Wings Nation 2016-17 Player Review: Darren Helm
By Nick Seguin
6 years agoThe speedy Darren Helm returned this season with a shiny new five year, $19.25 million contract. After last season, Helm was vocal about the kinds of promises he needed from coaching and management to return to the team. He must have liked Holland’s pitch since he signed on for the next half decade. For a team that’s right up against the cap ceiling, Helm’s contract is a tough one to swallow. It’s funny – my very first article for Wings Nation was about how the Wings should let him walk at the end of last season. Now I get to review his first season on the contract that I never wanted him to have. This should be fun.
Hero Chart:
Darren Helm is one of the team’s best grinders. He doesn’t get on the scoresheet often, scoring at the rate of a fourth liner, but his shot generation and suppression is actually pretty decent. At 5v5, his Corsi-For percentage was sub-50% due to a mostly defensive zone deployment. Where Helm really shines, though, is on the penalty kill. At 4v5 this season, he led his teammates with a staggering 18.93 CF%. He’s one of the team’s most trusted penalty killers. For the most part, Helm’s time on ice accurately reflects his production. He doesn’t produce a ton, but he drives the play in the direction of their opponent’s net. He has been a good third/fourth line centre and that’s exactly how Jeff Blashill utilized him.
Crunching Numbers:
Boxcars:
(Stats courtesy of NHL.com)
Helm has a painful history of injuries. In 2012-13, he missed the entire season with a back injury and only played half the season the following year. It had been a few years since he missed a good chunk of time until he dislocated his shoulder in mid-November. He didn’t make his return until the new year and finished the season with 50 games played. In those 50 games, Helm played to his season average. He was on pace to score 13 goals (same as last year) and 28 points. This is pretty much what the team was expecting of Helm on top of his defensive duties.
Corsi:
I spoke to Helm’s CF% above, but it was the weakest on-ice 5v5 CF% of his career. It’s important to remember that the entire team underperformed this season. Helm’s RelCF% was 0.06. It doesn’t help that his role on the team is primarily a defensive one and the Red Wings defense corps is one of the worst in the league. Nobody expected Darren Helm to be the guy to turn that ship around.
Goal Based:
Though Helm was on pace to produce similarly to how he did in previous seasons, compared to the amount of ice time he received, his scoring was actually down. He had the lowest P/60 of his career this year. This is not Helm’s fault. The team on the whole had a hard time driving offense. They spent most of the season in their own zone dumping the puck down the ice. Helm was no exception to this.
The other thing to consider about Helm’s production is the type of player he is. On any team in the NHL, Helm is a support player. Put him on a line with a Henrik Zetterberg or a Pavel Datsyuk and Helm will have no problem racking up the goals (see also: Justin Abdelkader). Without superstar linemates, Helm isn’t going to drive the team’s production.
2017-18 Prediction:
If the Wings protect Sheahan over Abdelkader, I think there’s a really good chance that Darren Helm is selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in this summer’s expansion draft.
If not, expect more of the same from Helm next season. He didn’t really slip this year compared to previous seasons, so I wouldn’t expect him to next year. He’ll be solid defensively and, if healthy, will put up 15 goals and 25 points. He’ll continue to spearhead the penalty kill and be counted on for big defensive zone faceoffs. His speed and hustle on the ice is appreciated and he’ll continue to use it while missing breakaway opportunities with his stone hands.
Conclusion
Darren Helm’s performance this season is exactly what the Red Wings signed up for. He played to the same calibre that he has in the past and they are getting their money’s worth on his new contract. For the sake of clarity, the AAV is not bad on Helm’s contract, it’s just the term, which is really the issue for most of Detroit’s bad contracts.
If Helm continues to perform like this, then I guess he’s worth it. But he’s 30, injury prone, and signed on for four more seasons. I don’t see this one feeling good after next season.
Grade: B-
Recent articles from Nick Seguin
