RWC REPORT: Red Wings keep getting 'lucky'

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / May 5, 2008

Darren Helm is your classic Detroit Red Wings diamond-in-the-rough.

Late pick. Drafted higher than projected. Emerged quietly and quickly. Exceeded expectations. Plays in the National Hockey League.

Helm, who spent most of the season with in the American Hockey League, is skating regularly in the NHL playoffs, having appeared in six games with the Red Wings. He has an assist and is averaging 8:07 of ice time.

It’s clear he’ll meet the Red Wings’ projection for him — a third- or fourth-line checker — but with his blazing speed and underrated set of hands, he could one day squeeze his way onto a scoring line.

It’s unlikely ascensions like Helm’s that the Red Wings have come to rely on at the draft table, since most sure-fire talent is gone by the time they pick.

They selected Johan Franzen thinking he’d be a role player, and have watched him recently blossom into a budding power forward.

“The word lucky sometimes comes up,” assistant general manager Jim Nill said. “We hope they’ll be what we project them to be, but will they take another step up and become better than what we project? That’s what we’re hoping for.”

The 6-foot, 182-pound Helm is only three years removed from being picked 132nd overall in 2005, and has surpassed Jakub Kindl (19th), Justin Abdelkader (42nd), Christofer Lofberg (80th) and Mattias Ritola (103rd).

• Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Macomb Daily this week that “it’s time to move on” with Russian forward Igor Grigorenko. Grigorenko is a restricted free agent this summer, but was out of shape at training camp last fall and struggled with the pace of the North American game.
  
  Grigorenko was a potential franchise player in 2003 when he suffered serious lower-body injuries in a car accident. He never fully returned to his old form. The 25-year-old will likely finish his career in Russia.
• Holland also said Logan Pyett, Dick Axelsson and Daniel Larsson will be signed by the June 1 deadline. That leaves Anton Axelsson and Sergei Kolosov in the cold, meaning they will likely re-enter the draft.
• Kolosov is playing for Belarus at the IIHF world championship in Quebec City. He led the team with 23:15 of ice time in the opener.
• Forward Jan Mursak (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) finds his team in a 3-0 hole to the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL final. Mursak has a goal and two assists in the series and 22 points in 17 games overall.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	78	18	17	35	26
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	69	10	24	34	83
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	67	16	15	31	30
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	14	16	30	47
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	72	7	15	22	62
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	66	5	15	20	149
Francis Lemieux	Grand Rapids	AHL	59	6	11	17	55
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	3	14	17	82
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	70	7	8	15	37
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Zack Torquato	Grand Rapids	AHL	11	1	0	1	8
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	1	1	0
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	57	2	12	14	34
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	27	4	6	10	24
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	37	3	2	5	22
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	47	12	13	25	44
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	54	10	10	20	10
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	30	2	7	9	18
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	9	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	33	6	17	23	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	6	8	2	10	30
B E L A R U S
Sergei Kolosov	Dinamo Minsk	BEL	47	4	6	10	73
C H L
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	66	25	42	67	112
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	57	17	47	64	23
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	54	25	36	61	16
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	62	20	34	54	54
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	62	12	37	39	30
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	42	19	21	40	107
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	22	2	10	12	26
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	35	3	3	6	12
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	38	4	1	5	27
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	16	1	2	3	18

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	46	--	2.29	.921
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	54	21-28-2	2.83	.907

The following is an up-to-date playoff statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
R U S S I A
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	8	1	0	1	2
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	13	1	0	1	10
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	4	0	1	1	0
S W E D E N
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	11	2	2	4	4
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	4	1	1	2	2
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	1	0	1	2
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	5	0	0	0	2
C H L
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	16	8	13	21	8
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	6	1	3	4	0
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	5	0	2	2	2

The following is an up-to-date playoff statistical report for goalies:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	--	2.64	.920

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.