Among the top-17 selections in the 2011 draft, Avalanche prospect Duncan Siemens is the only one to have played less than 40 career NHL games. Colorado chose Siemens at No. 11, and he has played just one game with the Avs.
In that same draft, Colorado chose left wing Gabe Landeskog with the second overall pick. Landeskog has played 355 more games than Siemens.
Numbers and comparisons used to bother Siemens. They still might to some degree, but he understands a player can’t be a bust at age 23 — especially a defenseman — and the Avalanche still had enough faith to re-sign him in July off his three-year, entry-level contract.