Age Curves for Defencemen

[Calirose]

I have often heard that D-men take longer to develop than forwards, especially defensively.

Any evidence of this? Published stuff? Anything would help!

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[jpchabby]

I have often heard that D-men take longer to develop than forwards, especially defensively.

Any evidence of this? Published stuff? Anything would help!

Well I don't have stats to back me up, but I'd tend to say it makes sense.

Defense is a lot more about reaction to what the other team's offensive players are doing. The more you see stuff (and often times the same stuff), the more you learn from it, and therefore you should be able to have a better reaction game/positional play.

But then again, I don't have stats. I'm sorry...

 

[wgknestrick]

I can't find the article anymore with all the recent "acquisitions" and subsequent site shutdowns. Basically, I remember reading that forwards peak at 23-25 while D-men peak at 26-29. I thought Hockey (was Puck) Prospectus once did a thing on this, but can't seem to find anything now.

D-men don't tend to fall into the steady state of decline that forwards have after their peak either. That conclusion may come from using GVT to compare players though. GVT needs much work for D-men IMO.

The big question is what you are looking at to define "peak" for D-men. Is it GF%-rel, 5v5 points/min, etc. Quantifying D-man value has always been uncharted territory. Until you properly define it, it will be tough to tell what age players peak with respect to your measuring stick.