krsmith17

WingedWheel, it seems we don't agree on much, but I agree with you here 100%. Great post! I also agree that Fowler is massively overrated. I would take him on this team, but not at the price it would likely cost. Like I've said before, if we're over paying for a defenseman, it needs to be a true number one or at least one that has the potential to be a true number one...

My personal preference would have been to re-sign Helm, let Miller walk and not go anywhere near Ott. I'm not really arguing what we should or shouldn't have done, my argument is Helm's worth to the team. I think he is a very valuable and underrated player, and he will earn that contract, at least for the first three seasons... I don't mind people saying, we shouldn't have signed Helm because we have way too many forwards now and there are a bunch of deserving players that are going to be without a spot in the lineup... What pisses me off is the few people that keep saying how s***ty or useless he is as a player...

33 once and 32 another year, then he went through basically three years of injury after injury. Since then, he's been relatively healthy and there's no reason to believe he won't be relatively healthy again this season. And IF he is, there's no reason he shouldn't be able to produce 30+ points. I'm a firm believer that in today's NHL, for every $1M, you should get approximately 10 points, give or take. Helm being a 30 point producer should have gotten around $3M, so while it is slight over payment, I'd rather pay Helm an extra $850K than sign Miller and Ott for $2M...

There were soooo many people here that wanted to sign Matt Martin, even when the reported asking price was upwards of $4M. Martin produces half the points as Helm, isn't used on either special teams, had much worse possession numbers, but he somehow would have been a better option over Helm?... Haha "the grass is always greener..."

$3-3.25M for 3 years would have been a great deal, so while it is overpayment, I don't think it's near as bad as some are trying to make it out to be... Why are you only using his stats from last year, when the entire team had a down year statistically? He is a 25-35 point producer, and like I said earlier, that is above average for a bottom 6 forward. $3.85M is a little high, but look around the league, and you will see that it is pretty standard for a 3rd line center, other than those still on entry level contracts... I don't think comparing Helm to Nyquist puts it into perspective at all... How about Marcus Kruger in Chicago? 3rd line center making $3.1M, and puts up half the points as Helm. Matt Stajan? Same deal. Lars Eller? Same at $3.5. David Desharnais? Same deal. Matt Cullen? Yup...

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...

He won't get 20 points? Haha I'll take that bet any day... He's never gotten less than 20 points in a season, and the only time he 'only' got 20 was when he played just 42 games, which put him on pace to have 39 points... "He is no better than a 4th line player"... That's it, LeftWinger has spoken. Throw all the stats out the window, this guys eye-test (obviously no bias whatsoever) is much more reliable than any stats out there. And he obviously knows better than Ken Holland, Mike Babcock, Jeff Blashill and the rest of the hockey world that would love to have him on their team...

Doesn't have enough offensive ability? He's a 25-35 point guy, which is well above average for a 3rd line center in today's NHL. He's also one of the top bottom 6 puck possession players as well...

*Jim Hiller...

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...

I think our power-play setup (coach) was our biggest issue last season, not so much the personnel (players). With Firschweiler gone and Torchetti in, that alone "should" give it a huge boost... We have more than enough weapons that our power-play should at least be somewhat dangerous...

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...

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...

What should have been? We shouldn't have signed Miller and / or Ott... With what we have now? Miller and / or Ott should be the odd men out... That's of course if we want to ice the best roster possible. But who am I kidding, we rarely ever ice the best roster possible... We have a major log jam at all positions. Up front we will likely have Jurco and Pulkkinen sitting on a nightly basis, Mantha sent down, possibly Athanasiou as well, and Frk (hopefully he clears) waived, as well as Callahan. On the back end, hopefully we can keep one of Sproul (would be my choice) or Ouellet as the 7th defenseman, and Jensen waived (hopefully he clears). Between the pipes, Howard should be moved (doubt he will at this point), but Coreau should be a very capable back-up by next year at the latest... F*** Holland, we need a trade to alleviate this log jam, or we're going to lose a few players for nothing...

Helm is worth at least twice as much as Miller and Ott combined, which coincidently is what he's getting paid. If you're looking for the players we should not have signed, those two are way before Helm in my book. But hey, Helm sucks because LGW says he sucks, f*** stats... If we're overpaying in a trade for a defenseman, I hope it's for Trouba, not Fowler...

I never take much stock in +/-, and certainly not for a player on a team as terrible as Flint was last season. They finished 3rd last in the league, with a 0.338 win percentage a -95 goal differential... Also when you consider only one player on the entire team had a positive +/- rating with a +2, and the worst was a -45, it puts Vili's -15 somewhat in perspective... Saarijarvi had a great year in junior and I expect him to improve on those numbers next season in Mississauga, but whether or not his game and lack of size (5'9, 165lbs.) will translate to the NHL is the question...

To some, yes, others, no... He's a perfect example of a "bang or bust" type of prospect. I'm personally not very high on him at all, and would be surprised if he ever makes the NHL. Of course I hope I'm wrong and he becomes a top pairing, power-play quarterback stud defenseman...

Like any position in training camp, Paterson and Pasquale will battle it out for the number 2 spot behind Coreau.

Helm >>>>> Miller and Ott combined... If I'm sticking with your roster, bottom 6 should be... Athanasiou - Sheahan / Helm - Mantha Miller / Ott - Sheahan / Helm - Glendening

I'm not too worried about "bad juju" for Steve Ott...

I completely disagree. I believe all three of Ouellet, Sproul and even Jensen have just as good or better shot at making the team over Hicketts and Saarijarvi...

I'm okay with Ott taking 90, as long as Nielsen doesn't. I'm assuming Nielsen will take Filppula's old 51 though.

I was actually shocked that Nashville wanted a number one defenseman coming back the other way. They have one of the deepest back ends in the league and lack offense. I thought that Weber for Hall would have been a much better deal for both Nashville and Edmonton... and even Montreal...

My question was tongue in cheek for sure, but directed at others, not so much yourself. Another great post though and I couldn't agree more with everything you said there.