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 the second shift on Jan. 19, 2013, Huberdeau scored his first NHL goal off his first shot, beating Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward to spark a 5-1 Panthers victory.

Huberdeau also had two assists in that game, the first in a shortened NHL season in which he had 31 points and became the first player in Panthers history to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Huberdeau has since established himself as one of the game's best and hardest working young goal scorers and playmakers. A native of Saint-Jerome, Quebec, the 6-foot-1, 188-pound center led the team in points (54) and assists (39) during the 2014-15 season.

Ranked third among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in 2011, Huberdeau was drafted with the No. 5 pick by Vityaz Chekhov in the 2011 Kontinental Hockey League Draft before he was chosen by the Panthers in the NHL Draft.

He opted to remain with Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2011-12 and led the team to the Memorial Cup tournament. The season prior, Saint John won the championship with Huberdeau scoring three goals and six points in four games and winning the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the tournament's most valuable player.