The Calgary Flames aren’t expected to be a good team in 2024-25, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have several players fans around the league won’t be monitoring. Many are intrigued to see how goaltender Dustin Wolf will fare, as well as some other young talent including Connor Zary and Matt Coronato.
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The same can be said for veterans such as Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman, who many wonder whether they can continue the same strong play they showed in 2023-24. That said, the player everyone seems to be talking about yet again is Jonathan Huberdeau.
Before joining the Flames ahead of the 2022-23 season, Huberdeau was viewed as one of the best point-producing wingers in the entire NHL. He was joining the Flames after a career-high 115-point season, and though those numbers weren’t expected to be repeated, most believed 100 points per season was manageable.
That has failed to be the case, as the 31-year-old has put up a shockingly-bad 107 points in 160 games. For some players, those would be solid stats, but they are extremely disappointing for a player commanding $10.5 million per season. While some seem to have written off the chance of him becoming a top-tier producer again, there are some who believe he can turn things around, including one notable Flames insider.
Valji Predicts Big Year From Huberdeau
Speaking with Jay Onrait roughly two weeks ago, TSN’s Salim Valji expressed some major confidence in Huberdeau. While he made it clear he doesn’t think he will reach the same highs as he had in his final season with the Florida Panthers, he believes he can be close to a point-per-game player in 2024-25.
“I think Jonathan Huberdeau is really going to benefit from that lack of expectation,” Valji explained. “Now, the pressure is off, no one expects him to be that Florida Panther that he was for such a long time. I think 70 to 80 points is a really good season from Jonathan Huberdeau, while he continues to evolve that 200-foot game.”
That’s certainly a ringing endorsement from Valji, and one fans of Huberdeau will love to hear. As far as to whether it can actually happen, however, has varying reactions from many.
Flames Don’t Possess Many Weapons
An issue for Huberdeau going into the season, and what has plagued him through his first two campaigns with the Flames, is that he is on a roster that doesn’t have many weapons. That was far from the case during his time with Florida, who boasted many star calibre players up front, and have since played in each of the past two Stanley Cup Finals.
Related: Flames’ Jonathan Huberdeau Committed to Finding Old Form
The argument to that point is that a player commanding $10.5 million should be the main weapon, and shouldn’t need other star players around him to produce points. It’s a valid observation, though, for a player whose confidence has been shot down as much as Huberdeau’s over the past two seasons, that having some star talent alongside him could go a long way in helping that confidence return.
Huberdeau’s Elite Skill Remains
On the other side of the coin, you have a player in Huberdeau who, at 31 years old, should still be in the prime of his career. As mentioned, this is a player who was among the league leaders in many offensive categories for several seasons with the Panthers. Skills like that don’t tend to fall off as quickly and dramatically as they have for him, indicating this could be more of a lengthy slump than anything else.
Now that he has had another seasaon to become more comfortable in his new surroundings, this may finally be the season that Huberdeau proves to Flames fans how good he is capable of being. As Valji mentioned, there is no real pressure on himself or the Flames as a whole this season, which could work to his benefit. That would be a major win to Flames fans, who have been praying to see him turn his game around to make his contract look much better than it has thus far.
