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Player Discussion Drew Helleson

Kalv said:
Someone who watched the game, how did he look?
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I wrote this in the prospect thread


Helleson was alright, made a few mistakes handling the puck, but also won puck battles and made a couple small breakout passes to get the team to the Ozone, a couple good defensive stick plays on defense, got dangled in the slot once. Looked maybe a bit passive at times offensively, electing to let others on the ice handle the offense. I think he had a bit of a mentality to not make mistakes rather than try to push the limits. Had a decent shot on net albeit not that powerful, caught goalie off guard a bit, but no traffic in front so the goalie was able to spot and block it. He was also used on the PK, got a couple good zone clears. He was on ice for the goal against, he passed it below the net to Larsson who kind coughed it up into the slot, Henderson player potted it, not much he could have really done there I suppose, other than have a different D partner. All in all not bad for a pro debut.
 
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bsu said:
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>"paired with a better defenceman"

>"Jacob Larsson"

seriously-let.gif


I get that the NCAA is a lower level of competition, but man it made me chuckle when the reporter said that. :laugh:
 
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Kalv said:
I was wondering if Seattle could go of Fleury. He and Drysdale weren't ideal but decent enough I guess.
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Now that Giordano & Lauzon are gone, the Kraken are down to 7 D, with Fleury being one of the cost-controlled ones. He's been playing really well for them these past few games, and I think he was always part of the long-term plan for Francis seeing as he drafted him in Carolina. That said, I wouldn't oppose bringing him back to Anaheim; I just don't see it happening. :confused:
 
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Seems like he has been pretty meh.... I have watched only 1 full game since he joined the team (he was not good in it) but from his stats/team performance since they signed him.... Anyone watch any Gulls games with him and have an opinion?

Pretty funny that Zegras said he could play in the NHL :laugh:
 
bsu said:
Seems like he has been pretty meh.... I have watched only 1 full game since he joined the team (he was not good in it) but from his stats/team performance since they signed him.... Anyone watch any Gulls games with him and have an opinion?

Pretty funny that Zegras said he could play in the NHL :laugh:
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To be fair, the team has only won one game with him on the roster, I definitely think it’s also more of him getting acclimated because I’ve seen potential and good play in my 3-4 viewings
 
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22 yo D making his NHL debut, has plenty of time to develop. When you don’t notice a rookie D that’s a good sign. But saw him draw a penalty, and also made some outlet passes to get the puck out of danger.
 
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GreatBear said:
He has potential. He was better than I expected from the reviews of him in San Diego. To be fair, most of those reviews didn't specifically reference the apparent improvement in his game over the season.
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I think Hazy noted on the broadcast that Helleson said he thinks he'll be better at the NHL level because there's typically more structure and it benefits his game. I can definitely see that because his game is pretty vanilla, but honestly that's all he really needs to be, I don't think the organization or anyone is expecting him to anchor a top 4 pairing. If he just turns out to be a steady bottom 4 RHD to let one of our puck moving LHDs roam around that's all we really need IMO.
 
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Sean Garrity said:
I think Hazy noted on the broadcast that Helleson said he thinks he'll be better at the NHL level because there's typically more structure and it benefits his game. I can definitely see that because his game is pretty vanilla, but honestly that's all he really needs to be, I don't think the organization or anyone is expecting him to anchor a top 4 pairing. If he just turns out to be a steady bottom 4 RHD to let one of our puck moving LHDs roam around that's all we really need IMO.
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I would agree with this. Between Minty, Zell, Fowler, and Luneau, it seems that the Ducks have options for puck moving defenseman. What's missing are steady, defensive focused defensemen. Hopefully, he'll be an option regardless of what pairing he is on.
 
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Sean Garrity said:
I think Hazy noted on the broadcast that Helleson said he thinks he'll be better at the NHL level because there's typically more structure and it benefits his game. I can definitely see that because his game is pretty vanilla, but honestly that's all he really needs to be, I don't think the organization or anyone is expecting him to anchor a top 4 pairing. If he just turns out to be a steady bottom 4 RHD to let one of our puck moving LHDs roam around that's all we really need IMO.
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This is probably why a lot of our AHL prospects took a step back this year. Groulx is supposed to be a shutdown guy, but he's a -20 rating this year in the AHL. Helly's game didn't start seeing improvement until he was paired with MDZ, who probably brought structure onto the ice than what the coaches were doing.

head coach Sommer was just a fill in to help two rookie assistants get their feet wet in the AHL in Clarke and Sparre. We have McIlvane coming over from Germany to San Diego. Sparre served as an assistant coach to McIlvane back in Germany.
 
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