Jonathan Huberdeau Admits First Year With Flames Wasn’t Fun
Nobody had a bigger drop in point production a season ago than Jonathan Huberdeau. During his final season with Florida, Huberdeau put together one of the best seasons ever by a left winger posting 115 points. Last year with Calgary, Huberdeau’s point total dropped to 55.
Which guy are we getting this year? I talked about that a lot in a recent fantasy hockey column. If you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic, it sounds like Huberdeau is in a much better spot this year mentally. It’s pretty clear that Huberdeau hated the now departed Darryl Sutter and claims that last year was pretty much the first year that he didn’t have fun playing hockey.
“I didn’t have fun last year,” he said during a recent appearance on the “Frankly Speaking” podcast. “I think that’s the first time in my career I kinda lost the passion, a little bit, to come to the rink and stuff like that. The way I was playing on the ice, it wasn’t me. It kinda frustrated me.
“I wasn’t myself in the room, too, with the guys, and I know I can be a funny guy and be good to be around the guys. I think this year, I’m more myself. I tried just to learn from last year … and come back this year and be me, be a leader in this room.”
Huberdeau, 30, is probably in a much better spot to succeed this year. Think about this… Huberdeau was coming off one of the best left winger seasons ever and Sutter deployed him at right winger for large stretches of last season. It doesn’t make any sense! Ryan Huska is the new head coach in Calgary and has slotted Huberdeau back to his top line left winger spot. I’d expect a better year from Huberdeau in 2023-24 and it sounds like he’s excited to prove he’s still an elite player.
“Last year was heavy all the time and stuff like that,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you’re not as in shape – I think it’s just mentally it drains you, and then it gets to your body. I think it’s just to be free mentally and just go out there, have fun.”
“You can feel everybody’s excited. Obviously, last year, we had a lot of expectations on our team,” he said. “This year, I don’t think that we have many. I think it’s a good thing – we’re going to be the underdog.”
The Flames better hope that Huberdeau can recapture his magic. He’s one of the best passers in the world and should be able to now that the toxic energy is gone. However, Huberdeau will enter the first year of an eight-year, $84-million deal he signed a season ago. Things could get ugly quick if that deal proves to be a stinker.
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