Darren Helm – Tenacity Exemplified – June 2, 2009
Dobber Sports
2009-06-02
The Fantasy Prospects Report is now available in your Downloads seciton.
My article in The Hockey News is up, focusing on the coaching changes in Edmonton and Montreal and the fantasy impact. You can read it here .
The Bruins made the brilliant move of signing David Krejci to a three year deal averaging $3.75 million per season. The move probably saved them $2-3 million per season, as that would be the offer sheet that they would have to match. Krejci was quite generous in not waiting until July to sign on. Now the Bruins need to lock in Phil Kessel and they will have done what I doubted would be possible – sign both young stars. Assuming a small cut to the NHL cap of $700K to $56 million, the B's have about $5.5 million in cap room for next year to sign Kessel and Hunwick. They also need about 3-4 more roster players for next year too.
The Sabres have signed smallish offensive forward Paul Byron to an ELC. Because 1) smaller players tend to take longer in earning NHL spots and 2) he is behind Gerbe, Kennedy and Ennis on the depth chart, Byron is ranked 433 on my prospects list. His upside is in the high-70s (which means his "likely" is in the low or mid-60s for all you whiners who think my upsides are too high) and he is a good four years away.
Ottawa has signed free agent career minor leaguer/European Ryan Keller to a contract. It is two-way. He really seemed to have found his game in Finland, however I don't see an impact in Ottawa anymore than Tim Stapleton impacted Toronto last year.
Pavel Datsyuk (broken foot) is not expected to play Game 3. As I stated, they won't rush him if they're ahead in the series. Now the Pens would need to win the next two before they play Datsyuk, I suspect.
Kris Draper is reportedly ready to play, but they might sit him anyway. I don't blame them, the way Darren Helm is playing. Helm is the most tenacious player I have ever seen this series. His speed has burned the Pens time and again. He is relentless – the perfect Red Wing. The perfect replacement for Draper.