Mitchell was a wizard defensively with expert gap control and an unnaturally long reach. Mitchell was also 6’3. No one is saying you need to be a scorer to play in the top four.
Both Scuderi and Mitchell were drafted in the 5th and 8th round, respectively. They slowly developed their games for years in the minors before carving out an NHL career. They were not drafted 22nd overall with first round expectations because no one really wants to draft shutdown defenseman in the first round. And that’s exactly why many of us were questioning the logic behind the Bjornfot pick.
Hickey was NOT considered some virtuoso offensive d-man coming into the draft. He was way off the board at 4th overall. He scored 9 goals in his draft year in the WHL. His scouting report was very similar to Bjornfot’s - good skater, fantastic leadership qualities. Except, yeah, Hickey’s offensive game was considered better than Bjornfot’s is considered now. So that’s not particularly encouraging.
No one is saying Bjornfot is not a good prospect. He could very well develop into a strong defender for us. People are questioning whether he’s worth picking at 22nd overall.
You specifically said Bjornfot needs to improve his production (scoring) to be a top 4 dman. When in fact his production is comparable to top 4 NHLers who played in similar leagues at similar ages.
As for Mitchell he was awesome. One of the best defensive dmen ever. He used his height and reach to his advantage (he also used an extra long stick). But that was HIS game. Ultimately it's not height that matters, it just matters how effective you are. Every player has different tools/attributes and uses them differently.
The fact that Scuderi and Mitchell were drafted in late mid/rounds doesn't mean anything. There's also been lots of great scorers taken later in the draft. If you can get a guy who you think is going to be a good top 4 dman late in the 1st you take him there. Bjornfot isn't simply a shutdown guy anyways. His scouting report literally says
"Two-way defenseman" "contributes both offensively and defensively." I would absolutely take Willie Mitchell in the 1st round, BTW.
Hickey had the 8th most points of any Dman in the WHL as a 17 year old. He was absolutely considered a good offensive dman that would probably go in the 2nd round.