Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Defensemen are more important overall. They play a larger percentage of the game. They are hard to acquire and hard to replace. I think when you're convinced you've found a good young one you're happy to lock them up for as long as possible.
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Also, they take longer to reach peak effectiveness, so you negotiate a longer term to take advantage. A second contract RFA forward is probably entering his post productive years in only 2-3 years, whereas a defenceman probably has more like 4-5 years to get there.