The importance of a checking line center; why Darren Helm won't be a top 6 winger

There has been recent discussion among Red Wings fans that speedster Darren Helm should be moved to wing playing with Pavel Datsyuk and/or Henrik Zetterberg.  The argument is that his speed could open up the ice for his linemates, and he would crash the net to clean up the garbage around the crease.  He could do that.  So can Dan Cleary, Tomas Holmstrom, and to an extent Todd Bertuzzi fill the grinder roles on those lines.  Valterri Filppula an Jiri Hudler also fill top 6 scoring line roles.

Then there is the talent issue.  Helm is one of the fastest people on ice outside of Olympic speed skaters.  He is a tenacious checker who's willing to hit anything that moves and can change the outcome of the game like he did against Phoenix in the playoffs with his bodily bombardment of the Coyotes' defense, particularly Ed Jovanovski.  His speed leads to several breakaways over the season.  Unfortunately, he doesn't have the hands or the vision to be a scorer.  Draft position isn't everything, but when he was drafted he was projected as a checking line center provided he could get stronger based on his hands, and he has done nothing since turning pro to suggest he could be a goal scorer.

The biggest reason to keep Helm on the checking line has to do with what's best for the team.  Fans tend to judge a player's value on the stats that they put up.  A forward who scores 45 points in a scoring role must be more valuable than a player who scored 30 points playing a checking role.  In reality that's not true.  A 10 point boost for Helm is simply not as important to the team's success as keeping him on a line where his job is to go in, hit people, disrupt the other team's break out, and be a penalty killer.  During the last four Stanley Cups in '97, '98, '02, and '08, the Wings have had a checking line center who played in the 15:30 a night range.  Kris Draper's tenaciousness on the forecheck, ability to disrupt the attack coming the other way and play shut down defense against a scoring line, freeing up one of the Wings scoring lines from having to match up against a top line were all important factors in those Cup runs.  Helm isn't there quite yet, but he seems to be well on his way.  Those type of centers aren't as common as some people think, and when you have one they're as valuable as a 25 goal scorer.  Helm centering two of Abdelkader, Eaves, Miller, Mursak or Emmerton is a much better checking line than Abdelkader or Emmerton centering two of those other bottom six forwards.  Helm on the second line scoring 40 or 45 points isn't more effective than Danny Cleary or Todd Bertuzzi on the second line scoring 45 points.

Simply put, wingers who can put up 40-45 points are common.  Checking line centers who can do what Helm can do are not.  If a player is excellent in one role but only average in another, any coach who should keep his job keeps the player in the role that he excels in.