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Jonathan Huberdeau

Calgary Flames End Of Year Updates

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Despite not making the postseason, the Calgary Flames had a promising year. The team improved by 15 points compared to last season but narrowly missed out on the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, losing to the St. Louis Blues based on the first tiebreaker, regulation wins.

After establishing a solid foundation, this offseason is crucial for the organization to continue progressing in the right direction. First and foremost, General Manager Craig Conroy and staff must determine which players they plan to keep around for the long haul.

Outside of phenom netminder Dustin Wolf, there is no more important extension candidate in Calgary than defenseman Rasmus Andersson. If nothing changes this summer, Andersson will enter the 2025-26 season on the last year of a six-year, $27.3MM contract signed with the Flames in 2020. As long as the Flames are interested, an extension should be completed sooner rather than later, as Andersson indicated back in January that he hopes to remain in southern Alberta.

Not being extension eligible throughout the 2024-25 season, Andersson will start actively contemplating an extension after playing for Team Sweden at the 2025 IIHF World Championships, per Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg. It’ll be the first time Andersson has played in the World Championships, having last played for Team Sweden during the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

It is somewhat surprising that Andersson will continue playing throughout the summer, considering he played the final few weeks of the regular season with a broken fibula, according to Wes Gilberton of Postmedia. Still, it gives important context to Andersson’s slow finish to the regular season, scoring one goal and three points in 11 games with a -12 rating.

Andersson certainly wasn’t alone in being injured. TSN’s Salim Nadim Valji reported that captain Mikael Backlund tore his oblique and maintained rib and back ailments throughout the regular season. Furthermore, Steinberg shared that forward Yegor Sharangovich broke his foot in the team’s final game on Thursday, which landed him in a walking boot at today’s press availability.

The injuries aren’t expected to carry into next season, but they’ll preclude Backlund and Sharangovich from participating with their native countries in the World Championships. Still, the Flames will have plenty of participation, as Matthew Coronato will play for Team USA (Twitter Link), MacKenzie Weegar will play for Team Canada (Twitter Link), and Daniel Vladař will play for Team Czechia (Twitter Link). Dissimilarly, Steinberg shared that Jonathan Huberdeau won’t play for Team Canada, indicating that he denied an invitation from the team.

Circling back to Calgary’s devisement of strategy heading into the offseason, a few players indicated they’d love to re-sign with the Flames if afforded the opportunity. Defenseman Joel Hanley (Twitter Link) and Vladař  (Twitter Link) were adamant on their desire to remain with the organization, with the latter having had contract talks throughout the regular season.

Sportsnet’s Logan Gordon reported that pending restricted free agent Morgan Frost wants to remain with Calgary, but the team hasn’t engaged in conversation regarding a new contract. Frost’s contract situation could become convoluted through the summer, given his lackluster play with the team after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers. Still, he’ll only require a $2.4MM qualifying offer to retain his rights, which the Flames can do comfortably.

Before going through a full offseason, Calgary doesn’t appear ready to compete for a top-three spot in the Pacific Division. Still, if this year wasn’t an apparition, and the Flames can repeat their performance from last year and the younger players continue to raise their games, it wouldn’t be a major surprise for Calgary to become a legitimate postseason contender for next season.

West Notes: Huberdeau, Pelletier, Blackhawks

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Jonathan Huberdeau’s tenure with the Flames has been wildly underwhelming, to say the least. The 31-year-old winger has been limited to 27 goals and 107 points in 160 games – decidedly fringe top-six production – since being acquired from the Panthers and signing an eight-year, $84MM extension.

The former Calder winner and once-elite playmaking winger is hoping a new offseason training regimen can help spur a rebound this season, he tells Aaron Vickers of NHL.com. “[I’m] really happy with the summer that I had,” he said. “It’s probably my best summer of training that I’ve had. I just have to translate that onto the ice. I skated more in the summer as well, so I feel better.”

“The confidence is back,” he continued. “I just have to relay that to here with the guys. And I think this year I want to bring fun to my game. That’s what we need to be. I think we’ve just got to make it fun as a team. You never know. We can cause some surprises.”

A resurgence in production will be difficult with a depleted Flames roster amid an aggressive retool, influenced in large part by Huberdeau’s struggles the past two seasons. He’ll likely be centered by Nazem Kadri, whose more palatable $7MM cap hit and strong showing in 2023-24 has made him the subject of trade rumors this summer, to begin the year.

Other notes out of the Western Conference:

  • The Flames have made some progress on a new deal for restricted free agent winger Jakob Pelletier, general manager Craig Conroy said today (via Danny Austin of the Calgary Sun). A report from TSN’s Salim Nadim Valji last week indicated there was still significant legwork to be done to reach an agreement, but Conroy is fully confident they’ll get a deal done before training camp begins next week. The 2019 first-rounder had shoulder surgery just before the beginning of last season, delaying his season debut until late January. He logged a goal and three points in 13 NHL games with the Flames and 12 points in 18 games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
  • The Blackhawks are amid the league’s most successful ongoing rebuild, opines Corey Pronman of The Athletic. They’re the most likely out of the league’s current bottom-feeders to be quality contenders with their current core of prospects and youngsters amassed, he says, also citing their ability to become a premier free-agent destination when they’re a bit closer to returning to playoff contention.

Snapshots: Norris, Contracts, Maple Leafs

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Pat MaGuire of The Hockey News writes that Ottawa Senators center Josh Norris appears to be healthy and set for NHL training camp in September. The 25-year-old wasn’t in the same position a year ago and spent much of the season chasing things before his season ended this past February. Norris underwent his third shoulder surgery, leaving plenty of question marks about whether or not he will be available for the entirety of this season.

Norris was initially acquired from the San Jose Sharks in the Erik Karlsson trade and blossomed into a 35-goal scorer in 2021-22, he then signed an eight-year $63.6MM contract extension and has only played in 58 games since then over the past two seasons. The Senators will be counting on a healthy Norris this season as his absence has negatively impacted their forward depth the last two years. A healthy Norris allows for Ottawa to deploy Shane Pinto on the third line which creates a better balance throughout their top nine forward group.

In other notes from around the league.

  • Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic released a list of the ten worst contracts in the NHL. Unsurprisingly, Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau and his seven years at $10.5MM annually topped the list. Luszczyszyn’s modelling showed that Huberdeau’s projected value was just $4.9MM annually making his contract the worst value in the league. Chandler Stephenson and Tom Wilson rounded out the top three worst contracts. Stephenson’s deal with the Seattle Kraken is just two weeks old and could turn out to be a disaster if the modelling is correct. Wilson on the other hand has seven years left on his deal that will carry him from age 30-37 and the modelling predicts he will be a third-line player by the third year of the deal.
  • Seattle Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour spoke with TSN OverDrive to discuss his recent run through free agency. Montour told Mark Roe and Frank Corrado that he talked with the Toronto Maple Leafs about signing in Toronto. Montour added that he was excited by the possibility and considered signing with the team, but added that he had a ton of options in free agency and was grateful to ultimately sign a seven-year, $49.98MM deal with the Kraken. The Maple Leafs interest in Montour isn’t all that surprising given the focus they put on improving their defense, which they did by signing Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Calgary Flames Recall Cole Schwindt

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The Calgary Flames have recalled forward Cole Schwindt from the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. Schwindt was one of the pieces that came over to the Calgary Flames as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade with the Florida Panthers alongside Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and a 2025 lottery-protected first-round draft pick.

Schwindt has yet to suit up for the Flames but does have three games of NHL experience with the Panthers back in 2021-22. He was held scoreless during that stretch and was -4. At the AHL level, the 22-year-old has been a productive player with 42 goals and 52 assists in 189 career games.

Schwindt has plateaued offensively in recent years as he has seen his offensive numbers drop from his career-best season in 2021-22. The former third-round pick had 19 goals and 21 assists in 72 games that year with the Charlotte Checkers but hasn’t been able to duplicate that success or come close to the 17.9% shooting percentage he posted.

This season with the Wranglers, Schwindt has eight goals and 12 assists in 37 games which is a tick below his career-best numbers, but he has yet to take the next step offensively. While his offense hasn’t taken off, the defensive side of his game has steadily improved over the years and that is likely the reason he could get his first taste of NHL action in two years.

Calgary could be looking at some major moves over the next few weeks and if Schwindt can show he belongs at the NHL level he may be able to extend his stay with the Flames.

West Notes: Flames, Carlsson, Blackwell

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The Calgary Flames have their leadership group to supplement new captain Mikael Backlund for the 2023-24 season, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson, left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, center Elias Lindholm, and defenseman Chris Tanev will rotate in and out of the two alternate captain spots per game throughout the campaign.

All these names are notable for a variety of reasons – starting with Andersson, 26, who expressed interest in becoming the team’s captain earlier this offseason before Backlund received it, signing an extension in the process. The 2015 second-round pick has solidified himself as a top-flight defender in this league, logging significant time on both the power play and penalty kill over the past two seasons while posting 99 points in 161 games since the beginning of 2021-22. He’s also the only player who didn’t wear a letter on his jersey last season. He essentially replaced Backlund, while Huberdeau, Lindholm and Tanev all wore ’A’s on their sweaters at different points throughout 2022-23.

More from the Western Conference this weekend:

  • Anaheim Ducks promising center prospect Leo Carlsson will not be out long-term after sustaining a lower-body injury in practice yesterday, says Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. There is no exact timeline for the 18-year-old’s return, however, meaning he could miss the team’s season-opening game on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights next Saturday. The second-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft is coming off a strong camp, one GM Pat Verbeek said earlier this week has secured him a spot on the Ducks roster for the entire 2023-24 season.
  • Chicago Blackhawks depth forward Colin Blackwell practiced for the first time in over six months today as he continues his recovery from sports hernia surgery in March, reports Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Blackhawks expected Blackwell back for the beginning of camp, but the player said he hadn’t fully recovered when he first took the ice last month. With the pending return to health, the 30-year-old becomes a waiver candidate in the coming days after posting just two goals and ten points in 53 contests with Chicago last season.

Transaction Retrospective: Tkachuk To Panthers

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One year ago today, the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers connected on a blockbuster trade, sending Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers, while Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar were sent to Alberta. At the time of the trade, the public learned that Tkachuk had signed an extension with the Panthers, while Huberdeau and Weegar would each sign eight-year contract extensions of their own with the Flames.

At the time of the trade, Calgary was often considered to be the winner by most experts, acquiring a forward that had just surpassed the season-high in assists by a left-winger, as well as a quality top-four defender in Weegar. On the other hand, Tkachuk was coming off a 104-point season in his own right and was set to join the defending President’s Trophy champions.

Hindsight being 20/20, it is now more clear who is projected to win the trade. Although the Flames finished with one more point than the Panthers to end the 2022-23 NHL season, both teams went on different trajectories. Calgary was unable to qualify for the playoffs in the Western Conference, while Florida went on an unprecedented run to the Stanley Cup Final as a wild-card team.

Both Huberdeau and Weegar experienced drops in play with their new team, as Huberdeau saw his point total from a year prior take a 60-point drop, only earning 55 points on the year this past season. Playing primarily as a playmaker, Huberdeau’s production took a descent without the presence of Aleksander Barkov in the middle of the rink.

Originally, Weegar also started off slow for the Flames, only scoring 18 points in his first 60 games with the team. However, in the last 20 games of the season, Weegar improved tremendously, scoring three goals and 10 assists to end the regular season.

Unlike both Huberdeau and Weegar, Tkachuk thrived on his new team. In 79 games this season, Tkachuk scored 40 goals and 69 assists, topping his career totals in assists and points. In the playoffs, he kept the competitive energy soaring, scoring 11 goals and 13 assists in 20 playoff games.

Tkachuk quickly became both the offensive and emotional leader for the Panthers, willing them to the Stanley Cup Final this past season. As new General Manager, Craig Conroy, takes the reins on the front office of the Flames, it will be interesting to see how this trade plays out long-term.

There is always a probability that the Huberdeau and Weegar take a massive jump in production next season, but Tkachuk taking his team within striking distance of the Stanley Cup will be difficult to beat. A year later, it is safe to say that the Panthers were on the winning end of the bargain.

Afternoon News: Capitals, Howden, Maple Leafs

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Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic wrote a piece today that highlighted the nine forwards he believes would fit what the Washington Capitals are looking for this offseason. El-Bashir begins the piece by shining a light on the salary cap crunch that will leave the Capitals with around $5MM in cap space this summer. That leaves Washington with precious little space to work with, however El-Bashir quickly points out that Evgeny Kuznetsov and Anthony Mantha are both trade options that are finding their names on a lot of trade boards.

El-Bashir feels that Washington won’t target players over 30 given their age and Washington’s precarious cap situation. He lists Tyler Bertuzzi, Connor Brown, Andreas Athanasiou, Ivan Barbashev, Michael Bunting, J.T. Compher, Max Domi, Pierre Engvall, and Evan Rodrigues as the likely targets for Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. Washington has an extensive group of forwards signed to contracts for next season but have a glaring hole on the right wing. Given the cost and the need I would likely put current Capitals forward Connor Brown near the top of the list. Brown was acquired from the Ottawa Senators for a second round pick last summer but only dressed in four games before suffering a season ending ACL injury in his right knee.

In other afternoon notes:

  • Jesse Granger of The Athletic is reporting that Brett Howden of the Vegas Golden Knights was on the ice for the team’s morning skate ahead of their game 4 matchup against the Dallas Stars. Granger reported yesterday that the 25-year-old center had tweaked a lower body injury in game 2 and tried to play through it but couldn’t. Howden missed game 3 and given that he’s seen a lot of time in Vegas’ top-6 as of late, his return would be a welcome boost if he can dress tonight. Howden had a pedestrian regular season with 13 points in 54 games, however in these playoffs he has three goals and three assists in 14 games. Vegas has a chance to sweep Dallas this evening.
  • Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star wrote an opinion piece today about why former Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving checks so many of the boxes that Brendan Shanahan and the Toronto Maple Leafs would be looking to tick. McGran highlights Treliving’s experience in Calgary working in a collaborative environment with former president of hockey ops Brian Burke. Toronto’s future general manager would be tied to Shanahan as well as the board of MLSE, it is a job that is different from some other NHL clubs, however Treliving has worked within a similar structure. McGran also cites Treliving’s penchant for having the guts to make bold moves, Treliving spent last summer overhauling the Calgary Flames out of necessity by trading Matthew Tkachuk to Florida for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar as well as signing Nazem Kadri as a free agent.

Snapshots: Allison, Huberdeau, Kravtsov

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As the Philadelphia Flyers look for building blocks for the future, one name that has seemed to be part of the answer is forward Wade Allison, who won a spot on head coach John Tortorella’s squad out of training camp. Unfortunately for the Flyers and Allison, the 25-year-old suffered what appeared to be a painful injury in Saturday’s loss to the Ottawa Senators. After throwing a hit on Ottawa’s Jacob Bernard-Docker, Allison fell to the ice and needed assistance getting off the ice and did not return to the game.

No update had been made available heading into this afternoon’s matchup with the Dallas Stars, the only clue Allison wasn’t playing being that he didn’t take warmups. However, The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor was able to provide an update part-way through the game. According to O’Connor, the injury doesn’t look to be incredibly serious and the initial prognosis is that the forward will not have to miss too much time, though things are subject to change. That update is surely positive news for Allison, as he looks to make him imprint on this next generation of Flyers.

  • Jonathan Huberdeau, who has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury, skated with the Calgary Flames this morning, reports Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg. The nature of the injury had been a bit unclear, however Steinberg adds that Huberdeau said he had blocked a shot during Monday’s loss to the New York Islanders, causing his foot to swell up. The winger added that the foot is fine now and he plans to start wearing shot blockers on his feet going forward. Even though Huberdeau’s early performance this season has been underwhelming, Calgary will need him to produce if they want to get back on track themselves, and that won’t be able to happen until the superstar rejoins the lineup. Right now, the Flames are preparing to host the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow night, but there’s still no official confirmation on Huberdeau’s return, though Huberdeau himself appears confident he’ll be playing, per his media availability. After tomorrow, Calgary departs for a six-game road trip which begins Thursday.
  • According to head coach Gerard Gallant, New York Rangers forward Vitali Kravtsov, who missed yesterday’s game at the Nashville Predators with an illness, will be out of the lineup tonight at home against the Arizona Coyotes too, as relayed by Arthur Staple of The Athletic. Vince Mercogliano of USA Today Sports adds that Kravtsov not only has the flu, but a dental issue as well, which necessitated a trip to the dentist this morning.

Jonathan Huberdeau Out Day-To-Day

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As announced by the team Tuesday evening, Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau is sidelined day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

It’s unclear when Huberdeau suffered the injury. He played 16:14 last night against the New York Islanders, skating for the entire game. The 29-year-old left wing has just one assist in his last five games, and he has just six points in 11 games in his first season with the Flames. Last season, Huberdeau led the league in assists with 85 and finished fifth in Hart Trophy voting.

It’s also unclear what line shuffling head coach Darryl Sutter will do ahead of tonight’s game against New Jersey, but Adam Ruzicka will likely draw into the lineup in place of Huberdeau. The 23-year-old Slovak is the only extra forward on the roster and has one NHL appearance this season, coming last week against Seattle.

Any redemption game from Huberdeau will have to wait. The Flames, however, need a redemption game in a big way tonight, as they try to avoid dropping to .500 on the season against the Devils. The team is on a five-game losing streak after a 5-1-0 start to the campaign.

Snapshots: Kravtsov, Pastrnak, Flames

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The New York Rangers and winger Vitali Kravtsov were both hoping that the former top prospect could finally make an NHL impact this season in a top-six role. Unfortunately for Kravtsov, his season has gotten off to a rough start. After taking a hit early in the first period of tonight’s season opener from Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, the Rangers said that Kravtsov would not return to the game with an upper-body injury.

The ninth overall pick in 2018 returned to North America this season after spending last year with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL, recording 13 points in 19 games. He made his season debut tonight skating on a line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Kravtsov played just 1:28 before leaving the game.

  • Talks remain amicable between the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak on an extension. Still, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported today that the Bruins have yet to make a specific offer to Pastrnak’s camp. It makes sense, all things considered, as Pastrnak has publically said multiple times since he was eligible for an extension that his main focus is on starting the season strong. The team will need to rely on him heavily, of course, with Brad Marchand out of the lineup. Dreger cited Jonathan Huberdeau’s recent eight-year, $84MM extension as a reasonable comparison.
  • Speaking of the Calgary Flames, head coach Darryl Sutter said today that the team has “no need” to name a captain ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Flames have not had a captain since the 2021 offseason when Mark Giordano was claimed in the expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken. New acquisition Huberdeau was a commonly discussed candidate for the role, as well as longtime Flame, Mikael Backlund.

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