Evan’s NHL Daily: Soderberg Retires, Huberdeau Ready To Bounce Back

There may have been no greater disappointment in the NHL last year than the Calgary Flames, and a big part of that was the struggles of Jonathan Huberdeau up front. The big piece in the Matthew Tkachuk trade, he struggled on his new squad. Now, he’s claiming he’s got his confidence back for next season.

With the Colorado Avalanche, they named a new Associate Head Coach in the AHL, and an old friend called it a career.

All that and more in this Wednesday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Carl Soderberg, who played parts of five seasons with the Avalanche, and played nearly 600 NHL games, has called it a career. The Swede has been playing back in in the SHL the last two seasons, but at 37, he’s hanging up the skates for good.

The Colorado Eagles needed another coach, but the Avalanche got a pretty big name to join the staff. Steve Konowalchuk, who has coaching experience in the NHL, and was very successful in the WHL, will be the Associate Head Coach for the Eagles.

Around the NHL

60 points.

That’s how big a drop Jonathan Huberdeau saw last season in his point production. That’s a big reason why Calgary did not make the playoffs. Now, Huberdeau claims he’s got his confidence back, and is ready to bounce back for the Flames, who are at a bit of a crossroads.

The Edmonton Oilers avoided arbitration and got Ryan McLeod signed for a pretty reasonable deal. Now, they’ve got to lock down Evan Bouchard.

National Hockey Now

Pittsburgh: Finding the real value in the Penguins Off-season moves.

Boston: Busy day for the Bruins, who saw Jeremy Swayman get awarded a one-year, $3.47 million contract in arbitration, and they also avoided arbitration with Trent Frederic.

Nashville: The Predators top prospects ranked.

New Jersey: The Devils locked down defenseman Kevin Bahl to a two-year contract.

Carolina: The Hurricanes always keep it interesting. Here’s some potential trade targets for them.