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Old 02-01-2013, 12:12 PM   #90
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack View Post
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.
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