Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
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.
|
Absolutely. I'm just saying that even with your rule about centres, there is a disturbingly large element of luck involved.
I mean, you know what was the very best thing about the 2012 draft? (It certainly wasn't any of the players.) It was that the #1 overall pick went to the Oilers, who had picked #1OA the previous two years and needed no sympathy for Nail the Fail. Imagine the uproar if the Flames, after all these years, won the lottery and picked first, and it happened in a draft like that one.
The worst thing about the 2012 draft was trying to pick a good prospect at centre. The only centre taken in the top 10 was Galchenyuk, though in hindsight, Forsberg should have been. It was a terrible draft for forwards. If I were a GM faced with a draft like that, I wouldn't take a bad centre just to make up the numbers. I like what you're saying about drafting centres and believe it should always be a high priority, but having a hard and fast rule about it might not help all that much.