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Florida Panthers: Which Winger Will Have a Better Season?

By Cal Friedman

OTTAWA, ON - MARCH 29: Mike Hoffman #68 of the Ottawa Senators battles for position against Jonathan Huberdeau #11 of the Florida Panthers at Canadian Tire Centre on March 29, 2018 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON - MARCH 29: Mike Hoffman #68 of the Ottawa Senators battles for position against Jonathan Huberdeau #11 of the Florida Panthers at Canadian Tire Centre on March 29, 2018 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Huberdeau vs Hoffman: Playmaking

SUNRISE, FL – FEBRUARY 9: Jonathan Huberdeau #11 of the Florida Panthers passes the puck against Tanner Pearson #70 of the Los Angeles Kings at the BB&T Center on February 9, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL – FEBRUARY 9: Jonathan Huberdeau #11 of the Florida Panthers passes the puck against Tanner Pearson #70 of the Los Angeles Kings at the BB&T Center on February 9, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Cal: While I should be defending Hoffman, I can’t help but say that Huberdeau has him beat here. Huberdeau broke his career-high in assists last season with the Panthers, playing on two separate lines.

He had lots of success as a secondary assist player, being able to link up with Vincent Trocheck, who would then decide whether to go back for Huberdeau, look back to one of the other three players on the ice, or go for goal himself. This gave Huberdeau a lot more options than on the first line, where Aleksander Barkov was always more of a pass-first player.

This isn’t me taking anything away from Hoffman, as Mike has recorded over 30 assists in the past three seasons, finishing second in assists for Senators forwards last season.

Hoffman was also on the ice for 58 goals on even strength, good for a team that finished 23rd in goals last season. Ultimately, Hoffman’s career-high in assists is a measly 35, which Jonathan Huberdeau has beat three times, so this one goes to the Cats’ #11.

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Danny: Without a doubt, I have to go with Jonathan Huberdeau. Since entering the league, Huberdeau has primarily been known as a playmaker. His bread and butter has always been his ability to set teammates up from just about anywhere around the ice.

As stats have shown over the past three seasons (not accounting for Huberdeau’s shortened 2016-17 year), Huberdeau clearly has Hoffman beat in the assist department. But looking beyond the stats, Huberdeau is just far more creative with his on-ice vision than Mike Hoffman is.

Huberdeau can create space out of nothing and can thread a puck through a couple of defenders without any difficulty. For Hoffman, that isn’t what he’s known for – nor really good at. Hoffman is a pure sniper – a goalscorer if you will – but one thing he’s not is a playmaker, which Huberdeau happens to be.

The native of Saint-Jerome, Quebec has Hoffman beat here by a pretty large margin, and I’m sorry to say but it’s really not even close in this particular category.

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