Blackhawks Notes: Levshunov, Brossoit, Reichel

Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times tweeted that Chicago Blackhawks defensive prospect Artyom Levshunov is about four weeks away from returning to action. This year’s second overall pick hurt his right foot blocking a shot on September 11th but could start skating again in a week or so if all goes well between now and then.

The 18-year-old missed the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase last week and will miss the start of the season given the most recent timeline. He was already a long shot to make the Blackhawks NHL roster and will almost certainly start the season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, given the injury.

In other Blackhawks notes:

• Blackhawks netminder Laurent Brossoit is reportedly on a similar timeline to Levshunov and isn’t expected to get back into the lineup for another four weeks (as per Ben Pop of the Chicago Sun-Times). Broissoit underwent meniscus surgery on his right knee in late August and was expected to recover in 5-7 weeks. The 31-year-old was rock solid as the Winnipeg Jets backup last season, posting a 15-5-2 record with a .927 save percentage. Given the timeline, Broissoit will likely miss the first week or two of the regular season.
• Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson expects that forward Lukas Reichel will compete for a top-six spot this season (as per Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago). Davidson told reporters that the team doesn’t want the 22-year-old playing fourth-line minutes this season and would like to see him figure out a way to cement himself on the top two lines. Reichel has had an uneven start to his NHL career notching 15 points in 23 games during an abbreviated run in 2022-23 but watched his offensive numbers fall off a cliff during his first full NHL season last year. The Nurnberg, Germany native posted just five goals and 11 assists in 65 games last season but still demonstrated the solid skating and strong hockey sense that made him the 17th overall pick in 2020.