Sutter throws Hubderdeau under the bus after demotion to 3rd line

It's safe to say that things haven't exactly gone according to plan between the Calgary Flames and star forward Jonathan Huberdeau. 

Huberdeau was, of course, acquired by the Flames this past offseason in a blockbuster deal that saw Matthew Tkachuk head to the Florida Panthers after Tkachuk requested a trade out of Calgary. Since then Huberdeau has produced just one goal and six points in his first 11 games with the Flames en route to an abysmal 6-6-2 record. He led the entire NHL in assists last season with 85 and has just five total, one at even strength this season. Not good enough. Not even close. Compare that with Tkachuk's five goals and 17 points in 12 games and things look even worse. 

Oh... and did I mention that Huberdeau hasn't even started his massive 8 year, $84 million contract? Starting next season he'll hit the team with a $10.5 million cap hit until 2031. Yeesh.

So... things can't get much worse right?

Wrong.

Things can always get worse when you're an underachieving player playing under head coach Darryl Sutter.

Sutter has made some pretty veiled statements about Hubderdeau and his play this season, but after he elected to demote him to the third line for tonight's game against the Los Angeles Kings, he took things a step further. Sutter didn't just throw Huberdeau under the bus, he backed it up and peeled out.

Check it out:

I mean... he's not wrong, is he?

Huberdeau has played at all positions in the top six and hasn't really shown much reason to stay there. A stint on the 3rd line seems like a logical move to me.

And, honestly, this team needs to put some W's together regardless of where Huberdeau plays in the lineup. I'm a firm believer that winning cures just about anything and if the Flames can start to put some wins together then I'm willing to bet it'll help Huberdeau find his game. He strikes me as the kind of player who does his best work when the pressure is off him a bit and winning has a tendency to relieve pressure from everyone.