A key cog on the Florida Panthers second-ranked power play, he also shined on the man advantage, where he ranked third on the team with a career-best 11 goals and 34 points.
"My game went up this year, especially in the second half," Huberdeau said after cleaning out his locker at BB&T Center on April 8. "I just want to be more consistent out there. That's what I'm going to work on for next year and be good every game."
As Huberdeau alluded to, the second half of the season was where his game really took off.
From Feb. 17 until the final buzzer sounded on Game 82, the former third-overall pick racked up the second-most points in the NHL -- second to only teammate Aleksander Barkov -- registering 40 points in 26 games. In that span, he also found the back of the net a league-high 17 times.
With Barkov and Huberdeau lifting each other to new heights on the club's top line, Huberdeau's 92 points placed him behind only Barkov's franchise-record 96 on the team, giving the franchise its first pair of 90-point players ever in the same season. Florida also stood as one of just three teams in the league this season with multiple 90-point players, joining Edmonton and Tampa.
"We're just working hard and trying to keep things simple out there," Huberdeau said of his chemistry with Barkov in March. "We're having fun. You want to have fun out there, and that's what we've been doing lately. The points are coming, obviously. It's not the season that we wanted to have as a team, but we're trying to do well offensively whenever we're out there."
Now, for those of you that want to believe that Huberdeau's scoring surge was due to only his time spent with Barkov, you'd only be partially correct. In looking at some advanced statistics from NaturalStatTrick.com, both players actually benefitted greatly from playing with each other.
When they were separated this season, the duo was on the ice for a combined 42 goals for and 59 goals against at 5-on-5 play. But when they were together, they were on for 43 goals for and 31 against. Additionally, Barkov's CF% went from 45.90 to 50.91 while playing with Huberdeau.
Overall, Huberdeau's 51.11 CF% at 5-on-5 ranked third among Florida's forwards.
"We're both pretty similar players," Barkov said of Huberdeau. "We like to pass the puck and we like to play with the puck. [Evgenii Dadonov] is the same way. We're playing as three guys, passing the puck around, skating around and trying to have fun. At the same time, we're trying to do the right things on the ice, score goals and play good in the defensive zone."
With just one trip to the playoffs over his first seven seasons in the NHL, Huberdeau, who serves as one of the club's alternate captains, said his focus for next season doesn't involve building upon his own numbers, but rather simply getting the Panthers back into the playoffs.
"It's upon ourselves to bring this team to another level, and I think you can't sit and be satisfied with getting some points," Huberdeau said. "Like last year we had 96 points, but we weren't in the playoffs. I think we can't be satisfied with that, so we have to work hard and show the way to the other guys. When we made the playoffs [in 2016], other guys showed me the way, so I think I have to do the same thing right now to the younger guys."
While Huberdeau admits the onus is mainly on players such as himself to help to team get over the hump and back into the postseason picture next season, he also believes that the hiring of new head coach Joel Quenneville will also certainly help the team get to where it wants to be.
"It's great news for us," Huberdeau said of bringing in the three-time Stanley Cup winner. "We know him as a coach. He has a great pedigree, won a cup with Chicago. We know [Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Dale Tallon] knows him a lot, so I'm really excited to meet him and start working with him for next year."