Speculation: Jonathan Huberdeau is open to waiving his NMC to go to a contender

[HogtownSabresfan]

I am curious about this as well. Can a player & team just decide to walk away from a contract if it's mutual?

Why on earth would he walk away from $10.5 M per year

 

[Rubi]

Do the Flames wish they were getting more value from Huberdeau? Absolutely. But I would argue that there are other players on other teams that have contracts that are much more damaging to the team than Huberdeau's is to the Flames. Darnell Nurse for example.
Right now Huby's contract has absolutely no effect on the Flames.. other than getting them over the cap floor.

 

[Maple Leaf]

uno reverso?
The Florida Panthers made a massive move late Friday night, trading for Calgary Flames winger Matthew Tkachuk. Calgary acquired forward Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a lottery protected 2025 first-round pick in the deal, and it also sent a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick the Panthers' way.

 

[Bond]

I am curious about this as well. Can a player & team just decide to walk away from a contract if it's mutual?

As long as the team agrees to it. Zadina and the Wings did it

Do the Flames wish they were getting more value from Huberdeau? Absolutely. But I would argue that there are other players on other teams that have contracts that are much more damaging to the team than Huberdeau's is to the Flames. Darnell Nurse for example.
Right now Huby's contract has absolutely no effect on the Flames.. other than getting them over the cap floor.

The last couple years of his contract will be an issue if the Flames hit in their picks

 

[Rubi]

As long as the team agrees to it. Zadina and the Wings did it


The last couple years of his contract will be an issue if the Flames hit in their picks

A lot of years that would have been a problem.. especially for the last few years. However, the cap is predicted to go up by about $10M in the next two years. A conservative estimate would be $19-20M for the next 5 years. I'm not too worried about Huberdeau's $10M contract impact 5 years down the road.

 

[dirtydanglez]

that would be a tough sell

 

[JPeeper]

The last couple years of his contract will be an issue if the Flames hit in their picks

The last couple years will be irrelevant when the cap has increased by more than his current cap hit. Unless the Flames draft 3 McDavids, his cap hit will never be a problem. Quote it.

 

[dgibb10]

Do the Flames wish they were getting more value from Huberdeau? Absolutely. But I would argue that there are other players on other teams that have contracts that are much more damaging to the team than Huberdeau's is to the Flames. Darnell Nurse for example.
Right now Huby's contract has absolutely no effect on the Flames.. other than getting them over the cap floor.

His underperformance straight up ended their playoff contention window.

And will likely STILL be hurting them when their next window opens, unless they plan to suck for a decade

The last couple years will be irrelevant when the cap has increased by more than his current cap hit. Unless the Flames draft 3 McDavids, his cap hit will never be a problem. Quote it.

Unless the cap goes up to 300 million in the next 5 years, 10.5 mill for a guy who is likely going to be nothing more than a 30 point player who sucks defensively (especially if he can no longer be a power play weapon) in his mid/late 30s is likely going to be a significant negative impact.

 

[Rubi]

His underperformance straight up ended their playoff contention window.

And will likely STILL be hurting them when their next window opens, unless they plan to suck for a decade


Unless the cap goes up to 300 million in the next 5 years, 10.5 mill for a guy who is likely going to be nothing more than a 30 point player who sucks defensively (especially if he can no longer be a power play weapon) in his mid/late 30s is likely going to be a significant negative impact.

In 2020 he had 3 pts in 4 playoff games. In 2021 he had 10 pts in 6 games. In 2022 he had 5 pts in 10 games. You are cherry picking one playoff year.

With the Flames being in the beginning of a rebuild and their current cap being barely above the league minimum and the league salary cap increasing by unprecedented levels and the strong possibility that Andersson and Kuzmenko will be traded by the TDL for picks and prospects, not too many Flames fans are worried about the effect that Huberdeau's contract will have on the teams ability to stay under the maximum cap in 5 years.

 

[dgibb10]

In 2020 he had 3 pts in 4 playoff games. In 2021 he had 10 pts in 6 games. In 2022 he had 5 pts in 10 games. You are cherry picking one playoff year.

With the Flames being in the beginning of a rebuild and their current cap being barely above the league minimum and the league salary cap increasing by unprecedented levels and the strong possibility that Andersson and Kuzmenko will be traded by the TDL for picks and prospects, not too many Flames fans are worried about the effect that Huberdeau's contract will have on the teams ability to stay under the maximum cap in 5 years.

No, I'm saying the Calgary Flames could have made the playoffs in 22-23 (they missed by 2 points) and been a contender if they weren't saddled with a 50 point player who they gave up Matthew Tkachuk for.

This playoff miss, and Huberdeau's failures and massive contract, then led to the team needing to be taken apart and a complete bare bones rebuild, because you cannot compete with guy like Huberdeau making 10+ mill. (they were somewhat near the playoffs before they tore it all down this year too, perhaps if Huberdeau had more than 16 points by the new year they could have been competing again in 23-24

 

[Nanuuk]

I cannot seem to remember the last time I have seen this many players all wanting to leave one city.

Also, LOL at Huby. Cgy would love to send you on your way too.

Who says thye want to leave the city. Bloggers and social media posters, all without substance.

 

[Nanuuk]

No, I'm saying the Calgary Flames could have made the playoffs in 22-23 (they missed by 2 points) and been a contender if they weren't saddled with a 50 point player who they gave up Matthew Tkachuk for.

This playoff miss, and Huberdeau's failures and massive contract, then led to the team needing to be taken apart and a complete bare bones rebuild, because you cannot compete with guy like Huberdeau making 10+ mill. (they were somewhat near the playoffs before they tore it all down this year too, perhaps if Huberdeau had more than 16 points by the new year they could have been competing again in 23-24

Yeah that's a lot of bull.

 

[Rubi]

No, I'm saying the Calgary Flames could have made the playoffs in 22-23 (they missed by 2 points) and been a contender if they weren't saddled with a 50 point player who they gave up Matthew Tkachuk for.

This playoff miss, and Huberdeau's failures and massive contract, then led to the team needing to be taken apart and a complete bare bones rebuild, because you cannot compete with guy like Huberdeau making 10+ mill. (they were somewhat near the playoffs before they tore it all down this year too, perhaps if Huberdeau had more than 16 points by the new year they could have been competing again in 23-24

Wow. I didn't realize Huberdeau was the reason for the Flames current rebuild. This is so enlightening.

 

[dgibb10]

Yeah that's a lot of bull.

It's really not. Calgary acquired and signed Huberdeau with plans to continue competing. He was then UTTERLY HORRIFIC compared to what he was supposed to be. If huberdeau had lived up to what he was supposed to be, Calgary would have been a legit threat in each of the last 2 years.

 

[belair]

They have him with Pospisil and Mantha to start this year. They're trying to recreate the Bennett-Duclair thing he had in Florida.
I don't think coming into a Sutter system really helped Jonathan, not after all those years in Florida where it was just run-and-gun.

In terms of Calgary.
We're right at the league bottom in terms of cap.
We won't have an significant paychecks to deal out for minimum another 4-5 seasons (Zary and Pospisil won't be 8M dollar men).
It doesn't make sense for us to just ship him somewhere for nothing for another 7 seasons at 50%, it hinders our ability to maximize our rebuild.

I said it earlier in this thread, Calgary's fine with Huberdeau, his contract for the foreseeable future. If he regains his old form, we'll be happy in that it'll speed up the rebuild. If he continues the way he's playing he won't get in the way until the last maybe 2 years of the deal, in which a 50% retention shouldn't hurt the franchise too much.

All of that being said, I think that a trade to Montreal this year with a fair amount of retention makes a lot of sense for the Habs.

They've got the short off-setting cap hits in Dvorak and Armia--who Calgary could flip for additional assets--and they've got an abundance of mid-tier prospects and draft capital.

Huberdeau is the kind of player who would thrive under Marty St Louis. And he'd compliment any number of Montreal's young, emerging forwards. Former Q player and a guy with a great resume in that division.

 

[Neutrinos]

Habs <-- Huberdeau, Kadri (50% ret.), Weegar, Andersson (50% ret.)

Flames <-- CGY's '25 1st, Gallagher, Anderson, Dvorak, Armia, Price


Montreal gets a significant upgrade as their rebuild is officially over

Calgary shed Huberdeau's contract, and get their pick returned as they dive head-first into a tank

 

[SensFactor]

Habs <-- Huberdeau, Kadri (50% ret.), Weegar, Andersson (50% ret.)

Flames <-- CGY's '25 1st, Gallagher, Anderson, Dvorak, Armia, Price


Montreal gets a significant upgrade as their rebuild is officially over

Calgary shed Huberdeau's contract, and get their pick returned as they dive head-first into a tank

This is awful lol.

 

[dgibb10]

Habs <-- Huberdeau, Kadri (50% ret.), Weegar, Andersson (50% ret.)

Flames <-- CGY's '25 1st, Gallagher, Anderson, Dvorak, Armia, Price


Montreal gets a significant upgrade as their rebuild is officially over

Calgary shed Huberdeau's contract, and get their pick returned as they dive head-first into a tank

Montreal has Florida's pick lmao.

Huberdeau is an awful deal, but not that bad.

Let's use some rough math based on some UFA valuations of market value.

In a UFA he'd probably get a 4.5x7 (comparable to a number of UFA wingers this past year) (-42 mill surplus value)
Kadri would likely get a 7.75x5 (comparable to lindholm), maybe a touch less. With 50% retention (+21.25 mill surplus value)
Weegar would likely get something like 7.5x7 (skjei/montour+ comps) (+8.75 mill)
Andersson would likely get a 8.5x2 (+12.45 mill) (Orlov comp+)

Total surplus value to MTL: +0.45 mill

To calgary:
Gallagher would likely get a 4x3 (-7.5 mill)
Anderson would likely get a 2.5x3 (-9 mill)
Dvorak would likely get a 2x1 (-2.4 mill)
Armia would likely get a 2x1 (-1.4 mill)
And the real money cost of price does matter.

Total surplus value to calgary: -20.3 mill (exlcuding price and the 1st)

Maybe take out the 1st and the 22 mill in retention you're asking for.

Or keep the first in and only drop the retention on kadri

 

[InfinityIggy]

They have him with Pospisil and Mantha to start this year. They're trying to recreate the Bennett-Duclair thing he had in Florida.
I don't think coming into a Sutter system really helped Jonathan, not after all those years in Florida where it was just run-and-gun.

In terms of Calgary.
We're right at the league bottom in terms of cap.
We won't have an significant paychecks to deal out for minimum another 4-5 seasons (Zary and Pospisil won't be 8M dollar men).
It doesn't make sense for us to just ship him somewhere for nothing for another 7 seasons at 50%, it hinders our ability to maximize our rebuild.

I said it earlier in this thread, Calgary's fine with Huberdeau, his contract for the foreseeable future. If he regains his old form, we'll be happy in that it'll speed up the rebuild. If he continues the way he's playing he won't get in the way until the last maybe 2 years of the deal, in which a 50% retention shouldn't hurt the franchise too much.

Exactly. People really miss the point that the Huberdeau and Kadri signings were essentially Hail Mary attempts to keep Calgary competitive. We knew if they both didn’t hit we were headed for a rebuild anyway, so the cap issue would be mostly moot. There’s a reason Flames fans haven’t really been clamouring about trading either of them.

 

[belair]

Exactly. People really miss the point that the Huberdeau and Kadri signings were essentially Hail Mary attempts to keep Calgary competitive. We knew if they both didn’t hit we were headed for a rebuild anyway, so the cap issue would be mostly moot. There’s a reason Flames fans haven’t really been clamouring about trading either of them.

I certainly didn't. I still remember convincing you guys how much of a mistake signing both was even beforehand. Took a ton of heat for it.

 

[Rubi]

Habs <-- Huberdeau, Kadri (50% ret.), Weegar, Andersson (50% ret.)

Flames <-- CGY's '25 1st, Gallagher, Anderson, Dvorak, Armia, Price


Montreal gets a significant upgrade as their rebuild is officially over

Calgary shed Huberdeau's contract, and get their pick returned as they dive head-first into a tank

Awful trade.
Also, why would the Flames accept a conditional 1st round pick that they are most likely not going to have to give up? Do you think we're all suckers?
I'd bet money that Calgary finishes the 2024-25 season in the bottom 10 of league standings and Montreal ends up having to take the Florida 1st rnd pick that Calgary has... per the conditions of the Monahan trade.
Give us Montreal's 1st rnd pick instead. Actually forget it.. the rest of the trade is so awful even Montreal's 1st doesn't make up for it.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

I missed it, exactly which legitimate contender has expressed an interest in Huberdeau?

 

[GreatSaveLuongo]

If CGY is eating 50% and adding a 1st pick im sure we have interest from some teams

 

[Rubi]

If CGY is eating 50% and adding a 1st pick im sure we have interest from some teams

Why would the Flames do that?

 

[TheFamousFart]

To boston:
Huberdeau at 50% retained
Wolf
1st

to calgary:
Swayman