Is defensive duty bringing out best in Jonathan Huberdeau? 

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Jonathan Huberdeau is off to his best start in three seasons with the Calgary Flames and one of the secret ingredients to his early success could be the opportunity to play on the penalty kill.

Huberdeau, for the first time since arriving in Calgary, is one of the regular shorthanded staffers. And while you’re seldom thinking offence in those man-down situations, the star forward believes there is a benefit to that bonus ice time.

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“I like that Husk is trusting me defensively and I take pride in that,” Huberdeau said, referring to bench boss Ryan Huska. “And I think it keeps you involved, too, in the game. You’re always out there — power play, PK, five-on-five. So I like that. Hopefully, I can be really good at it.”

This is a case of so far, so good.

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A lot has gone right for the Flames as they have surged to a 4-0 record, matching the longest start-of-season winning streak in franchise history.

Among the many positives has been the production from their highest-paid player. Heading into Saturday’s showdown with the Kraken in Seattle (8 p.m. MT, CBC/Sportsnet, Sportsnet 960 The Fan), Huberdeau leads his squad with three goals and is tied for tops on the unbeaten bunch with six points. 

While it’s far too early to talk pace projections, it’s an encouraging upgrade from last fall, when Huberdeau didn’t collect his sixth point until Game 11 of 82 and didn’t bury a third goal until past the midway mark of November.

It was the exact same scenario in his first campaign in Cowtown. He finished both seasons with 50-some points, which is not enough bang-for-buck when you’re chewing up $10.5 million US of salary-cap space. 

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It’s hardly a straight line between shorthanded duties and doing extra damage in the attacking end, but that doesn’t mean it is merely a coincidence. It’s another way Huberdeau can have a positive impact on the game, something to feel good about even if his name is not on the scoresheet.

It’s worth noting that in 2021-22, when he set a new league record for assists by a left winger, he also was killing penalties for the Florida Panthers. 

Hmmm.

Huberdeau has, through four games this fall, averaged 1:35 of penalty-kill work per night. While that might not seem like a huge deal, it’s an extra two or three shifts in each outing. And if his team runs into penalty trouble, like they did during the early stages of their opener in Vancouver, he’s not stuck riding pine and hoping the referees will soon pocket their whistles.

When No. 10 is on the ice, the Flames have yet to allow a power-play goal. 

“He reads the game like a skilled guy,” Huska said. “Sometimes, as a coach, you’re looking at it and you’re like, ‘Jeez, he’s out of position,’ or you’re thinking ‘That seam is open’ when you’re standing on the bench. But it’s almost like he flips it around to what he would do, so he knows where to put his stick. We’ve already seen him knock some passes and plays down with his stick, I think, because he anticipates what a power play is going to try to do. 

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“But I think the biggest thing that it’s done for him is it keeps him more in the game. If we have a game where we have five minor penalties or we have four minor penalties like we did in the first period (in Vancouver) and he doesn’t play at all in those situations, well, now he’s a very cold player on the bench and you are not going to get his best.” 

So far this fall, Huska seems to be pushing the right buttons with Huberdeau, who is just two assists shy of 500 for his career.

The 31-year-old playmaker will tell you he’s most effective when he is constantly moving his feet and he really has no choice now that his line is being centred by Martin Pospisil, arguably the Flames’ fastest forward. 

It must have been a confidence-booster, too, to hear that Huska planned to mix him into the penalty-killing rotation.

Remember, Huberdeau posted a miserable minus-29 rating in 2023-24. With that sort of stat-line, you are not necessarily expecting the coach to be adding more defensive responsibilities to your plate.

“I can play PK, I always knew I could,” Huberdeau said. “Just coming here, there’s a lot of guys that were playing PK, so it was hard to get through. But I like it. I take a lot of pride in it.

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“I think playing on the power play helps you be good on PK. I think you can read the other guys, what they do, because I’m on the other side, you know? For me, when I played in Florida, that’s what I thought was good — I could read the play and anticipate more stuff. You know how they’re going to think, what they’re going to do, and I think that can help me.” 

And, in turn, it’s another way he can help his team.

The Flames might be onto something here.

“I want to be good offensively, but I want to be good defensively, too,”  Huberdeau stressed. “I think putting everything together, I’ll be a better player.”

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