Edmonton’s “Lowetide,” a.k.a. Allan Mitchell, pondered whether several of the players previously signed by Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland (when Holland was the Red Wings’ GM) or previously coached by Oilers bench boss Dave Tippett might be able to help the Oilers, and Mitchell pulls a familiar name out of his hat…
Darren Helm: He is a fascinating player. His scoring (68 games, 9-7-16) is pedestrian and he doesn’t play centre, but he played against elites a lot in 2019-20 (37.5 percent of his playing time against the league’s best) and shone like a diamond (49 percent Dangerous Fenwick and outscored opponents 5-4) on a simply awful team. However, his cap hit ($3.85 million) is a deal breaker and he has been up and down against elites over the years. He’s a speedster and forechecks like mad, and those 2019-20 numbers are impressive. A hard pass is the call here.
But Mitchell doesn’t over-fantasize regarding the likelihood of Holland bringing any current Red Wings star player into the Oilers’ fold just because he was once the man who drafted and signed Wings prospects:
I had a long look at Danny Dekeyser — he is a fine defenceman but lost most of last season to injury and there’s probably risk involved (back injury) for next season. Gustav Nyqvist is another good fit, but he’s early in his contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets so that relationship is likely to continue for the next couple of seasons. A player like Tyler Bertuzzi is just beginning to emerge in Detroit, and it’s extremely unlikely that general manager Steve Yzerman would move a player he can build around (along with Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Filip Hronek).
Continued (paywall)…
