As the Florida Panthers continue to build towards becoming a contender in the future for years to come, one of the key young players involved is forward Jonathan Huberdeau. The Panthers selected him third overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft after he spent two seasons and achieved 140 points in 128 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

The team decided to send Huberdeau back to the Sea Dogs for one more season before making his jump into the NHL full-time where he scored 72 points in 37 games. Prior to the 2012-2013 shortened NHL season due to a lockout, he continued to play in Saint John and scored 45 points in 30 games. Once the NHL lockout was resolved in January 2013, Huberdeau's dream finally came true and he suited up for the Florida Panthers.

Huberdeau scored a goal and got two assists in his first game in Florida against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward to become an instant fan favorite. He ended the season with 14 goals and 17 assists in 48 games, which was impressive enough for him to be awarded the 2013 Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year. After many years of Florida Panthers fans seeing drafted prospects in their system fail, they finally looked like they scored a hat trick with him.

Huberdeau had hip surgery after the season was over in May 2013 and he was not able to return to the ice until August. This gave him only two months to prepare for the upcoming 2013-2014 season rather than five months. It was apparent from the get-go last season that Huberdeau was not in the same form as fans saw in 2012-2013. His production went down tremendously and in most games for the first few months of the season, he was not very noticeable on the ice. While he played left wing on the Panthers top line in almost every game in 2012-2013, his power play and overall ice time was diminished and he dropped at times during the season to play on lower lines. His game seemed to pick up towards the second half of the season, but nevertheless was considered a major disappointment with only 9 goals and 19 assists in 69 games. With Huberdeau being depended on as one of the Panthers top scorers, they only improved from dead last in the NHL and 30th overall in 2012-2013 to 29th overall in 2013-2014.

While many Panthers management, fans, and analysts were disappointed in his production during his sophomore season, nobody was as somber as Huberdeau. Can we blame his drastic lower point production on his limited time to prepare for the season after having hip surgery or did he have what many second-year players have known as a "sophomore slump?"

One of the key reasons why the Panthers chose him third overall in 2011 was not only because he was projected to have a great career on the scoresheet, but also due to taking himself as a person and player on the ice in a very mature manner. He knows he must turn his game around in this coming season and has a positive outlook on how to accomplish that. There is no guarantee that he will do so when the puck drops for another NHL Regular Season this October, but management and most analysts seems to feel positive that the best of Huberdeau's years are still to come.

He will also be playing under new Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant whom coached Huberdeau for three seasons in Saint John for the Sea Dogs. Their coach to player relationship was mutually a very positive one and they both look forward to having a second term in Florida. When Gallant was announced as the Panthers Head Coach earlier this offseason, Huberdeau stated, "Of course I was excited to hear that news. Gerard has been a great coach for me. He taught me a lot of stuff when I was in juniors. That's good that he's coming here right now and I just need to keep working hard and he's just going to help all the guys on the team." Gallant wants nothing more than for Huberdeau to get back into form. He stated "Jonathan is a great kid. I had him for three years and his family is great people. Getting the opportunity to grow with him a little bit here more now and to see him develop as a hockey player is going to be great, but the biggest thing is he's an excellent kid. He wasn't happy about his 2013-14 season and he talked about getting better, and we all know he's a very talented kid and he's going to get a lot better."

Hopefully the familiarity of Gallant's coaching style and relationship that the two of them have can only improve his mental and physical momentum. Huberdeau should also benefit playing alongside fellow young teammate Aleksander Barkov as the top line Center for many years in the future as both will be another year older. While the Panthers still look as Huberdeau as a player that they want to keep long-term to continue making the team into a Stanley Cup contender, he will be a restricted costless agent after this coming season. If his point production does not continue to improve again, management may change their mindset. Many hockey fans around the league and world are eager to see the outcome and are rooting for Huberdeau to succeed as he can be a great asset for the game's future.