Player Discussion Drew Helleson

[cheesymc]

Weird looking dude, looks like he should be in a comic or something

He would be a fit well pairing with Lacombe. They will hate to go to the club with Trevor and Jamie hogging all of the attention from the ladies haha.

 

[GunnarStahl]

Someone who watched the game, how did he look?

I wrote this in the prospect thread


Helleson was alright, made a few mistakes handling the puck, but also won puck battles and made a couple small breakout passes to get the team to the Ozone, a couple good defensive stick plays on defense, got dangled in the slot once. Looked maybe a bit passive at times offensively, electing to let others on the ice handle the offense. I think he had a bit of a mentality to not make mistakes rather than try to push the limits. Had a decent shot on net albeit not that powerful, caught goalie off guard a bit, but no traffic in front so the goalie was able to spot and block it. He was also used on the PK, got a couple good zone clears. He was on ice for the goal against, he passed it below the net to Larsson who kind coughed it up into the slot, Henderson player potted it, not much he could have really done there I suppose, other than have a different D partner. All in all not bad for a pro debut.

 

[bsu]

 

[Arthuros]

>"paired with a better defenceman"

>"Jacob Larsson"

I get that the NCAA is a lower level of competition, but man it made me chuckle when the reporter said that.

 

[wraparound]

I was wondering if Seattle could go of Fleury. He and Drysdale weren't ideal but decent enough I guess.

Now that Giordano & Lauzon are gone, the Kraken are down to 7 D, with Fleury being one of the cost-controlled ones. He's been playing really well for them these past few games, and I think he was always part of the long-term plan for Francis seeing as he drafted him in Carolina. That said, I wouldn't oppose bringing him back to Anaheim; I just don't see it happening.

 

[anezthes]

>"paired with a better defenceman"

Pretty sure he said "veteran".

 

[Arthuros]

Pretty sure he said "veteran".

...please don't ruin my fun.

 

[anezthes]

...please don't ruin my fun.

My bad. He definitely said "better" now that I listen to it again.

 

[duxfan1101]

 

[wraparound]

neat

 

[bsu]

Seems like he has been pretty meh.... I have watched only 1 full game since he joined the team (he was not good in it) but from his stats/team performance since they signed him.... Anyone watch any Gulls games with him and have an opinion?

Pretty funny that Zegras said he could play in the NHL

 

[GunnarStahl]

Seems like he has been pretty meh.... I have watched only 1 full game since he joined the team (he was not good in it) but from his stats/team performance since they signed him.... Anyone watch any Gulls games with him and have an opinion?

Pretty funny that Zegras said he could play in the NHL

To be fair, the team has only won one game with him on the roster, I definitely think it’s also more of him getting acclimated because I’ve seen potential and good play in my 3-4 viewings

 

[Ducks DVM]

Took him a while to get here.

 

[Kalv]

How was his first game?

 

[goonsaredumb]

How was his first game?

I didn't really notice him negatively or positively which for a rookie defenseman in his first game against one of the best teams in the league is pretty much all you can really ask for

 

[Ducks DVM]

-1 with 2 shots and 1 hit in 13:30. He didn’t look out of place at all.

 

[Leonardo87]

22 yo D making his NHL debut, has plenty of time to develop. When you don’t notice a rookie D that’s a good sign. But saw him draw a penalty, and also made some outlet passes to get the puck out of danger.

 

[GreatBear]

He has potential. He was better than I expected from the reviews of him in San Diego. To be fair, most of those reviews didn't specifically reference the apparent improvement in his game over the season.

 

[Ducks in a row]

1st career NHL goal which has come in his 2nd career NHL game

 

[Dryish]

I mean, maybe the Manson trade doesn't end up sucking after all. Hopefully.

 

[Sean Garrity]

He has potential. He was better than I expected from the reviews of him in San Diego. To be fair, most of those reviews didn't specifically reference the apparent improvement in his game over the season.

I think Hazy noted on the broadcast that Helleson said he thinks he'll be better at the NHL level because there's typically more structure and it benefits his game. I can definitely see that because his game is pretty vanilla, but honestly that's all he really needs to be, I don't think the organization or anyone is expecting him to anchor a top 4 pairing. If he just turns out to be a steady bottom 4 RHD to let one of our puck moving LHDs roam around that's all we really need IMO.

 

[Hey234]

I think Hazy noted on the broadcast that Helleson said he thinks he'll be better at the NHL level because there's typically more structure and it benefits his game. I can definitely see that because his game is pretty vanilla, but honestly that's all he really needs to be, I don't think the organization or anyone is expecting him to anchor a top 4 pairing. If he just turns out to be a steady bottom 4 RHD to let one of our puck moving LHDs roam around that's all we really need IMO.

I would agree with this. Between Minty, Zell, Fowler, and Luneau, it seems that the Ducks have options for puck moving defenseman. What's missing are steady, defensive focused defensemen. Hopefully, he'll be an option regardless of what pairing he is on.

 

[Ducks DVM]

I noticed repeatedly yesterday that he is very quick to activate on offensive breaks, and he was going to good spots when he did so.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I think Hazy noted on the broadcast that Helleson said he thinks he'll be better at the NHL level because there's typically more structure and it benefits his game. I can definitely see that because his game is pretty vanilla, but honestly that's all he really needs to be, I don't think the organization or anyone is expecting him to anchor a top 4 pairing. If he just turns out to be a steady bottom 4 RHD to let one of our puck moving LHDs roam around that's all we really need IMO.

This is probably why a lot of our AHL prospects took a step back this year. Groulx is supposed to be a shutdown guy, but he's a -20 rating this year in the AHL. Helly's game didn't start seeing improvement until he was paired with MDZ, who probably brought structure onto the ice than what the coaches were doing.

head coach Sommer was just a fill in to help two rookie assistants get their feet wet in the AHL in Clarke and Sparre. We have McIlvane coming over from Germany to San Diego. Sparre served as an assistant coach to McIlvane back in Germany.

 

[De Montreal]

He's on a bit of a heater with 7 points in his last 7 games

WIll he be in the mix for a spot in the top 7 next year?