There is always an interesting storyline out of the home of the Stampede, Calgary, Alberta. Everyone in Calgary would love to see Jonathan Huberdeau have big offensive stats this year coming. In contrast, the Calgary Flames may lack the type of offensive spark to light the proverbial fire under Huberdeau.
How Did We Arrive in This Situation for Jonathan Huberdeau and the Calgary Flames
To that point, the 2021-22 version of the Flames team seemed to easily advance up through to the second round of the playoffs. However, the team came up short against their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, and thought it was time for a retool. That was what led to having Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk leave Calgary in the offseason. The General Manager at the time, Brad Treliving, did wonderfully bringing in suitable replacements. Powered by his big stats from 2021-22, Jonathan Huberdeau seemed at the time to be a great pickup. They also added the skilled, veteran centre Nazem Kadri. Unfortunately, things don’t always work out, and they haven’t for the Flames and Huberdeau in particular.
Perhaps we can dig in on Huberdeau’s situation and find a solution. If we analyze Jonathan Huberdeau’s stats from 2021-22, we will see if we can find answers to help revitalize him. If we recall, he holds the NHL single-season assists (85) record for left wingers from that season. In terms of all-time scoring records, there is something to consider here. The assist record list is very interesting to check out for the players contained in it. For example, Denis Savard appears on the top 50 list three times, with three seasons of 86 or more. Like many great players’ great seasons, big personal career single-season point totals seem to be sparked by both each big goal and assist totals. For example, Connor McDavid‘s 153-point 2022-23 season, was powered by, at the time, career-highs in goals and assists. He has since past that total with his 100-assist 2023-24 campaign. Another of the main examples is Mario Lemieux‘s 199-point season, which lives on as career-highs in both goals and assists from that year. Huberdeau’s 30 goals from that campaign were also tied for a career-high for him personally.
Jonathan Huberdeau’s Big Stats Season in South Beach
Therefore, in order to put up big offensive numbers, you need to play with a certain confidence. The knowledge of knowing that your line will generate offence, and eventually finish. No matter who it is touching the puck last. Back to 2021-22 for a moment. According to moneypuck.com, Huberdeau’s main even strength line that year was with Anthony Duclair and Sam Bennett. Duclair ended up with 58 points and Bennett had only 49. One reason that Huberdeau’s tremendous point total seems like such an outlier, is that he outpaced his linemates so greatly. The Panthers had five forwards, not including Huberdeau, to score 24 or more goals that year. Everyone had confidence and they seemed to spread the love around. Moreover, Huberdeau just seemed to perform at extreme efficiency, in particular on the power play. Now, current Flames GM Craig Conroy would love nothing more than to have Huberdeau once again lighting it up, this time in 2024-25.
How Great of a Two-Way Player Is He?
When you think of Jonathan Huberdeau’s 2023-24, he had a decent season. He scored 12 goals and added 40 assists for 52 points in 81 games. It is difficult to be considered a two-way forward as a winger. But that is what Huberdeau tries to be. Look at the impact of Roope Hintz on the Dallas Stars lineup as they currently battle in the playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers currently trail to Hintz’s Stars 2-1 in their best-of-seven Western Conference Finals showdown. Hintz just seems to make the players around him better, and Jason Robertson just scored a hat trick in Game 3 to prove it. Hintz had missed the previous four Star games, which saw Robertson subsequently fail to reach the goal column. That continues to be a debate on Huberdeau’s game, can he generate offence on his own, or does he need the type of superstar point-getter on his line to do that for him?
Oilers vs Stars Game 3 From the Albertan Capital
Can the Calgary Flames Roster Provide the Spark Huberdeau Requires?
Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund are excellent players in their own right, but Huberdeau needs snipers. The Florida Panthers attack in 2021-22, seemed to come at teams in waves. That is something that the Calgary Flames offence is not capable of in its current form. Therefore, their top forwards will need to adjust accordingly. Having Andrei Kuzmenko come over from the Vancouver Canucks ahead of the trade deadline seemed to reinvigorate the Flames forward group. He teamed up with Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich to have a great line for the Flames with an xGoals% of 64.3 in over 100 minutes played together. Another player who had great analytics offensively was Andrew Mangiapane. The point production wasn’t there for him with 40 points in 75 games. This is a guy who put up 35 goals in 2021-22. But the Flames still have a lot of good pieces up front in order to build upon.
The key with Huberdeau to remember is his commitment as a two-way winger. Previous Head Coach Darryl Sutter had started that journey for the offensively gifted left winger. Now coach Ryan Huska and the rest of the Flames are relying on Huberdeau to provide that excellent two-way play that he is capable of producing. Expectations of playoffs shouldn’t be super high for the group, so maybe it will be a chance to just play. Go out there and see what kind of numbers you can put up. The talent is there, we will just have to wait and see if Huberdeau and the rest of the Flames forwards produce in 2024-25.
Main photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
