Colorado Avalanche: Strange Case of Duncan Siemens

Defenseman Duncan Siemens seems unlike to get his shot with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche recalled defenseman Anton Lindholm from the San Antonio Rampage. The fifth-round draft pick is expected to make his NHL debut tonight against the once-rival Detroit Red Wings.

That means first-round draft pick Duncan Siemens continues to languish in the AHL. The more time that goes by, the less likely it seems the Avs will ever give him a chance.

And that’s strange.

Duncan Siemens

Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 210 pounds
Age: 23

The Colorado Avalanche selected Siemens 11th-overall in the 2011 draft. That seems a little high for a stay-at-home defesnseman with a mean streak, but he had scouted as #10 among North American skaters.

Here’s how Matias Strozyk of Elite Prospects scouted Siemens:

"“A large defenseman with good skating. Plays very physical. Blocks shots and passes well. Offensively decent. Has an ok shot and has a good first pass.”"

No, that’s not exactly high praise, but Duncan was a player Colorado was probably tagging to be the next Adam Foote.

So, 11th-overall may have been a little high, but not unreasonably so.

Yet to date Duncan Siemens has exactly one NHL game to his name. It came as the last game of the 2014-15 season when the Avalanche already knew they weren’t making the playoffs. Siemens had 22 minutes of ice time and recorded no points.

Duncan Siemens Contract

Duncan Siemens signed his entry-level contract in 2011 with the Colorado Avalanche. It was a decent one — three years at a total value of $4.35 million. However, because Duncan Siemens stayed in the AHL, the contract didn’t actually expire until 2016.

Now, first-round draft busts are nothing new in the NHL. Indeed, first-overall picks, such as Patrik Stefan (1999) and Dough Wickenheiser (1980), have gone on to prove fruitless for their teams. So an 11th-overall draft bust is unfortunate but not earth shattering.

What makes the situation weird is that, when Duncan Siemen’s contract expired last summer, the Colorado Avalanche qualified him. They offered him a single year with a cap hit of $874,125.

Yet again, Siemens has yet to play a single game for Colorado this year. And now the team has recalled Anton Lindholm instead of Siemens.

Future for Duncan Siemens

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Duncan Siemens has somewhat gone the way of Joey Hishon (another first-round draft bust) for the Colorado Avalanche. Though his injury history isn’t as significant as Hishon’s, Siemens has been held back by injuries.

I think it’s also safe to say he hasn’t been developed as well as you could hope for. Colorado hasn’t been doing a stellar job of developing its prospects. (Maybe that could be a future position for Jared Bednar — he was excellent at it for the Lake Erie Monsters.)

I don’t know why the Colorado Avalanche qualified Duncan Siemens if they weren’t planning on giving him a chance. Two of their top-three defensemen, Erik Johnson and Nikita Zadorov, have been out with injuries. So that would have been a perfect time.

Instead, Colorado picked up a waiver claim in Mark Barberio and are recalling their fifth-rounder from 2014. It appears the Avalanche ship has sailed by Siemens.

That’s a pity. Duncan has been around a while, and I witnessed he had chemistry on the Avalanche blueline during preseason dating back as far as three years ago. What’s more, the Avs are struggling to keep defenders out of their zone and pucks away from their goalie.

And Siemens is good at both. Unfortunately, as he pointed out to the Denver Post, a hindrance to his game is lack of offensive production. In 61 games with San Antonio this year, he has just two goals and two assists.

That seems to be the Avalanche’s focus right now — small, speedy defensemen who can move up the ice and even jump into the play. It hasn’t worked out too well this season, but that seems to be the future they want.

And that’s not Duncan Siemens.

Next: All About Anton Lindholm

Like I said, I think Siemens could benefit the Colorado Avalanche. However, I don’t think he’s in their plans. I hope they don’t qualify him this summer. That way he might be able to get signed with another team.