2024 2nd Overall Artyom Levshunov

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

If people are gonna cream over Dickinson’s numbers allow me to over Lardis’s. Both in the O and having great seasons. Our O pool is a year maybe 2 from seeing what we actually have so far. I am not worried as the D side is hard to get right, which the Hawks seem to have done so far.

some guy on the main board said someone got 55 goals in 46 games (Nick Robertson) once so we shouldnt be excited about Lardis. I swear its just anti Chicago at this point, which is fine by me.

 

[Bubba88]

I'd like to have Dickinson as Hawks prospect... I don't think we have to downplay him.

Hawks will get a good prospect and then see what happens next. I expect them to be better next season leaving the bottom 3 teams. I think they'll still be bad and have a Top 10 pick, but performing better overall.

Bedard will get a vet to his side that is actually a Top 6 player. Nazar looks like a good guy to help bringing in more rookies while still getting better himself. The D looks pretty good for the future and goaltending has been taken care of.

They just need some more time.

Seeing how well Lev performs already as 19 year old in yet another league... I'm happy to have him in the future.
He will grow into playing with Bedard and get some more chemistry. These two on the PP could end up deadly.

 

[pvr]

Watching Levshunov at the game is a revelation. He’s just so effortlessly fast. Closes gaps, skates down forwards, covers ice with ease. The amount of ice space he is able to command is huge…seemingly way more than most any defenseman that I’ve seen over the past two seasons. It’s very noticeable. He’s not afraid to insert himself low in the offensive zone (forwards have to recognize this), yet he’s easily able to recover defensively back into the play if it turns around. Tends to wander a bit much to the off side, but you can tell that he believes he can recover, and he does.

Also, he has a thick body…not going to be pushed around. He’ll only get more physical too. If he becomes a bit nasty, watch out.

His offensive IQ is obviously high, but I think his defensive IQ is underrated. He shows flashes of brilliance. If that fully develops, then he’s going to be a beast…a very special player at a most premium position.

Having a hard time thinking of a comparable. Doughty with more offense and better defensive range? Better than McAvoy and Seider? Different than Makar, who’s currently the apex. Who else historically?

Edit: One other thing I’ve noticed is that he takes a great angle defensively, which facilitates his gap closure.

 

[bwana63]

2 things:

who gives an eff about where the Sharks are in their rebuild?

I was all in on Demidov. Very disappointed we chose Lev. He's making me eat my words. Kid looks like he's gonna be an absolute monster

 

[Deputy McRizzy]

Anyone else see a little prime Erik Karlsson in Lev before EK had the bad injury?

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Anyone else see a little prime Erik Karlsson in Lev before EK had the bad injury?

Lev is more of a bull than Karlsson. Karlsson is so damn graceful.

Lev is an amazing skater but it’s more get the hell out of my way. Definitely see the jumping into the play comparison though. They both love to do that.

 

[Deputy McRizzy]

Lev is more of a bull than Karlsson. Karlsson is so damn graceful.

Lev is an amazing skater but it’s more get the hell out of my way. Definitely see the jumping into the play comparison though. They both love to do that.

Yeah I agree there, that’s why I only said a little. I feel like from what we’ve seen so far both of their skating and first passes can just take over a game, even if a bit different stylistically.

 

[featherhawk]

If people are gonna cream over Dickinson’s numbers allow me to over Lardis’s. Both in the O and having great seasons. Our O pool is a year maybe 2 from seeing what we actually have so far. I am not worried as the D side is hard to get right, which the Hawks seem to have done so far.

Lardis is super underated as a prospect IMO, he is having a fabulous season.

Even though the sharks forward prospects that are IN the NHL at the moment are superior than ours, I do like our prospect depth in totality more than thiers...

As I mentioned previously, they are a year or two ahead of us as they started the rebuild before we did.

If we add Boisvert, Lardis, Vanacker and Miller (& the russian duo if they come over) to Bedard and Nazar I like our F crew more than theirs to be honest.

EDM, Rinzel, Lev, KK, Vlassic are likely slightly ahead of the youth D core of the sharks as well.

Time will tell.

the great news is that you can already see flashes of great things from the youth on both clubs to be fair.

 

[featherhawk]

Lev is more of a bull than Karlsson. Karlsson is so damn graceful.

Lev is an amazing skater but it’s more get the hell out of my way. Definitely see the jumping into the play comparison though. They both love to do that.

agreed, Lev is more like a bull, check out Shakir Muk...from the sharkies, he is potentially more in the mold of Erik Karlsson. That kid has been superb for SJ in the past month or so since being promoted, without he and Ferraro on D the sharks would be losing every game by wide margins.

 

[giza]

Lev is very talented.....he just needs to incorporate some discipline which should come with trial and error experience.......there's a lot to work with there......he's impressing with this call up, but there's still work to do.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

you can see all the traits that can make Levshunov special, can also see what his coaches mean by I wish the kid would show a pulse sometimes lol

 

[Putt Pirate]

you can see all the traits that can make Levshunov special, can also see what his coaches mean by I wish the kid would show a pulse sometimes lol

He is learning you cannot take shifts off much in the NHL. But his acceleration, angles, reach, and ability to get his shot through make my pants get shorter.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Funny how this kid plays well and oldtool is nowhere to be found.

 

[ChiHawks10]

He is learning you cannot take shifts off much in the NHL. But his acceleration, angles, reach, and ability to get his shot through make my pants get shorter.

I think they're supposed to get tighter, not shorter.

 

[OldScool]

Funny how this kid plays well and oldtool is nowhere to be found.

I have been here the entire time. I stand by my opinion. On pace for a -113 over 82 game schedule with 41 points. Congrats.

 

[Kevin Musto]

I have been here the entire time. I stand by my opinion. On pace for a -113 over 82 game schedule with 41 points. Congrats.

not a hill worth dying on

 

[CallMeShaft]

I have been here the entire time. I stand by my opinion. On pace for a -113 over 82 game schedule with 41 points. Congrats.

Oh good, then can you tell us who is better between Keith and Rundblad in that 14-15 season?

 

[OldScool]

Oh good, then can you tell us who is better between Keith and Rundblad in that 14-15 season?

As soon as you tell me that a -113 shows solid defensive play.

 

[x Tame Impala]

As soon as you tell me that a -113 shows solid defensive play.

You really don't account for the EN goals against in his +/- ? I think that's a reasonable bit of context.

 

[CallMeShaft]

As soon as you tell me that a -113 shows solid defensive play.

He's been on the ice for four empty net goals against.

Alex Vlasic is widely regarded here as our current best defenseman and he's a - 7 during the time Lev's been here.

Not to mention Lev is 19yo and in his D+1 season. Between the last two drafts, only one other defenseman has even played a game in the NHL at this point.

Now answer my question. Answer me why David Rundblad had a better plus/minus than Duncan Keith in the 14-15 season.

 

[OldScool]

He's been on the ice for four empty net goals against.

Alex Vlasic is widely regarded here as our current best defenseman and he's a - 7 during the time Lev's been here.

Not to mention Lev is 19yo and in his D+1 season. Between the last two drafts, only one other defenseman has even played a game in the NHL at this point.

Now answer my question. Answer me why David Rundblad had a better plus/minus than Duncan Keith in the 14-15 season.

Look I don't make the rules. An empty net goal counts just as much as a regular 5 on 5 goal. Not sure it's earth shattering to think that Lev struggles mightily defensively at this point of his career...I just don't see the ceiling other people do. I think Korchinski will be a better long term option.

 

[ColbyChaos]

I truly don’t think I have ever seen a poster be so effective at rustling everyone’s jimmies with so little effort.

It’s especially amazing since despite us all having different upbringings, different political and religious views, Old school manages to unite us all as a community by getting us to laugh at the next dumb post he has cooked up.

KBIB, Blackhawks, BWC, and Kevin Musto (when he’s in his draft day mode) just don’t hold a candle to him.

Old school is a generational poster.

 

[Mrfenn92]

As soon as you tell me that a -113 shows solid defensive play.

He’s -113?

 

[CallMeShaft]

Look I don't make the rules. An empty net goal counts just as much as a regular 5 on 5 goal. Not sure it's earth shattering to think that Lev struggles mightily defensively at this point of his career...I just don't see the ceiling other people do. I think Korchinski will be a better long term option.

My whole point about Keith VS Rundblad is to try to prove the point that plus/minus has plenty of flaws. Everyone who watched the team that season knew David Runblad was getting easy quality of competition, plenty of offensive zone starts, plenty of time out there with 88, and he had a knack for hoping off the ice at inopportune times leading to the team giving up goals because of him, but him not getting a minus from it.

Meanwhile Keith was getting some of the hardest minutes on the team that year, with him spending a lot of time with Hammer. He wasn't spoon fed easy minutes and, generally, that results in quite a few minuses at the end of the night.

Same situation between Seabrook and Rozsival. Seab's had a worse plus/minus that season, while being a hell of a lot better of a player.

I don't know how one doesn't see the potential for Levshunov. He's at a half a point per game pace after his first 8 games in his D+1 season. I made a list comparing Lev to other recent high draft D (and some young D with promise like Faber). Most of those guys don't get more than a game or two until their 2nd or 3d seasons after being drafted. And most of those aren't putting up a 0.5ppg pace.

Korchinski had only 15pts in 76 games in his first season here. He was in his D+2 season.

One could argue Korchinski has a late birthday and Lev an early one, so the difference in age at the time they started in the NHL is less significant. But you could also argue how much leeway Lev has to continue to develop considering he was playing in Belarus just 3 years ago. He's played in 5 different leagues in the last 4 seasons. He was the youngest defenseman in the AHL this season, second youngest overall player, and had the 3rd most shots on goal in that league at the time he got called up. And I said this in an earlier post to you today, but the only defenseman picked in either of the last two drafts who has played in the NHL already, besides Lev, is Cagnoni for the Sharks (2023 pick with 1pt in 2 games so far).

All you've got to criticize the kid and question if he'll be anything more than a bottom pairing D is his plus/minus (again, flawed stat) and the word of your buddy who was supposedly an NHL scout at one point in time. Do you see why you're being criticized here?

 

[bwanajamba]

Look I don't make the rules. An empty net goal counts just as much as a regular 5 on 5 goal. Not sure it's earth shattering to think that Lev struggles mightily defensively at this point of his career...I just don't see the ceiling other people do. I think Korchinski will be a better long term option.

By your own criteria, Korchinski is a -17 to Levshunov's -3 in the AHL this year after showing much worse defensive struggles at the NHL level last year

Two things can be true: 1) Levshunov has work to do defensively, and 2) He has looked much better than anticipated in that area so far in the NHL and his +/- is a poor reflection of his actual performance. He is prone to gaffes like the blown coverage with Kaiser last night, but his on-puck defense has been a pleasant surprise. I'm not ready to call him a better Drew Doughty yet or anything but harping on the +/- is clear bad-faith trolling. Which, to be fair, I have to hand it to you, people are eating the bait up like crazy in this topic