First off great to get this started and going should be fun.
So without further adieu I'll get to my pick.
With the second pick in the LHH 2011 Mock Draft the Colorado Avalanche Select
Adam Larsson D Skelleftea AIK (Swe)
Why him? Why Now? Well let's take a look.
First of all Larsson has been ranked at the top of this draft since people started releasing their reports on this draft 3-4 years ago. I do not agree with scouts saying that he is not a top 3 pick anymore. It makes no sense to me that a player ranked #1 for 3 seasons will drop multiple spots after 1 below average season by his standards but still a fine (1-8-9) season for a teenage defenseman in a man's pro league of AIK. Plus a great showing in the WJC for his Sweedes. Here is a goal he scored in that tournament.
And a great defensive play from the 2010 WJC
In those videos I hope you see what I see being a future star on the Blueline to go along with currently rostered players Erik Johnson and Cam Guance. I see Larsson being the stud D-man on this team because of the lack of D Depth in their prospect pools and their current core aging (JM Liles and Foote). The lack of D-Depth is not quantity rather, quality. Their top guys have top 4-8 projections while Larsson has a Franchise to 4 rating.
Lately Colorado has been drafting a very even mix of Forwards and Defensemen in rounds 2-7. Although they have been Almost exclusively forward the last 5 years (Hishon,Duchene,None,Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart). The one D-man in that group was traded in a blockbuster that landed Colorado Erik Johnson among other things). I think that Colorado needs to build up the D right now because of the previously mentioned ideas of lack of top end talent at D and the fact that Defense is not a strong point for them. With a top Goalie prospect coming up in a couple years dont you think that it makes sense to build up the D in preparation for G Calvin Pickard's arrival? Larsson can be ready to start logging NHL minutes much like Cam Fowler did this season.