3 Calgary Flames who might see a performance dip next season feat. Jonathan Huberdeau

By Nestor Quixtan

Modified Aug 26, 2024 02:42 GMT

The Calgary Flames had an overall disappointing season last year. The club was expected to make the playoffs, potentially contending for one of the top seeds in the Western Conference. However, underwhelming performances and inconsistency doomed the Calgary Flames to miss the playoffs.

While some players delivered good numbers, they may see a dip in this production next season. So, let’s take a look at three such players.

3 Calgary Flames who might see a performance dip next season

#3: Yegor Sharangovich

Sharangovich produced 31 goals and 28 assists in 82 games this past campaign. While it was great to see Sharangovich reach the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career, there’s reason to believe this past season was an outlier.

In his three previous seasons, Sharagovich’s career high was 24 goals with the New Jersey Devils in 2021-22. After registering 13 goals in 2022-23, the jump to 31 was a stark contrast. However, Sharangovich’s goal total may likely tumble back down to his career averages.

Of course, the Calgary Flames hope that won’t be the case. But unless Sharangovich can follow last year with another 30-goal campaign, there will be some doubt as to his status as a top NHL goal scorer.

#2: MacKenzie Weegar

Weegar’s point totals jumped from 31 in 2022-23 to 52 in 2023-24. In particular, his 20 goals from the blue line, while welcome for the Calgary Flames, were a significant spike from his previous high of eight.

In fact, Weegar has consistently been in the 30 to 40-point range throughout his career. Thus, it’s likely his point totals could regress to a level more in line with his previous career averages.

There’s a chance that Weegar has turned a corner in his career as an NHL defenseman. But until he can consistently deliver high point totals, the jury will still be out on his ability to produce high point totals from the blue line.

#1: Jonathan Huberdeau

Unfortunately, Huberdeau has been trending downward since his incredible 2021-22 campaign in which he registered 115 points. That season now seems like an outlier as his point totals have dipped to 55 and 52 over the last two seasons.

As such, there’s reason to believe Huberdeau’s point totals could dip this season once again. While he may still end the year in the 50-point range, it’s hard to envision Huberdeau returning to his previous highs of 90-plus points.

There’s no question that Huberdeau is a great player. However, he needs to reconnect with the approach that made him successful during this tenure with the Florida Panthers.