It's been a long summer for Florida Panther fans regarding RFA Jonathan Huberdeau.
Soon after the season was over GM Dale Tallon said he was confident that not only would a new deal with Huberdeau be done, but it would happen quickly.
Then days, weeks, and months passed with no deal.
The natives were getting restless.
A few weeks ago it was learned that the term of the deal was agreed upon, but not the money.
When the Panthers' "final" offer was delivered early this week, only to be met with silence from Huberdeau's camp, Bob McKenzie reported that a few teams were "kicking the tires" on sending him an offer sheet.
However, that would have been costly for any team to do so since that would have likely cost them a 1st and 3rd round draft pick next year.
That is simply too expensive, for the same reasons this drama lasted as long as it did with the Panthers.
As much as Huberdeau is a fan favorite, only 22, and a budding star, he is still an unknown commodity.
"But he lead the Panthers in points last year and won the Calder three years ago," some will say. "How is he an unknown commodity?"
After winning the Calder in the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season, it was learned he was playing with a nagging hip injury. The subsequent surgery resulted in the following season being a disaster by his standards. His 9 goals and 19 assists in 69 games was alarming for several reasons, but it was clear he hadn't healed physically and mentally.
After a full offseason to get stronger Huberdeau came into last season determined to show the previous year was an aberration.
Did he accomplish this?
Not really.
Through 59 games, Huberdeau had 9 goals and 24 assists. Sure that was slightly better than the year before, but are those numbers worthy of a 3rd overall pick in the 2011 Draft? Definitely not.
Enter Jaromir Jagr.
On February 26th of last season Tallon traded for Jagr and he was immediately placed on the top line with Sasha Barkov and Huberdeau. They immediately took off. The greatest beneficiary of this trade was Huberdeau, who then tallied 6 goals and 15 assists over the last 20 games. He ended the year with 15 goals and 39 assists.
It would have been interesting to see if Huberdeau would have lead the team in points if Nick Bjugstad hadn't been suffering from a back injury that eventually ended his season with 10 games left. At the time it was decided surgery was needed, Bjugstad had 24 goals and 19 assists and had played through the injury for several games.
Huberdeau's production between his Calder-winning season and the Jagr trade left a lot to be desired. That is why this negotiation with the Panthers was tenuous.
It is a business after all, but as far as Florida is concerned, they could not give Huberdeau the big bucks he was looking for from a snapshot of 20 games. The Panthers need more consistency. They also need to see that he will still be the player they hope he can be when Jagr is gone. Yes, Jagr might play until he's 50, but Huberdeau simply hasn't performed well enough over his entire short career to garner big money.
That is why this 2-year bridge deal on the eve of training camp makes a lot of sense for both sides. Huberdeau will get $2.5 million this season and $4 million next season with a team cap hit of $3.25 million for each year. One of their stars-to-be gets more financial security, and the Panthers didn't overspend for someone they will be happy to renegotiate with in the future on a long-term contract if he continues to improve.
But to this point there just wasn't enough data. Not enough of passing the eye test.
You can't blame Tallon for playing a bit of hard ball with this because he already overspent on several players when he overhauled this organization in 2011(Jovanovski, Upshall, Kopecky, Bergenheim, etc.). And with players like Barkov and Aaron Ekblad up for new deals in the coming years, it was important not to overextend on a player that simply needs to show more.
There is no doubt Huberdeau has the skills to be a very good player in this league, and if the last 20 games of last season showed anything, a full season of Huberdeau-Barkov-Jagr could be something special.
But for now, it's a win-win for all involved. The Panthers retain his rights for another four years and he is essentially on the first big audition of his young career. If he comes through with a huge season, this contract will mean nothing this time next year. He will be taken care of.
For a team that is on the brink of making some serious noise in this league, Huberdeau is a vital piece. He is one of Tallon's draft picks that is expected to be a difference maker in the Panthers' quest to bring a Cup to South Florida.
With this deal Tallon didn't say Huberdeau is everything he expected him to be to this point, but he did show he knows he can. That should be all the motivation Huberdeau needs.
Thanks for reading, and as always I look forward to your comments.
Dan Spiegel Florida Panthers Media