The Florida Panthers received some awful news on Sunday, as George Richards of the Miami Herald reports Jonathan Huberdeau will miss the next three-to-four months with a lower leg injury. Huberdeau was injured in a preseason game against the New Jersey Devils after Sergey Kalinin stepped on the back of his ankle with a skate.
Florida Panthers say Jonathan Huberdeau expected to miss three to four months with lower leg injury.
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 9, 2016
[link_box id=”22277″ site_id=”17″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]Huberdeau was set to be a huge piece for the Panthers in 2016-17. Florida believed in the talented 23-year-old left winger enough to sign him to a six-year, $35.4 million deal this offseason, continuing their smart trend of locking up young, homegrown talent.
The third overall pick in 2011 suited up on the Panthers top line last season with Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr. Huberdeau set a career-high with 20 goals, 39 assists, and 59 points – including 39 points at even strength – in 2015-16. With the Panthers taking a contender-turn, Huberdeau, with a season’s worth of continuity with Barkov and Jagr, was expected to continue an upward trend in his game. The injury severely cuts short the season of one of Florida’s most talented forwards. The loss is a big one.
With Huberdeau hitting the shelf and talented two-way forward Nick Bjustad out at least four weeks with a broken hand, the Panthers depth has taken a big hit entering a season where Florida was set to ice one of its best lineups in franchise history. The Panthers will have to rely on its depth more than ever, with two top offensive players out of the lineup. Free agent signee Jonathan Marchessault will take Huberdeau’s spot on the top line. The 25-year-old scored 18 points in 45 games with the Lightning last season. Marchessault is a nice depth piece but won’t produce at nearly the same clip as Huberdeau. Offseason acquisition Jared McCann and rookie Denis Malgin might see ice-time bumps as a result of the injury.
Florida’s second line will be counted on to carry an even more sizable offensive load. The trio of Jussi Jokinen (6o points in 2015-16), Vincent Trocheck (53 points in 2015-16) and Reilly Smith (50 points in 2015-16) are among the best second units in the league. There’s little question they’ll produce offensively, but who’s going to score behind them? Malgin and Derek MacKenzie are the third and fourth line centers. That’s a big concern. There’s little chance anyone in the bottom-six can score more than 10 goals. Bjustad and Huberdeau combined for 35 goals. With the top-six ailing it’s very significant. Huberdeau (and Bjustad) are good enough the injuries make the Atlantic Division open for business.
It’s not all doom-and-gloom. The Panthers added significant talent on their backend with the separate acquisitions of Keith Yandle, Jason Demers, and Mark Psysk, so the defense is in much better shape than the 2015-16 version which routinely played Erik Gudbranson, Dmitry Kulikov, and Willie Mitchell. A vastly improved defense should help stop some bleeding.
Huberdeau’s injury won’t sink Florida from expected contenders back into the bad teams of old, but it will be tricky for the organization to shift around to supplement his loss. He’s a talented forward who was expected to contribute big-time with a new contract.
The question now remains, without Huberdeau, where’s the offense going to come from?
