Though things haven’t gone his way the past two seasons, Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau believes he can turn it around.
Huberdeau was acquired during the 2022 offseason in a trade that saw Matthew Tkachuk head to the Florida Panthers. Huberdeau was coming off of a career-best 115-point season, which resulted in the Flames signing him to an eight-year, $84 million deal.
Since joining the Flames, Huberdeau has managed just 107 points over a combined 160 games. Recently, the 31-year-old sat down for an interview with La Presse, where he tried to explain why he believes things haven’t gone his way in Calgary.
“I’m definitely hard to trade. I knew that when I signed the contract, but I didn’t know how it was going to go,” Huberdeau said in French (translated with Google Translate). “I thought I was going to produce points, that it would go well, but the defensive system didn’t help.
“I know I’m worth the contract. Several factors didn’t help me, and it’s up to me to get out of it.”
With a cap hit of $10.5 million, Huberdeau is considered by many to have one of the worst contracts in the NHL given his lack of production the past two seasons. Because of that, he is not only on a rebuilding team once again, but is essentially untradeable given his hefty salary.
Being on a rebuilding team is obviously not something he desires at this point in his career. The fact that he saw his former team win it all this year certainly hasn’t made that easier.
“It’s tough to see guys lift the Cup,” Huberdeau said. “You think, I was there for 10 years, during tough times. But that’s how you build a team. When you’re young, you don’t care, you just want to build your career. Now I’m back in that situation, but a little bit older.”
Over his four final seasons with the Panthers, Huberdeau was one of the game’s best offensive producers. If he were able to get back to that same level, it wouldn’t only help the Flames in terms of winning some more hockey games, but could also help garner some trade interest.
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