LAS VEGAS — There’s a lot to love about defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who probably will change into a member of the Chicago Blackhawks two picks into Friday evening’s NHL Draft. He’s large. He’s rangy. He skates properly. He’s a gifted playmaker. He’s bought good fingers and good sense. He’s bought a giant character that’ll play properly within the room and in Chicago. He’s a recognized commodity who performed in opposition to recognized competitors, having spent this previous season at Michigan State, steadily underneath the watchful eye of the Blackhawks brass.
Levshunov is a secure choose. A sensible choose. A very good choose.
There’s a lot to marvel about winger Ivan Demidov, who probably is not going to change into a member of the Blackhawks on Friday evening. He’s wildly proficient, however perhaps a bit of too small. His puck abilities are tantalizing on tape, however most scouts and executives have by no means seen him in particular person. A knee damage saved him out of the draft mix. There’s no clear consensus on how you can translate a participant’s efficiency within the MHL — Russia’s second-tier league — into NHL potential. And there’s at all times the Russian Issue, the likelihood that he may not come to North America as quickly as different prospects.
Demidov is a nervy choose. A daring choose. A high-risk, high-reward choose.
Yeah, properly, secure is loss of life within the NHL. And Demidov is the proper choose.
Connor Bedard wants assist. Oh, Lord Stanley, does he need assistance. He wants assist now, he wants assist a yr from now, he wants assist for the following 15 years. He wants a working buddy, a Kane to his Toews, a Panarin to his Kane, a Draisaitl to his McDavid, a Tkachuk to his Barkov, a Rantanen to his MacKinnon. He wants a real top-line winger with true top-line expertise, somebody to maintain up with him and push him, somebody with the imaginative and prescient and ability to seek out him and arrange that large shot, somebody with the fingers to deal with and bury these not possible saucer passes.
The Blackhawks have a variety of good forwards within the NHL and within the system — Lukas Reichel, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore and a slew of promising next-tier prospects comparable to Ryan Greene, Colton Dach, Nick Landis and Roman Kantserov. All of them might change into helpful NHL gamers, a few of them very productive ones. None of them undertaking to be nice ones. Demidov does. Or, a minimum of, he may. And that’s the participant the Blackhawks want. That’s the participant Bedard wants — somebody to carry out the very best in him.
Possibly you discover that participant by way of commerce, however the Blackhawks are unlikely to land Mitch Marner anytime quickly. Possibly you discover that participant by way of free company, and some of the common bits of hypothesis snaking its means by Las Vegas this week is that the Blackhawks have their eye on Minnesota’s spectacular winger Kirill Kaprizov, whose contract expires in two years. However Kaprizov might be 29 in two years — that doable pipe dream is the Marian Hossa piece, the ultimate piece, not the Kane piece, the career-long wondertwin.
Extra probably, you discover that participant within the draft. And if common supervisor Kyle Davidson lives as much as his proclamation that the Blackhawks will not be bottom-feeders, that they’ll be seeking to be considerably extra aggressive within the coming seasons, this is perhaps their final, greatest probability to select within the prime two or three, to select a really elite winger to pair with Bedard.
And it’s one they shouldn’t go up.
Enable me to pre-empt the inevitable (and comprehensible) criticism of this flip into Meatballdom by freely admitting I’ve seen little or no of each gamers — a number of Michigan State video games through the postseason, a number of video clips of Demidov. I’m not a prospect skilled, nor do I declare to be one. However being a Chicago-based hockey author in Las Vegas this week is like having a flashing crimson signal above your head saying “Ask Me Concerning the No. 2 Decide!” You may’t roll a pair of cube with out hitting a prospect author, an beginner scout, an assistant common supervisor. And since everybody is aware of that the San Jose Sharks are drafting Macklin Celebrini with the primary choose, all of the intrigue begins with the Blackhawks at No. 2.
Distilled to its essence, my job is to speak to people who find themselves smarter than I’m, after which use their perception to attract my very own conclusions. Everybody likes Levshunov. He’ll play within the NHL. He might be a great participant within the NHL. He might even change into a real No. 1 defenseman within the NHL, a useful piece of a championship puzzle. There’s completely nothing flawed with taking Levshunov. Davidson stated on Thursday that the staff has settled on its choose, and nearly everyone within the hockey world assumes it’ll be Levshunov. It’ll be a great choose. A fantastic choose.
The scouting experiences on Demidov are a bit of extra diverse. Some, like The Athletic’s Corey Pronman, like him fairly a bit however have delicate considerations. Some, like The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, suppose he’s the second-best prospect within the draft. However right here’s the factor you discover when speaking to the draft heads within the hockey world: Those that like Demidov, love Demidov. They see brilliance. They see abilities and instincts you simply can’t train. They see 40-plus objectives a yr. They see Nikita Kucherov. There’s an enthusiasm, a ardour, that Levshunov merely doesn’t appear to elicit.
GO DEEPER
Making the case for Ivan Demidov because the 2024 NHL Draft’s second-best prospect
That’s value no matter threat you may affiliate with Demidov. That’s definitely worth the No. 2 choose. As a result of that’s what the Blackhawks want.
Whereas I freely acknowledge that you may by no means have sufficient good defensemen, the Blackhawks have a bevy of NHL-ready promise on the blue line already. Chicago traded Alex DeBrincat for the No. 7 choose two years in the past and took Kevin Korchinski, who held his personal within the NHL as a 19-year-old and who can nonetheless change into the No. 1 the Blackhawks envisioned. Alex Vlasic’s sudden rise has been a present from the hockey gods, giving the Blackhawks one other sure-fire top-four defenseman. Seth Jones, no matter whether or not you imagine he’s overpaid, remains to be an excellent participant, a worthy top-four defenseman for years to come back. Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro and Nolan Allan are all knocking on the door. One other 2022 first-round choose, puck-moving Sam Rinzel, is on his means. Would Levshunov bounce to the highest of that listing? Fairly probably. However the want is a lot higher up entrance. And top-two picks (hopefully) don’t come round fairly often.
Demidov expects to come back to North America forward of the 2025-26 season. And any considerations concerning the so-called Russian Issue ought to have been alleviated this month, anyway, with the revelation that Matvei Michkov is headed to Philadelphia within the fall, two years forward of schedule. The most effective gamers wish to play in the very best league, and in the long run, nothing goes to cease them.
Demidov will be within the NHL in 2025-26. He ought to accomplish that in a Blackhawks uniform. He ought to accomplish that skating subsequent to Bedard. And he ought to accomplish that for the following decade-plus. The Blackhawks want objectives. The Blackhawks want stars. The Blackhawks want daring decisions. The Blackhawks must do proper by Bedard. The Blackhawks want Demidov.
Take the swing. Take the prospect. Take the winger.
(Prime picture of Ivan Demidov: Ian Maule / NHLI by way of Getty Pictures)