The Florida Panthers and former Calder Trophy winner Jonathan Huberdeau have agreed to terms on a two-year pact, according to The Miami Heralds’ George Richards on Thursday morning.
The deal is worth $6.5 million, according to Elliotte Friedman, with $2.5 million coming in the first year and $4 in the second. That’s a significant bump in the second year and sets Huberdeau up well for a nice pay day on his next contract.
The deal comes in just shortly before camp opens in Florida and sees the end of rumors that terms were considering an offer sheet on the young forward, who lead the team in scoring last season.
With Colorado’s Freddie Hamilton and the Islanders’ Brock Nelson signing new contracts last night, every significant RFA contract for all 30 teams has been signed and players are ready to report to camp.
Offer sheets are exceedingly rare, but even so, Florida being able to retain Huberdeau is significant for the franchise, who is building around a core of young players on defense and offense to bring some winning ways to Sunrise. Huberdeau is a significant piece of that puzzle.
In three NHL seasons — the three years of his entry-level deal — Huberdeau played 196 games, scoring 38 goals (including 14 in the lockout-shortened season) and 113 points.
Jonathan Huberdeau: 2 yrs at $2.5/$4M. 3rd highest 2 year deal coming out of Entry Level since 2004. #panthers #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) September 17, 2015
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Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.
