Jonathan Huberdeau’s hip surgery is the kind of development that can change the conversation around a player fast.
After arriving in Calgary in July 2022 as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Matthew Tkachuk to Florida, Huberdeau signed an eight-year extension worth $84 million, with a $10.5 million average annual value. The expectation in Calgary was obvious: a top-end scorer who had just put together a record-setting season would keep driving offense.
That hasn’t happened in the way anyone hoped, but there’s now a clearer reason to at least factor in the body itself. In March 2026, after battling increasing hip pain since the previous summer, Huberdeau had hip resurfacing surgery performed by surgical specialist Dr.
Edwin Su. Flames rehab sports physiotherapist Scott Cyr addressed the recovery in mid-March as Huberdeau started his rehabilitation, saying, “So it’s our job now to try to wake those up and get them strong again, and get his hip and his body used to moving into areas that he hasn’t been able to for a number of years now.”
The scoring numbers in Calgary tell the story of a player who never matched the production he brought over from Florida. In four seasons with the Flames, Huberdeau put up 15 goals and 55 points in 79 games in 2022-23, 12 goals and 52 points in 81 games in 2023-24, 28 goals and 62 points in 81 games in 2024-25, and 10 goals and 25 points in 50 games in 2025-26.
He arrived in Alberta after three straight seasons with the Panthers at better than a point per game, and Calgary paid accordingly. The drop-off since then has made his contract a frequent target on “worst contract in the NHL” lists, even though Huberdeau changed his game heading into the 2024-25 season and took a notable step forward offensively and overall by focusing more on two-way fundamentals.
The injury piece matters because hip resurfacing surgery is no small thing. As described by Ed Jovanovski, who had the procedure, “They dislocate your joint,” Jovanovski said to Custance.
“Pull it out of your leg. Then shave the femoral head down to a certain size and cap it with titanium.
Then do the same for your socket, shaving out the socket and hammering in a new socket where everything kind of joins together.”
Other players who have gone through it include Nicklas Backstrom, Ed Jovanovski, Ryan Kesler, Mike Sillinger, and Andy Murray. Former Flames forward Sean Monahan had two hip labrum surgeries, which are generally considered less invasive than hip resurfacing.
The post-surgery track record is all over the map. Backstrom played 47 games across three seasons for Washington after his surgery before shutting himself down early in 2023-24 and later returning to Sweden.
Jovanovski played 37 games after his operation, was bought out, and retired. Kesler and Sillinger had the surgery near the end of their careers for quality-of-life reasons.
Murray returned six months after surgery and played at a high level for five more years, though not at the same elite level he had before.
For Huberdeau, the hope is straightforward: better mobility, less pain, and a chance to get back to using the vision and passing that have always been his calling card. What’s far less certain is whether a healthier hip leads to a true offensive rebound in 2026-27. The question now is less about whether he can play, and more about what he looks like when he does.
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