Wednesday night was another game that could be had for the Flames as they dropped a 2–1 decision to the hands of the Seattle Kraken. The Flames dominated all night long but couldn’t find the net past the first period to tie the game despite their best efforts.
It also marked the 12th straight game in which Jonathan Huberdeau failed to record a point—he looked much better against the Kraken but was still unable to find the scoresheet. It has become apparent that the experiment with Huberdeau next to the team’s captain Mikael Backlund and leading point-scorer Blake Coleman is just not working. While Backlund and Coleman have been having good seasons of their own, it is time to move Huberdeau off that line to try and create any spark.
The Flames need production from Huberdeau
There was a very logical reason as to why Ryan Huska decided to put Huberdeau alongside Backlund and Coleman a little way back: get him to play more simple hockey in hopes of igniting his game. Huberdeau had some good games with the two vets, but obviously, he has not found the score sheet in the last 12 games and is seemingly playing the worst hockey of his career.
Backlund and Coleman are considered “old reliables” on this team, meaning anyone can be put with the two of them and they can produce or play the best hockey that they have played. Andrew Mangiapane had his best season to date on the flank with the two of them a couple of years ago.
The problem with Huberdeau being there is that Backlund and Coleman are usually deployed as a hard matchup line against other teams’ top players. Huberdeau is not a great defensive player, and without the offensive production to offset that, he is just out there, not really producing or helping the team.
He has just been a liability most nights, but when you play with the team’s two most responsible players, those flaws get hidden a little bit. But, you also do not want to limit the minutes of Backlund and Coleman at five-on-five, they are both fantastic even strength players—maybe the team’s best—so they have to continue feeding those two big minutes, especially with how Coleman has been playing this year.
The Flames are paying Huberdeau $10.5 million per year, they can’t have him playing in a role that is more defensive than offensive, they need to put him in a trio that can help him create more offence.
What are the next options for Huberdeau?
Since last year, Huberdeau has played with pretty much every player on the roster—they have tried him everywhere and nothing has worked. So, what are the options that the Flames have they can try? First off they can try going back to Huberdeau and the wing with the aforementioned Mangiapane and Elias Lindholm. Those three put up solid on-ice metrics together, and the current line that includes Yegor Sharongovich has been getting run over as of late, so it might be worth a try at getting those guys another shot.
The line that I think has the potential to work is putting Huberdeau with Nazem Kadri and Connor Zary. They had one brief shift last after a penalty kill and it was a fun shift to watch. Huberdeau made some fantastic passes that came straight out a of book from his Panthers days, and they created a couple of chances in a short time together.
Zary was able to help Kadri reach his past form to get him back on track this season, and maybe he can do the same Huberdeau. While Martin Pospisil has done a solid job on that line, throwing Huberdeau’s skill in there could give them a little more scoring power if Huberdeau is able to figure it out. It sure is a big if, but at this point, anything is worth a try. Maybe Zary can be the lynchpin that Huberdeau needs to finally unlock the skill we have been waiting for since he was brought in from the Panthers just under two years ago.
The Flames and Huberdeau need to work it out
Huberdeau is stuck as a Flame, and the Flames are stuck with Huberdeau. Neither party may like where they stand in all of this, but the reality is that this relationship is in year one of eight (or two of nine, depending on how you want to look at it), and unless there is some miracle of circumstance, they will be with each other for the entire time. So, the team and Huberdeau need to make this marriage work one way or another.
If that means splitting up Huberdeau from the team’s most reliable skaters and trying (yet) another combination for the 84-million-dollar-man, then so be it. They need to find some solution or the Flames will have even more problems on their hands than they already do.
