“I feel like I’m at my best ever.”
That’s Jonathan Huberdeau’s assessment of where his game is at right now.
Not the best he’s played since the Calgary Flames acquired him in the summer of 2022. No, the best he’s ever been.
“I would say, especially on the other side of the puck, I’ve never been the best at that and I think right now I’m better, and I take pride in it,” Huberdeau explained.
There are people who will scoff at the notion that Huberdeau is currently better than he was in 2021-22, when he scored 30 goals and added 85 assists — the most ever by a left-winger in a season — for the Florida Panthers. And that’s fair enough.
Huberdeau’s numbers through 34 games this season don’t compare to those. He’s scored 13 goals and added 12 assists. He’s leading the Flames in points, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
He’s been playing on the penalty-kill since the start of the season, for one, and has shown substantial improvement on the defensive end.
Along the boards and on the forecheck, he’s looked like a new player.
And it has translated into an uptick in offence, too.
Through nine games in December, he’s scored five times and added six assists. That’s better than a point per game pace, for those who would prefer not to do any math on their Christmas vacation.
“I think he’s been really good all year for us, I don’t know if it’s just December,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “I’ve seen the same hard work from him (all year). He’s hard on his puck battles right now, he’s playing with pace, we saw the shorthanded goal he scored the other night.
“He’s doing a lot of things really well and I think it just goes to show you how important he is to our team. Offensively, yes, we need him to keep doing what he’s doing but the other side of it, as well, with the situations we have to use him in, he’s earned that opportunity because he’s done such a good job.”
Huberdeau’s game has seemed to come alive on the offensive end ever since he was put on a line with Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil. The Huberdeau-Kadri combo has been tried before and hasn’t necessarily worked out, but with Pospisil bringing speed and physicality to the right wing, Kadri looking like his old self and Huberdeau focusing on his 200-foot game, it’s clicking now.
That’s obviously hugely important for the Flames as they enter a critical stretch in their season before February’s Four Nations Face-Off. Huberdeau is their highest-paid player, after all, and he’s been left searching for answers as his game fell off throughout his first two years with the Flames.
By-and-large, though, 2024 has been a better year for the 31-year-old.
He’s put up 61 points in 79 games and has adapted his game to be about a lot more than just offence. That’s not necessarily easy for a player his age, especially one who has had so much success.
“I never thought I would have to change my game,” Huberdeau admitted. “When you’re playing and having success, you never think you’re going to have a down or a down year. I think it’s going to help me along the way, and that’s what I take pride in.
“I think as you get older you get a little slower and I think that’s when it’s going to come back that you can play both sides of the ice and that’s going to help me when I get older.”
Right now, that work is paying off.
Huska talked about how Steve Yzerman had to reshape his game midway through his career to become a better two-way player so that the Detroit Red Wings could get over the hump in the late-1990s. The Flames aren’t in the same position as the Red Wings were back then as far as being a contender goes, but they’re fighting for a playoff spot and Huberdeau’s play is part of the reason why.
“Super excited, it’s been a great month for him,” said Flames captain Mikael Backlund. “He’s such a tremendous player and to see him get out of his shell a bit and just go out and play and play with his swagger and his intelligence, it’s great to see.
“He’s such a smart player and great hockey IQ and it’s fun to watch him when he’s playing at the high level that he’s (been playing at). He’s a big key for our group, we need him to play that way and we need him to be driving our team and that’s what he’s been doing, especially lately, but all year I think he’s been playing really well.”