After benching, Jonathan Huberdeau is in a very big rut

Among the many things going wrong in the province of Alberta, one that may be the most shocking is the decline of Jonathan Huberdeau.

Only two seasons removed from a 115-point campaign with the Florida Panthers, the 30-year-old winger has struggled mightily with the Calgary Flames, only producing 55 points in last season and now starting the 2023-24 campaign with two goals and six points in 12 games.

Add in that Huberdeau was benched for the entire third period in the Flames’ Tuesday night’s game against the Nashville Predators, and we’ve got a full-blown controversy in Calgary.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Huberdeau’s benching and what, if anything, the Flames can do to remedy the situation.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Sure, you can have an off night, but Tuesday night vs. the Predators wasn’t even his lowest time of ice in the last five games. He’s only hit the 20-minute mark twice in his last 10 games. This is not an isolated incident: Jonathan Huberdeau is in a very big rut.

Frank Seravalli: Just looking at his body language, you can tell how down he is, how low his confidence is. I feel for everyone involved; Ryan Huska is in his first year as an NHL head coach, I’m sure the last thing he wants to do is staple an $84 million player to the bench, but he’s got an obligation to the rest of his team.

All of a sudden, you’re looking at this and asking how do we fix this, how do we get out of this? I can’t imagine, long term, putting Huberdeau on the bench or making him a healthy scratch is the solution. I don’t really know what that accomplishes for a player in the first year of an eight-year contract. Obviously it hasn’t fit, and they’ve got to find a solution to pick up the pieces and put this together, because it seems like it’s unravelled.

You can watch the rest of the show here…