Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
The only trouble with that is that you don't always find centres by drafting centres. So many players are good enough to excel as centres in junior, but can't handle it in the NHL and have to be moved to the wings.
By the middle of the first round each year, the can't-miss prospects at C have usually been pretty well picked over. Then you have to choose between those players who will probably end up as wingers, and those who have so many warts in their game that they may never stick in the NHL at all. Some years, every centre picked after the top 5 is a crapshoot – and thanks to the lottery, even a team in a full-on rebuild needs some luck to pick in the top 5, as Flames fans know too well.
|
Very true, but the thing is, it's [nearly] impossible to find them anywhere else.
Spitball figures (where top line C's come from):
60% top 5
30% picks 6-79
9% via trade or UFA
(Thornton, Richards/Schenn, Carter, ROR, Tavares...)
1% round picks 80+ or undrafted
(Dats, Zetterberg, Andy McDonald, Pavelski* not really a pure C) - nobody recent
There just aren't any Hellebuyck or Giordano or Gaudreau or even Mangiapanes out there at C. And as you say, a 'failed' C may still pan out as a winger or utility player.