Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
Position scarcity and importance should be a factor. BPA gets tossed around but ignores that centres and D are more valuable, and harder to find, than wingers.
If a winger is significantly better - draft the winger.
If it's close, consider the priority of the position.
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First line centers are scarce mainly because you almost always need to be drafting top 3 or top 5 to find one. Second and third line centers are not that hard to find.
Personally, I would say if you are drafting at around 9th OA, you should be targeting the player you think has the best chance to be a 1st line forward (period) or top pairing defenseman. I recall a story from the 1997 draft that Vancouver had Marian Hossa as their draft target, but then picked Brad Ference because they put more value in defensemen. Woof.