Confirmed with Link: Avs sign Darren Helm, 1 year × $1M

[Tommy Shelby]

Several of us were saying that yesterday. Glendenning and Hakanpaa would both have been excellent additions for this team. Alas, we have Helm and... MacDermid.

Sakic is FAMOUS for losing out on FA bidding wars. I feel like he sends his lowball offer, and never budges from there. If they sign elsewhere to a very reasonable contract for the sake of a couple hundred K or 1 mil, then so be it he's fine with that.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Pokecheque]

Sakic is FAMOUS for losing out on FA bidding wars. I feel like he sends his lowball offer, and never budges from there. If they sign elsewhere to a very reasonable contract for the sake of a couple hundred K or 1 mil, then so be it he's fine with that.

I wouldn't say he's famous for losing out on them, he just avoids them. Rightfully so as that almost always ends in a pretty massive overpayment (ex., Kevin Hayes). This time though, he had to get into a bidding war and win it.

 

[Pokecheque]

Glad Sakic is tacitly acknowledging that the team needs to be better in the faceoff circle. I'm growing pretty tired of Jost and Compher continually losing key draws (and for anyone itching to post those players' FO stats, I said KEY draws, not all of them) and even Kadri seemed to really lose way more of them this season than he did the year before.

 

[EdAVSfan]

Glad Sakic is tacitly acknowledging that the team needs to be better in the faceoff circle. I'm growing pretty tired of Jost and Compher continually losing key draws (and for anyone itching to post those players' FO stats, I said KEY draws, not all of them) and even Kadri seemed to really lose way more of them this season than he did the year before.

Well he’s acknowledging it, but hasn’t actually addressed it?

 

[Pokecheque]

Well he’s acknowledging it, but hasn’t actually addressed it?

He literally did just that signing Helm.

 

[dahrougem2]

He literally did just that signing Helm.

I don't know if that's the case. Helm has taken like 70 draws in the last 4 years.

 

[Pokecheque]

I don't know if that's the case. Helm has taken like 70 draws in the last 4 years.

Well...he can still win them though!

 

[Foppa2118]

Glad Sakic is tacitly acknowledging that the team needs to be better in the faceoff circle. I'm growing pretty tired of Jost and Compher continually losing key draws (and for anyone itching to post those players' FO stats, I said KEY draws, not all of them) and even Kadri seemed to really lose way more of them this season than he did the year before.

He did acknowledge it, but he let Belly go for the same $1M (x2 instead of x1) that he gave Helm, and Belly is a better face-off guy than Helm.

So unfortunately I think they got worse not better at face-offs.

 

[Pokecheque]

He did acknowledge it, but he let Belly go for the same $1M (x2 instead of x1) that he gave Helm, and Belly is a better face-off guy than Helm.

So unfortunately I think they got worse not better at face-offs.

Boy he won a lot more than I thought he did during the two years he was in Denver, but it always felt like he too lost a lot of key draws.

Anyway I don't want to get too caught up in the FO thing, this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I can't imagine Helm being all that impactful either way--he's a far cry from the player who used to scorch the opposition on the PK. I don't mind this signing at all but I hope this isn't it either.

 

[CalderKing21]

Hmm, seems like Sakic is trying to add more grit and grind to the team than last season.

 

[dahrougem2]

Boy he won a lot more than I thought he did during the two years he was in Denver, but it always felt like he too lost a lot of key draws.

Anyway I don't want to get too caught up in the FO thing, this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I can't imagine Helm being all that impactful either way--he's a far cry from the player who used to scorch the opposition on the PK. I don't mind this signing at all but I hope this isn't it either.

The Avs should just buy 1,000 sticks from Yannick Perreault and every time the Avs take a penalty, both forwards go and switch their sticks to grab one of his. Get left and right handed models.

Problem solved.

 

[Foppa2118]

Boy he won a lot more than I thought he did during the two years he was in Denver, but it always felt like he too lost a lot of key draws.

Anyway I don't want to get too caught up in the FO thing, this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I can't imagine Helm being all that impactful either way--he's a far cry from the player who used to scorch the opposition on the PK. I don't mind this signing at all but I hope this isn't it either.

I'm thinking maybe they're set on a plan for 3C and 4C with two of Newhook, Jost, or Maltsev, and they wanted another 4th line winger who cold step in and take draws.

Maybe that's why they let Belly go and added Helm. Belly seems to be a pure center.

 

[Shinjuku Calling]

This is a good add

No it isn't.

 

[Hasbro]

Take it on the chin and smile.

That’s what Freudian said!

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Logged in, saw the title and said "Oh boy, that thread is not gonna go well..." I wasn't disappointed. The first page was gold then thank God it got better.

I'm ok with this signing. Hope he can stay healthy. That should be a pretty good 4th line. Fast and great on the forecheck anyway.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

I don't know if that's the case. Helm has taken like 70 draws in the last 4 years.

Most of us hardcore fans on HF pay more attention to the team despite having less resources than the GMs that manage the team. I'm not saying we pay as much attention as coaches do but it also isn't a cushy post-retirement job for us like it is for half these old GMs in the league imo. Of course they have a better eye for the game than most of us regular fans do so they'll see far more in one game than we probably will in 3 but it does get exposed at times with moves like this and quotes like that Sakic presser.

 

[Bender]

 

[Avs44]

The real win here is we just took a 14 year career Red Wing and corrupted him.


In seriousness, I like this move. We'll see how it plays out and whether it turns out he hits his last legs this year (which has happened before...), but it's cheap and after what happened last season I don't mind the fact that they brought in a veteran for a marginal role who has a cup and 82 playoff games.

 

[henchman21]

No it isn't.

Have you seen the 4th line and PK?

 

[MarkT]

I'm okay with this signing in a vaccum - I mean why not? - 1m for a PK veteran guy who can skate. Sure.

But my issue is he doesn't actually fill a need. We already have enough 4th liners: Jost, Compher, O'Connor, Maltsev. We needed middle six forwards. And if we were going to bring in another bottom six player, I'd have preferred one with some size.

My hope is Sakic finds a way to dump Compher and actually acquires two middle six forwards. That would push someone like Helm to the press box and maybe Newhook to the AHL, which is fine with me.

I'm looking at our current roster and if all we're adding with our cap space is one more forward, we're pretty boned if we get any major injuries.

 

[MarkT]

I'm a little skeptical of any tweet that identifies someone as "one of the best 4th line centers in the NHL" when the guy doesn't play center and hasn't for years. I mean, I get not watching Detroit games, but it doesn't take much to look at faceoff numbers and see that Helm doesn't take them anymore.

For the record, I looked it up and Helm was 13th on the Wings last season among regulars for faceoffs taken. He was behind such notable "centers" as Adam Erne, Anthony Mantha, Bobby Ryan, and Filip Zadina. It looks like he wasn't even the guy on his line who stepped in if the center got waived. Calling Helm a center at this point is basically like calling Nuke or Bura a center.

 

[Polite HKYDiscussion]

New AVS fan here! Truthfully, I'm a Darren Helm fan. Grew up in the same town as him and I've been following his career ever since.

So glad, that I don't have to follow the dumpster fire that is the Detroit Redwings anymore!! It's funny to see you guys complaining about that your bottom 6 as your biggest problem. With the Wings it was 1) god awful coaching 2) god awful power play 3) god awful defence 4) god awful goaltending. (Well, until Bernier showed up, anyway). The 4th line was actually the most consistent and dependable of the whole group. It even had the team leading goal scorer, Adam Erne, with a mind blowing 11 goals! (that's right, the team leader had only 11 goals last year)

You're getting an excellent 4th line winger/center! The Redwings and their coaching have been absolutely trash the last few years and Helmer's stats have been reflective of that. He's still very fast, is wicked on the forecheck, PK and very heavy on opposing defensemen. He only got pulled off of the face-off dot only because Luke Glending was among the best in the league.

This year, look for him to be rejuvenated! He's got a chance to play with an excellent team and organization again. I can't wait to see him in the playoffs again where he used to really step up and shine. Look for him to come into training camp in tip top shape and go on to score 10-15 goals this year and see time on the 3rd line.

It's not all roses:

You're never going to see a 4th liner get as many breakaways as this guy, but beware, he's probably not going to score on them. He hockey's version of "drive for show, putt for dough". Also, he's had injury problems too. (last year, he got a late start because he caught covid coming out of training camp)

Anyways, How do the AVS look this year compared to last? Are they still geared up to make a deep playoff run?

I'm looking forward to watching my new favourite team!

 

[Bender]

New AVS fan here! Truthfully, I'm a Darren Helm fan. Grew up in the same town as him and I've been following his career ever since.

So glad, that I don't have to follow the dumpster fire that is the Detroit Redwings anymore!! It's funny to see you guys complaining about that your bottom 6 as your biggest problem. With the Wings it was 1) god awful coaching 2) god awful power play 3) god awful defence 4) god awful goaltending. (Well, until Bernier showed up, anyway). The 4th line was actually the most consistent and dependable of the whole group. It even had the team leading goal scorer, Adam Erne, with a mind blowing 11 goals! (that's right, the team leader had only 11 goals last year)

You're getting an excellent 4th line winger/center! The Redwings and their coaching have been absolutely trash the last few years and Helmer's stats have been reflective of that. He's still very fast, is wicked on the forecheck, PK and very heavy on opposing defensemen. He only got pulled off of the face-off dot only because Luke Glending was among the best in the league.

This year, look for him to be rejuvenated! He's got a chance to play with an excellent team and organization again. I can't wait to see him in the playoffs again where he used to really step up and shine. Look for him to come into training camp in tip top shape and go on to score 10-15 goals this year and see time on the 3rd line.

It's not all roses:

You're never going to see a 4th liner get as many breakaways as this guy, but beware, he's probably not going to score on them. He hockey's version of "drive for show, putt for dough". Also, he's had injury problems too. (last year, he got a late start because he caught covid coming out of training camp)

Anyways, How do the AVS look this year compared to last? Are they still geared up to make a deep playoff run?

I'm looking forward to watching my new favourite team!

Alright, Darren... we look forward to watching you play.

 

[Sea Eagles]

He's older guys, but the big thing for me, is a few things actually. Age might be deceiving, because he has wheels. He can skate like a demon. Has leadership (good for Newhook, Jost, Kaut & others). But importantly, he can be on the PK (replacing either Calvert / Belle - who I miss so much already )