photo courtesy Claus Andersen / Getty
With the 11th overall pick in the draft, the Avalanche have selected defensemen Duncan Siemens, a teammate of Stefan Elliott last year with the Saskatoon Blades. The Alberta native is a big, physical, defensive defenseman listed at 6'3, 200 lbs. At #11, Siemens is the 3rd highest player drafted by the Avalanche (behind Landeskog and Matt Duchene). He's the 2nd 11th overall selection by the franchise (Randy Moller being the other).
There had been a lot of talk that the Avalanche would trade this pick in a move to acquire a goalie, but that never materialized. In the end, the Avalanche drafted two players - Gabriel Landeskog and Siemens - that should add some muscle and heart to the team.
And yes, we are childish here at Mile High Hockey and no, we probably won't be buying a Siemens jersey. But I, for one, really like the pick. Smaller, right-handed offensive defensemen Ryan Murphy was available at this spot but the Avalanche broke against recent blueline typecasting and went with physicality over mobility. Siemens seems like a much better fit than Murphy.