The Calgary Flames are in an interesting position heading into the 2024-25 season. Fans want to have hope as they have a strong forward core that could be playoff-bound, but they have failed to find any success as a group since they shuffled up their roster which started with the massive Matthew Tkachuk trade with the Florida Panthers back in 2022. The key return piece of that massive deal was forward Jonathan Huberdeau, who was coming off of a 110-point season and seemed to give the Flames a massive edge in terms of who ended up winning the trade. In hindsight, the Panthers came out on top as Tkachuk has elevated his game to another level and was a massive part of their first Stanley Cup in franchise history last season.
Related: Flames Should Target 3 Veteran Goaltenders in Trades
The Flames also received defender MacKenzie Weegar in the deal, who has been solid, but declined quite a bit in comparison to how he was playing before he left the Panthers. At the time, the Flames considered themselves strong contenders and after they lost the late Johnny Gaudreau in free agency when he chose to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets just days after the trade went through, they signed Nazem Kadri to a massive seven-year contract in hopes he could take on some of the offensive responsibility after he had played a huge role in the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup win in 2022.
Unfortunately, none of the players they brought in have panned out how they hoped. Kadri, Huberdeau, and Weegar have been good, but haven’t quite found that elite form they had with their previous teams. Many fans around the league believe Huberdeau’s massive eight-year extension he signed after joining the Flames is the worst-valued contract in the NHL. His average annual value sits at $10.5 million, making him one of the highest-paid players in the entire league.
In a recent article posted by Sportsnet, Huberdeau made it clear he was poised to find his old form that fans remember and love, with an altered summer program explaining he worked on his speed to try and keep up with a younger league. While it seems his confidence was shot when he was traded from the Panthers, he may finally have a chance to showcase himself and bounce back with an increased role as the Flames enter a brutal rebuild that will extend over several seasons.
Huberdeau Could Provide Leadership to Young Flames Lineup
The Flames will likely be shifting towards a youth movement over the next couple of seasons, which allows Huberdeau to provide leadership as a veteran to young guns who the Flames hope can become full-time NHL players by the time they’re in playoff contention again. Players like Jakob Pelletier, Andrew Basha, Parker Bell, and Lucas Ciona, who all could push to make the Flames’ lineup full-time over the next couple of seasons could learn a lot from Huberdeau, who has been in the league for a while and was at one time considered the best playmaker in the league.
Huberdeau is not a bad player by any means, but his decline has been painful for Flames fans who hoped he could help bring them back to the postseason, and he simply hasn’t fit in well. However, he can still produce well offensively and plays a strong defensive game. With some added confidence and less stress on a rebuilding team, he has been set up for success by the Flames’ coaching staff who seem prepared to put him in a leadership role both on and off the ice.
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