Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolven
Heck, one could argue that 3 franchises acquired their top Dman in the top 5 of the same draft in 2008.
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That was a great year for defensemen no doubt about it. There are plenty of other years though where most of the defence prospects don't pan out. Even the year before the one you specify, 2007. In that year there were 11 defensemen drafted in the first round and they average 96 games played between them. There were a bunch more taken at the beginning of the second round who were all busts. The best pick would probably be Subban who went 43rd overall.
The year before that, 2006, Eric Johnson was taken first overall. I would imagine if they could St. Louis would rather have Staal, Toews, Backstrom or Kessel. The other 8 defensemen taken in the first round were all busts along with almost every one in the second round.
In general I'd always lean towards the high end forward over the defenseman or goalie with an early pick. If Ekblad is truly looking to be the next Pronger or Niedermayer then it becomes a harder decision, especially with the first pick.
Edit: Even Niedermayer's year I'd rather pick the top end forward being Lindros (can't predict injuries) or Forsberg. Pronger would have been the best pick at 1st overall his year.