Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau’s status to start the season is uncertain after he suffered a setback in his recovery from hip surgery, general manager Craig Conroy told Jock Wilson on QR770.
Huberdeau 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 the 33-year-old winger was expected to make a full recovery in time to start this year’s campaign.
“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.
“We’re not going to rush him into something, but we feel at the beginning of the year he’s going to be pretty close,” Conroy added. “It’s just when (that) we’re not 100 per cent sure of yet.”
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.
