In 1967, the first expansion year, only one player actually made it to the NHL from the first round, and two from the second round. There was only one pick in the third round!
Only one of the eleven picks in the whole round was a D-man, 1st overall Rick Pagnutti, chosen by L.A. (Never played in the league)
1970-Buffalo: Gilbert Perreault (C)
1970-Vancouver: Dale Tallon (D)
1972-NY Islanders: Billy Harris (R)
1972-Atlanta (Flames): Jacques Richard (C)
1974-Washington: Greg Joly (D)
1974-Kansas City: Wilf Paiement (R)
1991-San Jose: Pat Falloon (R)
1992-Tampa Bay: Roman Hamrlik (D)
1992-Ottawa: Alexei Yashin (C)
1994-Anaheim: Oleg Tverdovsky (D)
1994-Florida: Ed Jovanovski (D)
1998-Nashville: David Legwand (C)
1999-Atlanta: Patrik Stefan (C)
2000-Columbus: Marian Gaborik (R)
2000-Minnesota: Rostislav Klesla (D)
2017-Las Vegas: Cody Glass (C)
It's only 6 of 16 (not counting the wacky 1967) to be Dmen, so there's certainly a slight inclination to draft a forward. Strangely no Left Wings, at least not listed as such.
6 Dmen
6 Centers
4 Right Wings
If I'm Seattle and I'm drafting, my first choice would be Beniers. It's just fact that top D and top wingers are easier to find later in the draft than top centers, most of whom have been picked in the top 10.
This would be my short list of elite NHL centers with their draft positions:
Bergeron BOS (45)
Eichel BUF (2)
Aho CAR (35)
McKinnon COL (1)
Seguin DAL (2)
Draisaitl EDM (3)
McDavid EDM (1)
Barkov FLA (2)
Kopitar LA (11)
Barzal NYI (16)
Couturier PHI (8)
Malkin PIT (2)
Crosby PIT (1)
O'Reilly STL (33)
Matthews TOR (1)
Stamkos TB (1)
Point TB (79)
Pettersson VAN (6)
Backstrom WSH (4)
Scheifele WPG (7)
Out of 20 players, 11 -- over half -- were top 3 overall picks. I would say the most likely player to join this list in the next year or two is Jack Hughes, who is also a #1 overall pick. The next choice would be Byfield, a #2 overall pick. If we count players who were once elite centers and still playing, we would have to add Thornton, Toews and Spezza -- all top 5 picks as well.
There are only 4 out of 20 elite centers who were taken after the first round. There is only one elite center in the NHL who was taken after the mid-point in the 2nd round... Brayden Point.
Seattle would be wise to prioritize Matt Beniers, and I'm certain they are aware of the facts I'm writing in this post. Top wingers are often found after the first round in the draft -- in this year's top 20 scorers we would have to mention Stone, Marchand, Panarin, Guentzel, DeBrincat and Perron.
Looking at the last decade of Norris winners, you'd have to say elite D can also be found after the first round -- Josi, Giordano, Keith, Subban and Lidstrom make exactly half of the list.
Vezina Trophies? Even more late-rounders -- Hellebuyck, Rinne, Bobrovsky, Holtby, Lundqvist, Thomas.
I'd say this is good news for the Devils, because if they're picking 4th or 5th I think we can say with some confidence that there is little way Beniers gets past the Kraken.
Personally, I feel Beniers goes top 2. Several teams in the top 10 would have to strongly consider him if they won the lottery -- Buffalo, Anaheim, Detroit, Columbus, San Jose, Calgary. I could even imagine Ottawa in a trade up scenario -- this is a team with the #2 prospect pool in the NHL, but they are desperate for a guy like Beniers up the middle.
Essentially, if the Devils finish with the #4 overall pick, I feel they are guaranteed one of the Big 3 D. At 5 it gets dicier and at 6 it's nail-biting time. Any lower than that, I feel it's impossible unless one team is gutsy enough to take a goalie in Wallstedt and another team brain-locks and takes Edvinsson. This is of course possible -- LA, Ottawa or Detroit could take Wallstedt very high, while Anaheim's front office is often bafflingly obsessed with big + fast guys over superior hockey players.
Best case scenario is the Devils lose out, finish with the fourth overall slot, and then two of the top three teams win the lottery. It's a long shot, but it would likely guarantee the Devils one of Clarke or Hughes.