Here's what I don't quite get: we have players with certain valuable skills that are marginalized, because they severely lack in other departments. Let's take Helm for example. He has killer speed and is a decent checker. If he had a decent shot and puck handling, he'd be so much more valuable and not nearly as many would be upset with him being brought back.
Now, my question is why can't players like him work in the off season on the specific skill sets they're missing/lacking? I know for a fact, having played sports, that it is definitely possible to improve certain aspects of your game (stick handling and shot accuracy/power included) if you work on them. Howard used to be absolutely hopeless handling the puck before last season. He obviously worked on it pretty hard and it showed. Why can't players like Helm and Abby work on their puck handling/shot and our D in general on passing? Can our coaching/training staff not require them to do so?
I think the simple answer is these guys are already world class puck handlers. Even Darren Helm. I know it doesn't look like it, but if you put him into a lower environment he'd look like Datsyuk out there. I've seen this before when a former AHL grinder tools around the local ice rink and looks like the Magic Man himself.
So usually the big disparity in skill you notice on the NHL level is very relative. It's fractional outside of that environment. It's why so few players are really elite. Sure, they could do stickhandling drills all day, but their personal potential is nearly maxed.
Same reason an average quarterback can't throw passes all summer and come back looking like Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. You either have the arm or you don't. You might be good enough to get to the big game, but you've hit the ceiling. You can't train hard to elite.
Improvements are usually most obtainable when you're at a lower skill level. Then there's a plateau. I used to be more involved in tennis and this was pretty common. Very large surges in gains and wins, but then a leveling off period. And that's a very technical sport where players do nothing but practice 1 shot over and over and over. Even then getting a serve to the "next level" like a Federer is so difficult for a pro.
It's possible to improve, though, you're right. And why we don't hear more focus on that sort of thing? I'm not sure. I think the simple answer is that it's harder than it sounds to pull off. But you're also not wrong maybe hockey lags behind the precision training we see in golf and tennis to hone individual skillsets?
