Colby Guy
For Jonathan Huberdeau, the motivation is clear. His goal is to win a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers.
He emphasized as much when he became the only player to hit 500 points in a Panthers uniform in mid-October.
“I’m fortunate that it’s my tenth year here,’’ he said, “and that the owner (Vinnie Viola) believes in us.
“Me, Ekblad and Barkov are the same core group. We (had not) been winning a lot and he still believes in us. Now is the time for us to show up.
“Obviously, it’s cool about the points, but that’s not what we’re worried about. We want to win as a team and that’s all that matters.”
With Florida without Barkov — one of the three members of the “core group” he mentioned — as well as a couple other key pieces, Huberdeau stepped up to the plate to keep the team on its winning trajectory.
Since Barkov’s injury on Nov. 16, Huberdeau ranks third in the league in points, notching three goals with 14 points in eight games.
His play has resulted in great team success as well: The Panthers have the third-best points percentage in the league (.778) and a 7-2-0 record in that span.
“For me personally, I just try to work hard,” Huberdeau said. “Consistency is a big thing and I think the past few years, I did better at that.”
Huberdeau was also named NHL First Star of the Week after putting up an absurd nine points (one goal, eight assists) in three games.
“This week, it was like the points were coming,” he said Monday. “Sometimes it doesn’t come, but this week it was coming. We scored a lot of goals, so good week.”
A player has to be a special kind of consistent to be the only player in franchise history with over 500 points.
Huberdeau has been that type of player.
Over the past four seasons, Huberdeau ranks seventh in the NHL in points (260) and sixth in the league in assists (179) over 230 games since 2018-19.
“The way he controls the game is like no other player,” Aaron Ekblad said. “He does it at high speeds, slow speeds, he’s able to control the game completely.
“It’s fun to be out there with him. He’s always looking for that extra play to score and he’s one of the best in the league for sure.”
While Huberdeau has been an assist machine throughout his career, he added a new element to his game recently: physicallity.
He quietly ranks fifth among Panthers players in hits (135) in the 148 games from 2019 until now as he has taken it upon himself to stand up for his teammates.
“Last year, I kind of started playing more physical,” Huberdeau said. “I think it keeps me in the game, I’m playing better when I play like that. I didn’t know I could, but I can still be physical even if I’m not the biggest guy.”
At 6-1 and just over 200 pounds, Huberdeau does have a sneaky amount of size to him to be able to use his physicality to leverage himself into plays — and it has been a significant boost for the Panthers.
“I get into the momentum of the game, and I think that’s good,” Huberdeau said. “The guys on the bench see that and everybody can do it.
Huberdeau has been playing with a lot of emotion, but it has been disciplined emotion.
While playing with that physical edge, he only has six penalty minutes in 24 games, which is tied for the sixth-least on the team among Panthers who played in at least 10 games.
“He knows the game as good as anybody,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “He’s been in those positions all the way from when he was a kid in junior, all the way up, he understands that.
“The feistiness, you like. Some guys you don’t want to play with too much emotion. Me, when I see him play with emotion, it’s because it’s very contained and he does it the right way.
“He’s always in control and his hockey sense is extraordinary that when he has a little bit more emotion, he has a little more drive. He’s really hard to stop, actually.”
Huberdeau, 28, has a commitment to lead by example in the locker room and on the ice.
“I’ve been here for quite a while, so I want to be a good leader,” he said. “It’s not just in the room, you got to show it on the ice, work hard, and I think it shows a lot of the guys whenever your skill player works hard. Everyone wants to follow that.”
The whole team bought in to that physical style of play, as Huberdeau said.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Florida ranks fourth in the league in hits with 2,001.
With that physical edge, Florida, with a 54-18-8 record, has been the best team in the league during that time.
“He looks like a different guy,” Brunette said. “He’s taken on a responsibility that this is his team. Him, Barkov and Ekblad, this is their team now.
“They’ve taken that responsibility to another level. I think Huberdeau got a taste of success last year and I think he’s really taken it upon himself and it’s fun to watch him turn into the player that he is.”
Huberdeau stepped up the way he has because he believes in this team and he wants to win.
“Obviously, (we have to) focus on the season, and finish at the top of the standings and in the playoffs, we have to win a round,” Huberdeau said.
“We want to be great and we want to go far. I believe in this group and I think we can do some damage.”