Big turnaround for Jonathan Huberdeau and the Calgary Flames

In the last few minutes, Calgary reporter Pat Steinberg (Sportsnet) announced that Quebec forward Jonathan Huberdeau will officially return to action tonight for the Flames against the Los Angeles Kings.

Huberdeau has missed three games.

Big Turnaround

We thought Huberdeau's spot in Calgary's top-6 was absolutely guaranteed and secure, but it turns out it wasn't.


After publicly criticizing Huberdeau in the media, now Flames head coach Darryl Sutter just made a controversial move.

Huberdeau has officially been relegated to the Flames' third line (a line that plays almost as many minutes as their fourth line):

Ruzicka-Lindholm-Toffoli

Lucic-Kadri-Mangiapane

Huberdeau-Backlund-Lewis

Coleman-Dube-Ritchie

Defensemen:

Hanifin-Andersson

Weegar-Tanev

Zadorov-DeSimone

You can guess that these are the trios (and decisions) that are causing a huge stir among Calgary Flames fans right now.

It will be interesting to see how Huberdeau responds, but this is quite a turnaround and the coach's message is clear.

Huberdeau, a 29-year-old native of St. Jerome, had 30 goals and 115 points last season with the Florida Panthers, but only one goal and six points (in 11 games) this season in Calgary.

He recently signed an eight-year, $84 million contract with the Flames (an eight-season deal that ends in 2031).

Do you think he's going to turn it around and score 100 points this season? Do you think the relationship between Huberdeau and Sutter will fester further?