NHL Rumors: Teams Already Calling Flames About Huberdeau

Just a few days after the blockbuster of the 2022 offseason went down that saw Matthew Tkachuk head to Florida and Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar go the other way back to the Calgary Flames, teams are already calling the Flames on Huberdeau's availability.

Per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, now that Huberdeau is on a team that may have a tougher time competing rather than on last season's Presidents' Trophy winners, teams around the league want to know if the Flames would consider trading him.

Huberdeau scored 30 goals for the second time in his career last season, reached the 100 point plateau for the first time, finished second in the NHL in scoring with 115 points, and posted his fourth consecutive point per game season. He has a $5.9 million cap hit next season in the final year of his contract. That is an extremely good deal and it isn't surprising that teams are willing to trade with the Flames if it means they can fit him under their cap.

The future of Huberdeau in Calgary is uncertain, as there have been reports that he is both open to signing long-term and unhappy about the trade and unwilling. The Flames will want to avoid a Johnny Gaudreau situation for the second year in a row and lose their top player for nothing. If a deal is too good to refuse or the Flames aren't where they want to be by the deadline, we could very well see Huberdeau traded if there also hasn't been progress in contract talks.