Don't think Lidström inspired anyone to play D, it's a myth created by NA media. Lidström was a nobody in Sweden compared to Forsberg, Sundin, Lundqvist etc.
The lack of quality center prospects is a big problem though. This article sums it up pretty well (swedish):
Var finns alla spelgenier?
Great article, thanks for sharing!
Now while I agree that to a casual fan Sundin and Forsberg are definitely bigger names and kids that grew up watching them were probably more incentivified to model their game after them. I mean, guys like Zetterberg and the Sedins probably started taking hockey seriously just around when Sundin was a big name and entering his prime.
But to say that Lidström was a nobody in comparison is far from the truth, anybody who's into hockey will definitely view Lidström's accomplishments in just as high of a regard, if not higher. And I don't think that it's a coincident that guys like Karlsson and Hedman were around 10 years old and probably started to take hockey more serious just around when Lidström started to hit the hight of his career.
It's impossible to say that Lidström wasn't atleast a factor, but I agree he wasn't the reason. What the article says is very interesting and most likely rings true, a big reason is definitely that the defensive position has changed and has given talented kids more of a incentive to play the position.
But one thing that I find mind boggling is why only Sweden appears to have such a big imbalance between the quality of the positions. If what the article says is the only reason why then are we seeing the other big nations continue to produce quality forwards.
If the trend continues it'll be very difficult for tre kronor to compete against US and Canada in a tournament where it's the best vs the best. The center quality is just way too far behind, and it's not like Sweden is the only team with a good defense.