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I don't think it was THAT important to resign Helm to be honest. And I especially didn't think Miller was either. I think Holland tried to play it safe and wanted to keep them in case he didn't land other free agents. $3.85 x5 isn't a slight overpayment for a bottom 6, 26 point scorer. It's a pretty big overpayment. Even if he kills penalties. Just to put it into perspective, Gustav Nyquist scored more goals (27 goals) than Helm scored points (26 points total) when he got his contract and only makes 900k more. Wayne Simmonds makes as much money as Helm does and scores more than twice as many goals and points. We should have let the guy walk and let someone else overpay him to be honest. I'm purely looking at this in terms of numbers and financies. Don't think I'm trying to insult Helm guys lol. This was a bad contract. And it's not even bad in hindsight like Ericsson's was (who was probably expected to be a pretty good D man but ended up disappointing most fans). This one is bad from day 1 and I'm hoping to god, moses and buddah that there's no NMC or NTC so we aren't stuck with it if it doesn't work out. And ya'll know I'm no Holland hater either.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I dont think two guys signed to one year contracts for less than a million are necessarily going to be penciled into the lineup. Obviously Helms going to play (and he should), but not the other two. I dont think they're safe. Especially Ott. Holland waived Tootoo, why would he be reluctant to waive Ott?

I don't get obsession with Fowler he's average defensemen... why not Dumba?

Darren Helm might be overpaid (for 82 regular season games), but he is still a valuable commodity on this team. He can play up and down the lineup (which is more important than advertised), kill penalties and provide a fore-check better than anyone not named Justin Abdelkader. Come April, every team needs several guys like this to wear down the opponents D (that just didn't sound right, but it is pride month - so enjoy!!!). It's also hard to compare Nyquist's salary to his, because Nyquist is a different player with a different role on this team - and was actually more disappointing through that lens this past postseason. They both had 1 goal and 0 assists, but Helm did much more for this team than score - while Nyquist simply doesn't. All in all, he still has the tools to be one of the most effective third line centers in the league - and $3,000,000 - $4,000,000 is what that probably costs.

SKA St. Petersburg has our prospect, Kadeykin. Hope some of Datsyuks magic rubs off!

i know this isn't huge news to us fans....something was just put out with a team of the worst contracts in the league howard ericcson helm all on it....i didn't realize how long ericcson's contract actually was

Do what with players I favor? I'm not basing an opinion on my own bias, I'm basing an opinion on stats... I'm not saying I "think" Helm is one of the best bottom 6 forwards in the league, the stats are there to prove it. I'm sick and tired of reading the same people spewing the same s*** about how so and so sucks, with nothing other than their opinion to back it up... Helm sucks, Nyquist sucks, Smith sucks, etc, etc... Not a single person has said that Helm is a top 6 forward. I agree, he doesn't belong in the top 6, but that doesn't make him a bad player, or a terrible signing...

i mean the year before we were 1st place the majority of the season

Yup, re-signing Helm is the reason we have about 6 or 7 guys sitting / sent to Grand Rapids... Helm is not even close to being the problem with the log jam up front, but keep banging that drum Lefty...

I wouldn't say I hope we don't trade for a defenseman, but if there's none worth going after (too expensive), I definitely agree that those are the best 23 players. But I think we all know the chance of both Miller and Ott being waived is slim to none... Left Winger, maybe if you say the Helm signing was useless a few more times, it will make it true...

At this point I hope we don't trade for a defenseman. Go with this. Its not terrible. Tatar-Larkin-Abby Nyquist-Neilsen-Vanek Z-AA-Mantha Helm-Glen-Sheahan Jurco Frk Dekeyser-Green Smith-Marchenko Kronwall-Sproul Ericsson Ltir Franzen, pulk, vitale. Waive Ott and Miller. Trade Ouellet.

It starts with roster management by Holland, alleviating some of this log jam. Then it's Blashill's job to ice the right players and find line combos that work. I'm not sure I have full confidence in either right now... The coaching staff looks to be much improved, hopefully they can get the special teams figured out...

The team hasn't changed much, for sure. We got a net front presence, so we improved there, and we made a lateral move with Nielsen replacing a crippled Datsyuk. But that's it. Maybe slightly more agitatorish with Ott. But still basically the same team. Basically it all hinges on Vanek transforming into a stud who gives us the net front presence. So not a hugely drastic change.

The difference between Goose and Helm is that Helm turns 30 sometime this season and Goose was turning 26 entering into his prime. I honestly would probably be calling this an excellent deal if Helm was 25 rather than 29. I'm looking at this situation in it's entire scope. I'll reiterate some points. 1. We have a log jam of NHL forwards. 2. We have a log jam of AHL forwards or extras trying to become NHL forwards (Mantha, AA, Jurco, Pulk, Bert, Callahan) 3. 5 years. This contract runs till he's 34. If 29 year old Helm's best is 33 points what will 32 y/o Helm be? 33? 34? 4. His best production was when he was 24 years old. His next best production was in 2015 where he thrived as Datsyuk's wing (Tatar - Datsyuk - Helm line). Can he repeat the production without Pav? I'm not saying he won't but it's something to think about. 5. Injury history. It's pretty bad. Doesn't mean it will happen again, doesn't mean it won't either. These things should be considered when making 5 year deals imo. 6. Was it worth paying $3.85 million when perhaps AA could take the role? AA doesn't have the same grit but he can probably provide the same duties on the third line and on the PK. We also have Nielsen now so the PK will primarily be his to handle. 7. Perhaps it is Helms market value. Maybe you guys are right. But does that mean management should pay it? I mean, it's not like it's Datsyuk hitting UFA. If that was the case, we do whatever we could to retain him. But was their hand really forced here? I don't think so. I just don't see this contract working out in our favor. I hope I'm wrong though. And it all depends on if he has a NTC or NMC. If there's a NMC then lol.

Goose scored 17 last year. Taking from a different year seems like cherry picking stats to me. This wasn't an essential signing. I'm glad we reupped him, but I can see why some disagree. Without the Miller, Ott signing, I think people would look at it differently. I don't think the caphit is a big deal, though. We have Lark, AA, and others on their entry contracts and other young players on RFA deals for the next while - we would have to worry the cap for a bit. Also, who was there to throw money at? This is not true. 2010-2011: 32 pts 2012-2013: 26 pts in 68 games (got injured, traslates to 31 pts. over the full year) 2013-2014: 20 pts in 42 games (lockout season. His best season for pts per game. 39 pts over 82) 2014-2015: 33 pts Last year was a down year for his production - like it was for almost everyone on the team. from his record you can expect over 30 pts from him. I think saying he's worth less than 3 mill is unrealistic. He would have gotten more than 4 in free agency. That is worth - market dictates value.

I bet PP would be worse if we trade Nyquist

Martin would have been the worst contract of the decade. Glad we didn't go for it.

I'd prefer Helm on the 3rd line, but I don't see anything wrong with him being down on the 4th either. It's not like he's a one dimentional 4th liner that just eats minutes. He drives possession and is one of the best penalty killers in the entire league. That is where he makes his money, not necessarily 5on5. Like I said from the beginning, $3.85M is 'slightly' high, but I have no more of a problem with that kind of money on our 4th line than I do with Ericsson and his $4.25M on the 3rd pair...

Krs-one covered most of my response, but also Helm never said this bolded no matter how many times you refer to it. He said he's fine with playing on the lower lines as long as there's "that respect factor." Whatever the hell that means, but he does seem to be fine on the 3rd and 4th.

Did Helmer get a no-trade or no-move in his contract? Wasn't really paying that much attention. What Nashville does get in that deal is exactly what Montreal didn't want... a player with personality. Nashville not only got a number one back... they got a guy that will put butts into seats FOR YEARS because he's a superstar. Compared to Subban -- Weber's a cold fish, void of personality. ...not even bringing to light the fact that Weber is obvious decline.

There were people who thought Almquist was going to be really good.

oh trust me this kid will be paying debts for a while

Voted Worse. No Datsyuk, Z a year older, Larkin in a possible Sophomore slump. I hope I'm wrong and the new signings work out and some young players step up.