The general consensus amongst NHL fans and media alike is that the Calgary Flames will struggle to win games this coming season. The organization has opted for a rebuild approach under general manager Craig Conroy, which may result in a tough stretch of hockey over the next few years.
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The majority of Flames fans seem to be on board with this approach, with many even hoping that the team does struggle in 2024-25. By doing so, they would wind up with an early pick in the first round of what is supposed to be a very talented 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
While the Flames roster on paper seems quite underwhelming, part of the reason they are expected to struggle comes due to the fact that their highest-paid player has struggled immensely the past two seasons.
Huberdeau’s Continued Struggles Will Help Ensure High Pick
Considering Jonathan Huberdeau still has seven seasons remaining on a contract with a monstrous $10.5 million cap hit, you would assume that it’s best for the Flames if he is able to get back to the dominate force he was for many years with the Florida Panthers.
As nice of a feel-good story it would be for the 31-year-old to snap out of his extremely-prolonged funk, it could hurt the organization as a whole. Huberdeau, when at his best, is a player who is capable of winning games nearly singlehandedly. Flames fans may laugh at that notion given what they have seen from him so far, but it isn’t as farfetched as it sounds.
In his final season with the Panthers, Huberdeau put up a career-high 115 points. That point total tied former Flame Johnny Gaudreau for second amongst all NHLers, trailing only Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. His 85 assists bested all his peers, proving just how dominate he was. He wound up finishing fifth in Hart Trophy voting, which, while impressive, felt like a snub as many felt he was deserving of being a top-three finalist. If he were able to get anywhere close to that level of production this coming season, it could have a serious impact on the Flames’ rebuild, and not in a good way.
This past season, the Flames were a team that was, in all likelihood, deserving of a higher pick than they wound up getting. The performance from the group as a whole was quite poor, but for a large chunk of the season, the brilliance of Jacob Markstrom kept them in the playoff hunt.
Markstrom’s play faltered following the trade deadline, with the team in front of him being largely dismantled by other moves. Still, his play through roughly the first five months of the season goes to show just how big of an impact star players can make for a team.
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The best-case scenario for the Flames organization as a whole is that the struggles for Huberdeau continue. Should he continue to hover around the 50-point mark as he has done the past two seasons, the Flames have a very strong opportunity to pick in the top five, if not the top three, at the 2025 draft. Picks that high often turn into elite franchise players, and the Flames simply cannot afford to miss out on that.
Flames Have Pivotal Season Ahead
While not in the way fans would have hoped, this season will be one of the most important the Flames organization has had in some time. Their goal is to be a competitive team once their new arena opens for the 2027-28 season, and being able to add a prospect selected in the top-five of the upcoming draft would go a long way in helping that goal becoming a reality. Because of that, fans should silently root for Huberdeau’s struggles to continue for at least one more season.
