Calgary Flames

Flames Star Being Trolled Over “Cheap” But Way Too “Expensive” Contract

Despite salaries rising at an unprecedented rate, one Flames forward continues to be trolled by NHL fans for his albatross deal.

by
NHL Trade Talk
August 30, 2026

If you’re Jonathan Huberdeau, you just can’t win these days. Already regarded as the most overpaid NHL player, he’s taking more heat from fans this week after Cale Makar‘s deal landed at a whopping $20.4 million per season. While fans are looking around at the teams and saying, “I’d rather have my guy at this money than Makar at $20.4,” no one is looking at Huberdeau that way.

In fact, both Huberdeau and the Calgary Flames are, once again, taking a beating in terms of the team trading for that contract.

Calgary’s GM was playing chess while the rest of us were playing checkers. 😭

Everyone laughed at Jonathan Huberdeau making $10.5M a year… now the NHL contract market has gone so crazy that it’s starting to look like a bargain.

Absolute genius. Never doubted it for a second. pic.twitter.com/bNeVxKWynG
— Hockey Patrol (@HockeyPatrol) August 29, 2026

A recent tweet wrote the following:

“Calgary’s GM was playing chess while the rest of us were playing checkers. Everyone laughed at Jonathan Huberdeau making $10.5M a year… now the NHL contract market has gone so crazy that it’s starting to look like a bargain. Absolute genius. Never doubted it for a second.”

In other words, while deals that were once considered expensive are now looked at as reasonable salaries for average players, Huberdeau is still catching the brunt end of things. Fans are reminded just how bad that contract is.

Huberdeau is starting to score goals for the Calgary Flames

In 50 games last season, Huberdeau had 10 goals and 25 points. That means the Flames paid $420K per point. He had a better 2024-25 campaign with 28 goals and 62 points, but that’s still not the kind of production the Flames need out of him at over $10 million per season. His contract is virtually untradeable, even when teams like the Edmonton Oilers moved the entire Darnell Nurse contract and got two pieces back in return. Nurse was also considered one of the league’s worst contracts, but the Oilers got out of it. Can the Flames do the same with Huberdeau? Most don’t believe so.

That’s what makes him an easy target. Even with salaries rising at an unprecedented rate, Huberdeau’s deal continues to look like an albatross.

Next: NHL Trade Talk Recap: Avalanche, Canadiens & Oilers What If?