Veteran Calgary Flames left wing Jonathan Huberdeau missed practice Thursday after suffering an undisclosed injury in Wednesday’s preseason game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Calgary general manager Craig Conroy told reporters Thursday that Huberdeau was still being evaluated to determine the extent of his injury, which occurred when he collided with Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen in the third period of an 8-1 home loss.
Huberdeau, 32, was driving to the net when Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek caused him to collide with Lankinen in the crease. Huberdeau, whose face appeared to make contact with Lankinen’s mask, went down and eventually skated off the ice under his own power, while Hronek was called for holding.
Coming off his best campaign with the Flames, Huberadeau scored 62 points (28 goals, 34 assists) in 81 games. The 2013 Calder Trophy winner and two-time All-Star is entering the fourth year of an eight-year, $84 million contract he signed in August 2022 after a trade from the Florida Panthers.
In 13 NHL seasons with the Panthers (2012-22) and Flames, Huberdeau has 782 points (253 goals, 529 assists) over 912 games. Florida selected the Quebec native with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 draft. In 26 playoff appearances, Huberdeau has accumulated 21 points (five goals, 16 assists).
As the season draws near, Devin Cooley looks to have secured the backup goaltender job behind Dustin Wolf. Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov, who signed a one-year, $950,000 deal on July 1, was among three players placed on waivers on Thursday. Forward Rory Kerins and defenseman Ilya Solovyov were also put on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the AHL.
