Hockey can be a funny game.
Jonathan Huberdeau hasn’t scored a goal in 14 games for the Calgary Flames heading into Thursday’s matchup with the Minnesota Wild.
It sort of goes without saying that his team could use a few more lamp-lighters from its highest-paid player.
Is there worry around the Saddledome office about his scouring drought, though? No, not really.
“If a player isn’t generating anything, that’s where you get concerned,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. “Jonathan has had a number of breakaways over the last few games, he just hasn’t finished those.
“He’s been around it, he’s just not finishing over the last little bit. I think the concern is when a player stops getting chances, then maybe you have to dive a little deeper into why, but he’s been around the net. I feel like it’s a matter of time with him.”
The Flames have had more than their fair share of forwards who have found themselves in protracted slumps early in this season and have always emphasized the same thing. Matt Coronato and Joel Farabee both went through lengthy goalless droughts and came out the other side eventually.
Huberdeau’s $10.5-million US salary means there’s more pressure to produce, though, and rightfully so. Last season, he earned a lot of good will when he finished second on the team in goals with 28.
With only four goals so far in 2025-26, he’s on pace for around 12 goals, which would only equal his disappointing total from 2023-24.
The difference between this year and that challenging season, though, is that Huberdeau is legitimately finding himself in scoring positions. Huska wasn’t just saying that to shield a star player from criticism.
Huberdeau had a few Grade A scoring chances on the Flames’ recent trip, he just couldn’t find the back of the net.
On the one hand, as Huska pointed out, it’s encouraging that Huberdeau has been getting chances.
On the other, he hasn’t scored in over a month — his most recent goal came against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 2 — and coming close again and again can actually add to a player’s frustration.
“I think you never want to miss those chances, but if you have chances you have to take those positives,” Huberdeau said. “When you don’t have chances, you ask what you can do better, but when you have those chances you just have to capitalize.”
The sooner Huberdeau can start finding the back of the net, the better. The Flames were dead-last in the NHL in goals per game with 2.29 heading into Thursday’s tilt with the Wild and, while they need contributions from everyone in the lineup, that’s especially true of Huberdeau.
The chances are there, but chances don’t win games.
NO UPDATE ON MARTIN POSPISIL
Martin Pospisil hasn’t played a game this season.
For the first time in weeks, a reporter asked Huska about the status of the Slovak winger on Thursday morning and the answer wasn’t encouraging.
“No updated timeline for him, unfortunately,” Huska said.
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While there were reports in late October that Pospisil was skating away from his teammates, there has been nothing since as he continues to work on recovering from an undisclosed injury.
The 26-year-old forward has been missed, to be sure.
While his offensive production never has been particularly eye-catching, Pospisil is one of the Flames’ best forecheckers and makes the players around him better.
“His speed,” Huska replied when he was asked what the Flames missed most with the winger being unavailable. “Absolutely, 100% the speed he plays the game at and because he’s a bigger man that is physical by nature, we miss his forechecking presence, that’s without a doubt what we miss with him out of the lineup.”
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