"Deemed not available": Slumping Flames' Huberdeau now sidelined with injury
Add Jonathan Huberdeau to the list of walking wounded for the Calgary Flames.
Huberdeau was a bit of a surprise scratch when the Flames played the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night in the second of back-to-back games.
The 29-year-old missed the game because of an upper-body injury, according to the Flames, but in reality, the winger did not play for a reason something far more south, according to coach Darryl Sutter.
“He couldn’t get his foot in his skate this morning so he was deemed not available,” Sutter said postgame.
Huberdeau is considered to be day-to-day, according to the Twitter post that deemed his injury to be an upper-body ailment.
At least Sutter didn’t claim Huberdeau was just busy using the facilities this time.
Huberdeau missed time in a 3-2 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on October 29 because of an apparent injury, but Sutter took the option to land a stinky one-liner when asked about his star forward’s brief absence.
No word if Huberdeau has been playing through the apparent injury for several weeks, though he’s certainly played below the standard that saw the former Florida Panthers forward net an NHL-record 85 assists by a left-winger as part of a 115-point campaign in 2021-22 — second-most league-wide.
“He’s a work in progress,” Sutter said.
“He’s a good player, being a good player consistently.
“There are lots of players on our team that haven’t played to their potential yet if that is the prophecy or fulfillment of their skill set.”
Huberdeau has six points (one goal, five assists) in 11 games with the Flames this season, a 0.54 point-per-game pace after producing at a 1.44 per-game clip last year with the Panthers.
He joins defencemen Chris Tanev and Michael Stone as currently injured players on the sidelines for the Flames.
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