Jonathan Huberdeau won’t be in the mix when the Calgary Flames open training camp, as the veteran winger continues his recovery from hip resurfacing surgery.
Calgary general manager Craig Conroy said Huberdeau is still working back after season-ending surgery in March, and the team is taking a cautious approach as he ramps up again.
“There’s an appropriate timeline for this, between seven and nine months, and obviously we were hoping for the earliest return possible,’’ Conroy said. “But everybody is different.”
Huberdeau had the procedure in hopes that it would come early enough for him to be ready when the season began. For now, he’s skating, but Calgary does not have a firm target for his return to game action.
“We’re gonna see how this kind of goes through camp and see how he’s doing, and when he’s 100 per cent he’ll be ready to go,” Conroy told Sportsnet.
He added, “He looked good today and he’s on the right path. We’re probably going to have him just skate with the coaches on his own to start, just to be careful.”
Huberdeau, 33, was selected third overall by the Panthers in 2011 and spent 10 seasons in Florida. He put up a career-best 30 goals and 115 points in 2021-22 before being dealt to the Flames as the centerpiece of the Matthew Tkachuk trade.
Florida also sent MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a first-round pick in the deal. Weegar is now with Utah, while Schwindt found his way back to the Panthers last season.
Not long after the trade, Huberdeau signed an eight-year deal with Calgary worth $10.5 million per year.
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