I’ll be short. I’ll be blunt. Jonathan Huberdeau is MIA for the Calgary Flames. We’ve reached the point where, as fans, our hands are in the air and any hope for a resurgence from the former 115-point scorer has all but evaporated entirely.
My Huberdeau optimism that I had at the beginning of the season is gone now.
— Auddie James (@auddiejames) December 13, 2023
I still feel for him, but he stinks. It has been a horrible, horrible start for him as a member of the #Flames.
I don't think he will ever get up to 60 points again.
He is currently on pace for 42.
Following last night’s disappointing loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild, Pat Steinberg’s FAN 960 post-game calls and text messages were flooded by disappointed and outraged fans at Ryan Huska’s decision to deploy Huberdeau in the shootout following another underwhelming performance from the $84 million forward.
Thanks to efforts from players like Blake Coleman, Noah Hanifin, Yegor Sharangovich, Connor Zary, and MacKenzie Weegar and others punching at or above their weight, the Flames have remained competitive in many of their recent contests. With even a handful of points from Huberdeau, including a couple that should have been easy to collect on grade A chances, it’s not crazy to say that his lacklustre contribution on the scoresheet could be at the top of the list of reasons why the Flames ultimately miss the playoffs at the end of the 2023-24 regular season (right alongside the power play).
Jonathan Huberdeau has seven years left on his contract following this season, is on pace for significantly lower production than last season (which was the biggest drop-off in year-over-year points by a player in NHL history), and is by far the highest paid player in franchise history.
This is terrifying – for fans and probably for the organization at this point, too.
What is the remedy for Jonathan Huberdeau?
Relying on French-speaking mentee Jakob Pelletier to return to the lineup and “spark” Huberdeau in a similar fashion to what the injection of Zary and Martin Pospisil did for Kadri is wild to me for a couple of reasons: (1) Huberdeau is far too broken for the solution to be so simple and (2) they play the same position, so I don’t think just having a little buddy in the room is going to wildly impact 10’s on-ice performance.
Huberdeau has skated on a plethora of line combos this season, including on the wing of all three of the club’s top centres and the team can’t afford to sacrifice the output of other players to maybe benefit Huberdeau. Juggling lines will probably continue all season, but changing them up just for 10 might be a lost cause at this point.
Unless the Flames are willing to try any of my more creative tactics to get him going, the last resort is to healthy scratch Huberdeau. Is it time?
Healthy scratching Huberdeau might allow him to see the game from another angle, reset mentally, alleviate any physical ailments we may not be privy to, and develop some hunger to get back in the lineup and meaningfully help his team.
On the other hand, healthy scratching Huberdeau will bring a spotlight with the power of a thousand suns to Calgary. If his confidence is splintered right now, a healthy scratch for the entirety of the hockey world to see and discuss ad nauseam could be the straw that shatters it into a zillion pieces.
It might not be time just yet, but it could be coming soon, especially if Huska and Conroy feel there are Wranglers knocking on the door with the potential to contribute more than Jonathan Huberdeau.