Folks, one of the biggest question marks for the Calgary Flames heading into the 2026-27 campaign centres on the health of their highest-paid player, Jonathan Huberdeau.

Acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Florida Panthers in July 2022 coming off a season where he set the single-season assists record for a left wing, Huberdeau signed a mammoth eight year extension with the Flames with an $10.5 million cap hit before playing a single game for the team. (At the time, a $10.5 million was a lot, and it stands as the largest contract in Flames franchise history.)

Huberdeau has yet to set the world on fire offensively as a Flame – pun intended – with his peak offensive performance being 28 goals and 62 points in 2024-25. That offensive output followed Huberdeau really reinventing his game, embracing a more systemic two-way style and joining the Flames’ penalty kill. But he struggled for much of 2025-26, primarily due to a lingering hip issue that really started to bother him during the 2025 off-season by his own admission.

Huberdeau was shut down for the season prior to the Olympic break in February, and he underwent hip resurfacing surgery in March with the goal of having him fully recovered in time for the 2026-27 season.

On Tuesday evening, general manager Craig Conroy joined Jock Wilson on QR Calgary’s Sports Talk with Jock Wilson, and Wilson followed up on some discussion he and head coach Ryan Huska had the previous week regarding Huberdeau’s recovery and availability for the beginning of the season.

Here’s Conroy;

Conroy added: “It’s still on his schedule. We’re not going to rush him into something. We feel that at the beginning of the year he’s going to be pretty close. It’s just when, we’re not 100 percent sure yet.”

The Flames begin their training camp later this month, with prospects reporting around Sept. 10 and veterans reporting around Sept. 17. We’ll likely get more detailed information on Huberdeau’s recovery and status for camp from Flames management as camp begins.

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