Quote:
Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack
not enough d-men are drafted first overall to give a good comparison, but look at this list and tell me how many franchise defencement came out of first pick vs. forwards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...HL_draft_picks
I dunno what it is, but the d guys that you're really able to build around seem to come in later in the draft, indicating to me that scouts consider them riskier, much like goalies. |
That's fine. I'm not advocating that teams should. I think taking defenseman in latter rounds more has to do with them developing slower than forwards. There are less spots for Dmen on a team and you have to, HAVE TO have man strength to be an NHL defenseman. An 18 yo forward can come in with slick moves and get through/around/past players but stopping them takes a different level of stability that most 18-22 year olds just dont have.
BUT the OP seemd to imply that there is more that can go wrong with a defenseman than a forward which I think is complete BS. Theres just as much chance of a career ending injury or not living up to hype for a forward as there is for any other player (goalie or dman). People don't blow high picks on dman generally because they dont want/can't wait 5 years for that player to make an impact. Not because there is more chance of them not panning out.