A Good Rookie Season For Huberdeau

It was a solid rookie season for Jonathan Huberdeau.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs captain played in all 48 games for the Florida Panthers in this lockout shortened National Hockey League season, registering 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points.

Huberdeau’s 31 points tie him with Edmonton's Nail Yakupov for most amongst first year players. He led rookies in goals for much of the year but was passed by Yakupov (17) and Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher (15) on Saturday.

This is a good rookie class. Hopefully Huberdeau will - at least - get nominated for the Calder Trophy.

Also impressive is the fact that Huberdeau finished second on the Panthers in scoring, just four points back of team leader Tomas Fleischmann. His 14 goals were tied for second most on the team.

Via the Panthers website, here’s Huberdeau speaking to the media on locker cleanout day:

Florida, who had unlimited injuries this year, finished the season with the worst record in the NHL at 15-27-6. They have a good group of young players moving forward and have a good chance at selecting first overall in this year’s draft. So, that's a positive.

Despite not playing with the Sea Dogs since December, the 19-year old still finished as their leading scorer with 16 goals and 29 assists in 30 games.