I don't know, this staff liked Logan Stanley. I get the point, obviously the scouts have seen these kids play and they should fully comprehend their skillset. But I do think things get overlooked or minimized. I've read a lot of the threads back concerning Siemens' selection and it wasn't that folks were convinced the offensive upside was there, it was more they were just so tantalized by his package of size, skating ability, physicality and toughness that it wasn't really a primary concern. Plus 5 years ago there wasn't the focus on puck movement like there is now.
Avs aren't the only staff to like Stanley as Avs were not the only staff to like Siemens (which Flyers really considered him). I absolutely agree that weaknesses and concerns do get minimized or overlooked to benefit the player at hand. Overall though, I think Duncan was drafted as a "plan" to help the cupboard in every position, we took Landeskog, a forward at 2nd overall and decided to take the best defenseman available at 11th at the time. Every team does it, I don't personally like it, I never wanted Siemens at 11th, but we aren't the only one.
Chicago is notorious for doing this..
1st / 2nd / 2nd / 2nd
2008: Beach (F) / Lalonde (D)
2009: Olsen (D) / Pirri (F)
2010: Hayes (F) / Rensfeldt (F) / Holl (D) / Simpson (G) / Johns (D)
2011: McNeill (F) / Danault (F) / Clendening (D)
2012: Teravainen (F) / Fournier (D)
2013: Hartman (F) / Dahlstrom (D)
2014: First draft since 2007 they didn't take a defenseman until the 5th round.
2015: Knott (F) / Gilbert (D)
2016: DeBrincat (F) / Krys (D)
Yes Siemens puck skills are bad, but as AgentBlack said previously, what's there to hurt if we just keep re-signing him? Puck skills are not like hockey intelligence as something that cannot be taught. Of course he will never have Drouin type of hands or can make a superb pass under pressure as Zadorov can, but he has had injuries to his wrists and hands and could be one of the reasons why he's behind the curve concerning this.