With that said, there are issues in Irwin's game. During his three years in San Jose, his ice time declined each year, starting with an average of 19:06 as a rookie and finishing at just 17:01 this past year. Additionally, last year he was scratched a total of 26 times. Clearly, Irwin's all-around game fell short and prevented him from being a full-time NHL defenseman.

After signing with the Boston Bruins as an unrestricted free agent, Irwin enters a similar situation as a depth defenseman. The Bruins have a few established blueliners ahead of him on the depth chart and also have younger guys like Zach Trotman and the recently-acquired Colin Miller pushing for minutes. Irwin figures to once again spend time in the press box and may not see much power play time barring injury due to the presence of Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Joe Morrow and Dennis Seidenberg.

At the age of 27, Irwin has likely become a journeyman that can post decent offensive numbers when he plays. His size and big slap shot make him appealing to NHL teams but he has been unable to rise above his current limited minutes. He may get ignored on draft day but keep an eye on him if he can get into the lineup consistently. He has shown that he can post solid numbers across a few categories in the past and can give your roster a nice boost, at least for a short stretch.

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For both Calvert and Irwin, the ship has likely sailed as candidates to take the next step in production. This will limit their value to deeper leagues that include depth NHL players. While they are not in prime position to put up a ton of points, both remain fairly productive for the roles that they play.

These two examples show how player value changes over the years for the majority of players. Among the players that hold extra fantasy value due to their potential to improve, some do achieve greater success while many others fail to do so but still carve out respectable NHL careers. As fantasy poolies sour on the player's potential, his value lowers which makes it possible to acquire that player at a lower cost, whether it be later in your fall draft or even off the waiver wire. In the right situation, these players can still be worthy of a roster spot.

Follow me on Twitter@DH_EricDaoust.

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