Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

Darren Helm very much remains on the Detroit Red Wings’ radar.

Wings general manager Ken Holland said over the weekend that the team is in negotiations with the forward’s camp.

“I talked to Helm, and will reach out to them again this week,” Holland said.

The Wings want to retain Helm because he’s a speedy skater and he’s versatile. He has worked his way up from being a grinder to playing inside the top six, in recent seasons serving as puck retriever and net-front presence for Pavel Datsyuk. Helm is a key part of the penalty kill, and also sees power play time.

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Those assets will also make Helm a desired commodity should he opt for his first taste of unrestricted free agency come July 1. Teams such as the Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues, both looking to get faster after disappointing playoffs, would be among several likely suitors.

Helm is coming off a four-year contract with an annual salary cap hit of $2.125 million. His actual salary for each of the past two seasons was $2.5 million.

Helm scored 15 goals in 2014-15 and had 13 goals this past season. He’s cleared 30 points twice. He had 26 points in 77 games in 2015-16, but he also bounced from first line to fourth and back again. Helm expressed at season’s end he’d like to talk about his role with Wings coach Jeff Blashill and Holland before deciding whether to stay. Helm can look at the Wings and see more of an opportunity for minutes now that Datsyuk has announced he’s returning to Russia.

Ideally, the Wings would be able to secure Helm for around $3 million per season. On the market, though, he’d probably be able to get more than that, which is why he could bolt.

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Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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