An offensive wizard with great hands and vision, Huberdeau began to justify the Florida Panthers' decision to spend the No. 3 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft on him within minutes of stepping onto the ice for his first NHL game.
During his second shift on Jan. 19, 2013, Huberdeau scored on his first NHL shot, beating Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward to spark Florida to a 5-1 victory.
An offensive wizard with great hands and vision, Huberdeau began to justify the Florida Panthers' decision to spend the No. 3 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft on him within minutes of stepping onto the ice for his first NHL game.
During his second shift on Jan. 19, 2013, Huberdeau scored on his first NHL shot, beating Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward to spark Florida to a 5-1 victory.
Huberdeau also had two assists in that game, the first in a shortened season in which he had 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) and became the first player in Panthers history to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.
The 6-foot-1, 188-pound center from Saint-Jerome, Quebec, led the Panthers in points (54) and assists (39) during the 2014-15 season, then had 59 points (20 goals, 39 assists) in 2015-16 to help Florida finish first in the Atlantic Division. Injuries limited Huberdeau to 31 games in 2016-17, but he rebounded in 2017-18 with NHL career highs in points (69), goals (27) and assists (42), then bettered those numbers in 2018-19 with 30 goals, 62 assists and 92 points.
He became the leading scorer in Panthers history on Jan. 12, 2020, when a goal and an assist in an 8-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs gave him 420 points (143 goals, 277 assists), one more that Olli Jokinen. Thirteen days later, Huberdeau played in the NHL All-Star Game for the first time.
NHL Central Scouting ranked Huberdeau third among North American skaters entering the 2011 NHL Draft, and the Panthers took him with the No. 3 pick in the first round after he had a 43-goal, 105-point season with Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He won the Stafford Smythe Trophy as tournament MVP after helping Saint John win the Memorial Cup.
Huberdeau remained with Saint John in 2011-12 and had 72 points (30 goals, 47 assists) in 37 regular-season games, then contributed 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 15 QMJHL playoff games. He had seven points (five goals, two assists) in the Memorial Cup tournament, though Saint John failed to repeat.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- QMJHL First All-Star Team (2011)
- QMJHL Second All-Star Team (2012)
- NHL All-Rookie Team (2013)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (2020)
