner with him and convinced him to stay is long gone.

 

[joescores]

Huberdeau more than deserved his boos last game but Huska also has this team playing idiotic hockey

Why Huberdeau has struggled in Calgary, and trends to watch this season

In his first season as a Flame, Jonathan Huberdeau's point totals dropped by 60 year over year. This season he has five points in 10 games and is a minus-11. So what's happened here? Vanessa Kezwer looks at some video to seek out root causes.

www.sportsnet.ca

He has been totally invisible.

 

[herashak]

Silver lining is that he’s untradeable and unbuyout-able, so unless he’s good with languishing on a bottom feeder for the rest of his career, he better stop training with random joes all summer

 

[Felidae]

This does a good job at explaining Huberdeau's struggles in Calgary vs how he was in Florida



Now I will say, Huberdeau's inability to adapt to different styles of hockey.. also an indictment on him as a player. I don't think other top tier playmakers would do as bad as him if they were in the same situation just because his skillset is limited compared to most.

Decent wrister but overall shot arsenal is meh, Skating is meh, puckhandling is pretty good, but with his skating it's hard to utilize it to full effect. Puck protection... believe it or not, he had his moments over the years, but nowhere near at a consistent level. And as you can see during his time here, he has trouble winning any puck battles.

Either way, it's a pretty bleak situation for him. He's only aging, and if ever Calgary changes their playstyle, by that time he might not even have it in him anymore.