I don't know if you're agreeing or disagreeing, but I think it does. Think about the difference between a junior in HS versus a senior...physically, emotionally, mentally. At that age, sometimes a 6-12 month difference can't be understated in terms of development. Sometimes development spikes can happen at different times, later times for different players, but it's a good rule of thumb that steals/gems are more often summer birthdays.
I mean, look at how we compare someone's draft+1 stats to their draft stats and expect a good increase, muscle gain, experienced gained. Someone born in the summer vs fall can be a year behind other kids or have played 1 less year in a league. It's always case by case, but it's not surprising to see how many summer birthday kids explode their next year and leave people wondering where they were all this time. Of course there are guys like Myers who don't fit in. But guys like Benn, Klingberg, Stone, Pavelski, Gaudreau, Brodie, even Simmer, Bergeron (2nds but reaches), etc....guys with underwhelming stats or profiles who explode their next year, when that's really their age 18 season. It isn't some hard and fast rule, but it's always worth considering when looking for late blooming gems.
