So DW has been able to find some talent in the late rounds of the draft and Braun has started off his professional career on a good note. It's hard not to get excited about 9 points in 12 games and being tied for 2nd on the team for defensemen scoring. Obviously it's a small sample and he's not going to continue playing as a .75 pts/gm defensemen. So I looked back at some of the other rookie performances from past D-men. To see what has happened to some other San Jose rookie defensemen (was too lazy to find every defenseman so I looked at notable and the top 10 rookie defensemen scorers). (it says career on the 2nd column, but its the career totals minus the rookie season and the "cup of coffee" they may have experienced before that)

Ozolinsh, Ragnarsson, Carle, Williams, Fahey, Pederson, Stuart and Demers averaged more than a .4 pts/gm their rookie seasons. Unfortunately for us, only Ozolinsh was able to continue at that rate for the rest of his career and most of that career was in another uniform. Carle and Ehrhoff appear to have figured it out outside of San Jose. Stuart and Ragnarsson did develop into solid defensive d-men who could chip in on the scoring sheet every now and then. Can Justin Braun and Jason Demers continue to develop into quality offensive 2nd pairing defensemen? Or will their rookie seasons just be a tease of what could be once they put on a non-Sharks sweater?