- High Floor
- High Ceiling
- RHD
- Shows he isnt scared to play with an edge
Prospect Info: 2024 NHL Entry Draft (Ducks pick #3, They didn’t drop! OMG It’s a Miracle!)
- Thread starter WhatTheDuck
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I checked out one of Arties games, but it might not have been good game to watch as I didn't think he was a top 3 player for MSU that game. Some concerns that I have is he plays a slower pace and doesn't show high defensive intensity... he was more of a passive, floating defensemen and he didn't show urgency sometimes in moving the puck out of the defensive zone on a hard forcecheck (a bit sloppy). There are highlights of his upside, but maybe it's a consistency issue for him, or systems-thing like how Minty's defensive side was underrated while he was in the OHL. I am doubtful that he will be a high-end #1 offensive QB because he just didn't look elusive or creative with the puck on his stick, but more of a #3 dman type who could maybe play on the top PP but would defer the puck management more to someone like Zellweger/Minty.
Maybe I am being greedy, but I'd prefer a McAvoy profile who shows more consistent physicality and defensive dominance. I think if the defenseman isn't a dynamo offensively like a Makar/Hughes, that he needs to be a physical stud on the defensive side to be a #1 dman. Or maybe I'm remembering the last high MSU defenseman selected... AJ Thelen... and its getting me paranoid.
Also, what does everyone here think about his interviews? Might be a cultural or language thing but he doesn't appear to be that 'intangibles' or serious worker type. Not as annoying as what I saw from Brandt Clarke.
- Jul 25, 2012
- 42,768
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You saw correctly. He’s very overrated. I have him ranked outside the top 15.
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I feel like half your posts are you commenting about how much you dont like a player lol.
This is the 4th time I have seen you drop in with a comment like this...
Gauthier
Zegras
Levshunov
Yakemchuk
Fair observation. I like a lot of players too though.
Edit: For the record, I like Zegras and wouldn’t trade him.
Hockey Duckie
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You're going have to cite which game did you watch of Lev's. The only one I recall floating about was his second game of the NCAA season against Lake Superior State on Oct. 8, 2023. This recent video scouting report by Elite Prospects covers Lev's Jan 12, 2024 game against Michigan State. There have been 11 games played since that Michigan State game.
If your first viewing of Lev was the Lake Superior State game, then you are judging a rookie to the NCAA in his second game of the season. Lev is jumping from the USHL to the NCAA, which is a far bigger jump than say Dickinson as a16-year old in the OHL going onto his 17-year old season into another OHL season.
But if you are using the Lake Superior State game as the game that gave you concerns, then you should compare that to this Elite Prospects' video breakdown. That is a 20-game gap.
- Anaheim's RD (youth/future)
- Luneau... latest issue with knee is now a huge concern
- Helleson... not high offense nor defense; meh in AHL
- Moore... junior at NCAA; injured much this year
- Warren... has had a down year this and injury the previous year
- Port... a 6th round project of the 2023 draft
Anaheim is in dire need of top-end RD talent. And part of the factor of keeping the cap manageable is through the draft than overpaying in FA. Since we're still in rebuild mode, Anaheim can afford to wait for Lev to develop.
Lev doesn't have to be a #1 offensive d-man b/c Anaheim has a few top-end offensive players in Minty, Zell, and Luneau. LaCombe shows flashes of offense when paired with a stay-at-home d-man like Gudas. Lev just needs to be a top-4 two-way RHD.
Currently, Lev has 30 points and is tied for first in team scoring. I guess Lev has high-end offense. Lev has a +24 rating, which is first on the team (and 2nd best is a +18 rating who is a 24 year old D-man). He is also ranked 5th best overall in +/- rating in the NCAA. I guess lev has some high-end defense. With all that production, it is odd to paint Lev as a "not serious type worker". He's more physically developed than most of his teammates while being the youngest on the team. That's some serious work put into his body to be able to lead his team in scoring and +/- rating as a rookie.
As David from EP points out, Lev is still a raw product with a high floor and a high potential.
Now, factor in who's available in the draft. There is only one consensus pick among all draft media and that is Celebrini at #1. After him, it's a free for all. You might be searching for perfection, but perfection isn't available in the draft right now. Maybe Lev doesn't do it for you. Excluding Celebrini, which player is your preference to the Ducks? And what are your negative takes in their games?
Good god, I can't him slipping past top 10 with that type of freshman production, tools, and RH shot. But I'd be concerned to take him in the top 5 with that defense-sense/pace/intensity issues. Levshunov and Yackemchuk look like they are protypical Coyote defensemen (Yandle, Chychrun, Ekman-Larsson).
Hopefully we get Celebrini so we don't have to make that decision, haha. I really hope we don't drop below 4th....
Tier 1:
1 - Celebrini - He is so becoming a Shark, or Bettman is sending him to a big market team.
Tier 2:
2- Lindstrom - I'm leaning with him because there isn't any one with his combination later in the draft. Center, size, speed, shot, hands, spiking development.
3 - Silayev - I haven't seen a smoother skating giant defensemen, like ever... He might get slower when he fills out like Hedman did, but he can really close in on players really well. Too bad we couldn't see him in U20 to gauge his offensive upside, but even without high end offensive upside he can still be a #2 dman. I think we prefer a RHD but he has been playing on the right side most of this season in the KHL.
4 Demidov - If we pick 4th, I think I'd be ok with that even if he is one dimensional. He looks very exciting with the puck.
Tier 3:
5 Dickinson - another Hampus?
6 Catton
7 Buium
8 Levshunov
9 Yakemchuk
10 Parekh
Tier 4:
11 Iginla
12 Helenius
13 Eiserman
14 Greentree
15 Nygard
16 Jiricek
17 Hemming
18 Connely
19 Basha
20 Chernyshov
Players that appear to be rising:
21 Letourneau
22 Pulkinnen
23 Shuravin
24 Artamanov
Players that are rising in the later rounds that might be good fits:
-F Mustard
-F Wetsch
-C Boilard
-G Moyesevich
-LD Fischer
-RD Roberts (Injured)
-RD Brunicke (out for season though)
-W Thorpe (Injured)
IMO if the Ducks are going to take a D with their top pick they shouldn't worry about RHD or LHD...just take the guy who projects as the best of the bunch. Realistically, whoever they pick won't be playing with the team before 26-27 and a lot can change with the roster makeup over the next two years.
Hockey Duckie
Registered User
This isn't on you, but I keep seeing "another Hampus" being attached to so many defensemen, but I don't think there will be another Hampus anytime soon. Hampus literally carried his Rogle team into a promotion from HA to SHL as a 17-year old due to his defense.
Levshunov has too much to improve on to be a top 5 pick, Id probably take Yakemchuk or Dickinson before him. That being said he does have a ton of potential with his size and he's actually pretty creative, even if he lacks the fine skills to make it work most the time.
I only compared him to Hampus because at the beginning of the year I thought maybe he had a chance to be another Pietrangelo, but even with his stats he is putting up he doesn't really have that offensive flair. Offensively he's like Lindholm with a good shot and neither are really a true playmakers. I think he might have some Hampus upside because he has that frame and skating ability, but yes Hampus was more defensively advanced and stout in his draft year but then Dickinson is very young.
Ducks have done well with their top picks. You could justify basically all but maybe Drysdale (a large part of that being injury) being picked where they were in a re-draft or higher (Z and Minty probably go higher than they did). I'm assuming we'll be picking 4th, so there's a decent chance whoever the scouts have ranked #2 is still on the board... hopefully they get their guy. If they draft a D, I trust who they pick to be an impact guy.
Hockey Duckie
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Dickinson is only five months younger than Lindholm in his draft year. HA (HockeyAllvenskan) is Sweden's 2nd mens tier, below the SHL. Age of the Swedish pro league are ages 16-35+. That was the league Lindholm got noticed from for the draft. Dickinson plays in the OHL, ages 16-20.
DavidBL
Registered User
Would you guys consider trading our top pick for an older prospect/player if we don't win the lotto? Seems like there's a lot of D but none seem to be the clear cut #1 types.
Rasp
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- Apr 9, 2019
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No way. This is the draft to grab a first line D especially a RD
DavidBL
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None none of them are Dahlin level prospects so I dont think we can call them sure things or anything, but there are 6 guys that the scouting community have put at the top pairing potential who could all go as high as #2 in this draft. 3 are RHD, and 2 of them are really good matches for what we need.
Rasp
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Levshunov and Yakemchuk look like they could be first line RD. Parekh has the highest ceiling of any RD in this draft but is less likely to make it. Dickinson could be a #1D but is basically guaranteed to be top 4. Silayev could be anything from #1D to 4D. Buium is doing extremely well in NTDP and could be first line to top 4.
So many options this year and with our ability to scout D this is the draft to grab one.
None of them seem to be Cellebrini level prospects on D, but if that's the only level of D-man that we want, the Ducks will never get one. Those guys don't fall out of the top 5 and hopefully they won't be picking this high again for awhile. There are several guys who have the ceiling of a legit number one guy and more than decent chance to reach it. The Ducks won't have a better shot at it for a long time in the draft. They'll have to go the FA route, IMO. That won't be easy or cheap.
I also don't see any of the forward prospects, other than Cellebrini, being a guarantee to drive a fist line. I think that's the equivalent ask.
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AngelDuck
Rak 'em up
- Jun 16, 2012
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I don’t get the Levushanov love affair here. I see some red flags that don’t allow his offense to transfer over to the next level in full. I’m skeptical
Anything would be possible... but how far can we drop, was it 2 spots? So as of right now, 3 to 5? I like the top 4 so I think it would be more possible at 5 if our scouts see a drop off.
It would be pretty tempting to trade the 5th for a Jiricek/Reinbacher/Simashev/Nikishin/Edvinsson, assuming we want a defensemen. Especially if there were sweeteners added, like 2nd + additional prospects. More interesting is how we would rank these dmen...
I don't know, this draft has a few good defensemen yes, but despite their offensive output, none look like they are big improvements over the prospects already in the system.
Levshunov, Yakemchuk, Parekh are all very good prospects but unless they become all around stalwarts, I don't see them as must haves over offensive upgrades. The way I see it, if we pick Lindstrom or Demidov it is a bigger improvement than any of the defensemen.
Now, if Ducks consider that Lindstrom's injury is a concern and Demidov has the russian factor despite him having just 1 more year left on his KHL deal, then I wouldn't object to them opting for a more stable high end pick. Ducks will be contenders in the future, but wasting a top 5 pick on a dud would really suck.
Levshunov, Yakemchuk, Parekh are all very good prospects but unless they become all around stalwarts, I don't see them as must haves over offensive upgrades. The way I see it, if we pick Lindstrom or Demidov it is a bigger improvement than any of the defensemen.
Now, if Ducks consider that Lindstrom's injury is a concern and Demidov has the russian factor despite him having just 1 more year left on his KHL deal, then I wouldn't object to them opting for a more stable high end pick. Ducks will be contenders in the future, but wasting a top 5 pick on a dud would really suck.
MMC
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