With the top pick of the rest of the draft, the Chicago Blackhawks have selected Artyom Levshunov with the second overall pick. The product of Michigan State University is the first defenseman to come off the board in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Levshunov made a statement for the Spartans during the 2023-24 NCAA season, earning All-Big Ten First Team and All-Big Ten Freshmen Team honors. Additionally, the young Belarusian won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Becoming one of the best all-around defensemen rather quickly — Levshunov scored nine goals and 35 points in 38 games while collecting a whopping +44 rating. Leading the blue for Michigan State, the team soared to the fifth-ranked team in the nation and made it to the Second Round of the Frozen Four tournament.
In Chicago, Levshunov quickly becomes the best-ranked defensive prospect in the system. As a right-handed shot, Levshunov should fit in nicely next to Kevin Korchinski on the Blackhawks’ blue line long term.
Out of the gates, Levshunov should be able to keep up fairly well defensively with the rest of the NHL, but his offensive capabilities may take a bit to develop fully. He shows top-tier explosiveness and can join the play very quickly. Furthermore, he has demonstrated the ability to make quick shots off the stride which is rare for a defenseman.
bad pick, position over who’s better is a bad strategy this high in the draft, like passing on Kucherov for Cody Ceci
It’s not a bad pick, just more of a safe pick. I would of preferred Demidov. Maybe with the plethora of Defensemen in the hawks system they trade one later on for an established young forward.
Yeah I agree. You can’t say this is a bad pick. My hope is that they viewed him as the best player available in spite of position. I probably would’ve preferred Demidov as well. Either way the future is brighter thanks to this addition.
Im more disappointed in the #18 pick, Boisvert was projected as a late pick, Eiserman would’ve been a great Consolation prize for passing on Demidov, Bedard could’ve had a DeBrincat 2.0 as his future linemate