Yeah, and like right now, I think we just can conclude that its not a tremendously easy time for forwards to break into the league. The level of play is high and it takes a long time for kids to get to the level they must get to in order to stick, and most fall off during the road there if nothing else.
We have seen this before. I was looking at the top 2 rounds from the 1997-2000 drafts.
1997 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1998e.html
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1999e.html
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2000e.html
I mean many years, if we look at the top 2 rounds, there is a total of 3-4 solid forwards. Sure those years were extreme, teams wanted character vets that could make the smart plays during the worst trapping era, and there weren't much room for kids in the game. But we are also in kind of a mature part of the current cycle of the NHL that started after the 05' lock-out.
At D, its almost the complete opposite. So many of the kids that are solid outside the NHL do really well in the NHL. Every time a kid gets to play instead of a vet, the kid just looks good. There is a world of difference between how the vet moves the puck and how the kid moves the puck. But up front? I often think that many of these kids can look fairly good in the CHL, or if its someone like Meskanen from the Liiga or Lindqvist from the SHL or whereever they come from. But the leap from outside the NHL to become a good forward in the NHL is just pretty gigantic right now. And that is exactly how it was during those late 90's early 00's years. Teams drafted solid kids that had exciting talents, but when they got close to the NHL level they just wheren't really close to making a difference. The leap was too big.
