Are First Round Defensemen that much more high scoring than the rest?

In this week’s contribution to Puck Prospectus, I examined the production you are most likely to get from defensemen in the NHL Entry Draft.  This week’s piece revealed that first round selections have more than a distinct advantage when it comes to games played, goals, assists and points over their lower-drafted counterparts.

Here is an excerpt:

However, what these numbers do seem to establish is that a team’s best chance to draft an offensive defenseman is clearly in the first round. The numbers above indicate that first round defensemen draft picks have dominant statistics as compared to other rounds. Also of note, is the fact that these numbers also include games played, which should help to take into account defensive defensemen.

Read the entire article here.