Since the lockout 2004-05, hockey has returned with a more exciting product that accentuates the speed and skill of the game. The new rules to prevent the holding and slowing by way of obstruction, have re-shaped the old idea to that of teams needing the majority of their defenseman to be big, truculent players whose quickness isn't necessarily as important as their ability to roadblock.
Over the seventy decades, there has always been diminutive defenseman who somehow played tough, strong, and fast enough to make significant contributions in the NHL. The present fast-paced game suits quicker defenders who compensate for size with ultra quick sticks and tremendous transition skills.
The position of the defense may now be the most difficult to fill on major league rosters. The players a team drafts, and eventually expects to play on the back-line, now need an inert "feel" for the position whether they are one or three years away from being ready to make the jump. Plenty of players on NHL rosters are good enough to play back there, but there are far fewer who do so with a high level impact.
The NHL Entry Draft is the main way skilled youngsters are acquired and developed. It is not surprising to see the trend of drafting these average-sized defenders if they display high levels of puck skills and speed.
2008 saw nine defenseman drafted in the first round (two more on the doorstep), many of whom stepped in quickly to do on-the-job training with little wait time before logging big minutes.
The 2011 NHL Draft had a small core of a half dozen youngsters who may eventually be really good NHL players and a "thick" group of 40 more that look to be promising prospects who will make contributions to NHL rosters. Arguably, two of the defenseman that were selected have the upside to, with time, anchor an NHL first pairing.
Now there is an entire generation of youngsters who have had to play under the new obstruction rules and have developed both quick sticks and significant offensive roving skills.
What makes the 2012 NHL draft so unique and unusual is that besides being top-heavy with potential first-pairing defense prospects in the early parts of the draft, there is reasonable evidence that more than a third of the first 90 picks selected will be defensemen. This is not saying that they will all make the NHL, just that they exhibit skills, that with hard work, might eventually get them looks at the NHL level.
The underlying benefit of the plethora of back-end talent is that teams will end up finding good forward prospects later than usual. In most drafts there are a set number of rear-guard prospects and when the first tiers are off the board, and teams view a defenseman and forward as equal, they will more likely take the forward as he will probably be ready sooner. The teams that gobbled forwards in the late first round and early second rounds will still be given strong choices to go in various directions for their team.
Most NHL teams have come to decisions on which defensive prospects are worth investing in by the time it is those prospects' draft eligible year. Many forwards tend to start gaining strength and showing all-around abilities and tendencies, to which they start being slotted as higher round selections as the draft approaches. With the D-men, the teams know what they are working with far in advance, and will have already made decisions on whether or not a youngster's talent is worth the early pick. Thus the final determination of who the best defensive player is, is left up to that day for the selection process.
What also strengthens this 2012 draft class is there are more than a dozen strong Euro-prospects that already have displayed characteristics that translate well to the pro game.
The 2012 class is shaping up to be a draft where ten rear-guards will go in the top two-thirds of the first round. There is at least one can't-miss, high impact, star offensive forward, and a half dozen forwards that should be better pros than all but four of the forwards drafted in the 2011 draft. 2012 may even be a thicker class than in 2011, as it will yield really nice long term prospects far into the slots in the 70's.
The work will be left to the scouts to figure out just who that best player is when their team comes up to the podium microphone.
