Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau Can Become a Twenty-Five Goal Scorer

Heading into this season, the Florida Panthers will count on Jonathan Huberdeau to increase his offensive production, along with his scoring tally.

Jonathan Huberdeau has always been labeled as a “playmaker.” Since his junior days, Huby has always been known as a “pass first” type of guy. While it isn’t a bad thing to set up goals, it’s even more important to score goals, especially when your team struggles to find the back of the net on a consistent basis.

Jumping into this year, all eyes will be on Jonny to perform well. This season will signal a new era for the Cats, as they turn their attention to their younger core. Part of the new plan will be to fully utilize guys like Huberdeau and Barkov upfront. Those two will be the “go-to forwards” on this team, producing a good chunk of the offense.

Part of becoming a “go-to forward” is being able to put the puck in the net consistently. Jonny has hit the 15-goal mark once, along with the 20 goal mark as well, dating back to the 2015-16 season. Who’s to say that reaching the 25 goal mark is out of his reach? It’s really not.

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Huberdeau is a very creative player, both with and without the puck. He’s a wizard when it comes to putting the puck on your stick. On the flip side though, he also has a shot that’s very accurate too. But, there’s only one problem with his shot: he doesn’t shoot the puck often enough. When Jonny shoots the puck, good things happen. Sure, it may not result in a goal every time, but it does result in a scoring chance at least nine times out of ten (approximately).

For Jonathan to continue increasing his goal rate, he’ll need to keep firing shots away at the net. Whether it’s from long or short distance, he has the power and accuracy to find goal from just about anywhere on the ice.

Since 2013, his shots per season has gone up. The 24-year-old has gone from 108 shots in 2013-14 to 174 shots in 2015-16. Furthermore, in his shortened 2016-17 campaign, the Canadian native put up 86 shots in just 31 games, on pace to clearly shatter his 174 shots from the previous season.

That’s a fairly significant jump in just three years time, and a jump that should continue trending upward. More importantly, it’s also a sign that he is becoming more confident in his shot, letting it rip from just about anywhere in the slot.

In closing, there’s really not much more to say or analyze about Jonathan Huberdeau. His overall game is polished, and the only thing he could improve upon is getting more pucks to the net. If he can avoid the injury bug and continue to shoot at a consistent rate, don’t underestimate his ability to reach the 25 goal mark this year.