The Calgary Flames will be without forward Jonathan Huberdeau to start the 2026-27 season.
General manager Craig Conroy told reporters, including Pat Steinberg of QR770, on Thursday that Huberdeau will open training camp skating on his own and join the team skates later on.
Huberdeau added that he’spain free as he recovers from hip surgery, but neither he nor Conroy would put a definitive date on his return.
The 33-year-old winger was ruled out for the remainder of the 2025-26 season in February as the team announced he would undergo hip resurfacing in March. The team stated at the time that he was expected to make a full recovery in time to start this year’s campaign.
Conroy told Jock Wilson on QR770 last week that Huberdeau suffered a setback in his recovery, leaving his status for training camp unclear.
“This is a major surgery, so he had a little bit of a setback, maybe two weeks ago, with his skating,” Conroy said, as relayed by the Calgary Herald. “We just want to make sure we do the right thing for him. If it’s to take a little bit more time and have him 100 per cent feeling good about the hip, that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Flames are set to open their preseason on Sept. 20 against the Seattle Kraken, with their regular season kicking off on Oct. 1 at against the Kraken.
Huberdeau posted 10 goals and 25 points in 50 games last season before being shut down. The Saint-Jerome, Que., native was in his fourth campaign with the Flames, where he has tallied 65 goals and 129 assists for 194 points over 291 games.
Acquired as a key piece of Calgary’s return for Matthew Tkachuk in 2022, Huberdeau is entering the fourth season of an eight-year, $84 million contract that carries a cap hit of $10.5 million.
The Panthers selected Huberdeau, a two-time NHL All-Star, third overall in the 2011 draft. Over his 14-year career, he has scored 263 goals and 807 points in 962 games.
His best season came in 2021-22, his final year in Florida, when he scored 30 goals and finished tied for second in the NHL in points with 115.
