Saturday, October 1, 2011

Huberdeau Watch Continues

The Jonathan Huberdeau watch continues.

On Friday night, the Florida Sun-Sentinel confirmed what TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted earlier this week – the deadline for Huberdeau to sign with the Panthers is Tuesday at 6pm AST.

The Panthers were discussing his situation today, however, his agent Allan Walsh hasn’t returned calls in the past two days. Huberdeau leads the team with three goals, all power-play goals, and both GM Dale Tallon and coach Kevin Dineen have loved what they have seen of the 18 year old on and off the ice. The only fear is he’s a tad thin at 173 pounds and there’s a concern he couldn’t take the physical nature of the NHL until he beefs up. 
The loss of center Mike Santorelli for at least a month creates a need for Huberdeau, so it would behoove the Panthers to give him about the same entry level contract they gave Erik Gudbranson last season (also the overall No. 3 pick) and let him play the CBA-allowable nine games before they make a final decision on whether to keep him up or send him back to juniors and not lose a year of control on his free agency. The contract would then be put off until he made the team the following year or beyond, but the Panthers would owe him the signing bonus.
 Future Considerations has a breakdown of the situation.

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