I don’t disagree that he’s ranked too high, I’d take Yakemchuk, Silayev, and Dickinson over him, but you’re making projections about where guys will be 5 years from now and there’s no denying that the toolbox is high-end. He might be more inconsistent than you’d like but again he’s a 17 year old playing college hockey.
I can't comment much on those three. I likened Dickinson to a Trouba from what I saw at the U17 challenge and Hlinka Gretzky, but I don't have too much conviction in that statement.
I'm not sure the toolbox is super high end with Lev though. As least as much I thought it was. He's big and can be physical. He's got pretty decent top speed and a good shot. Can make a good first pass when he's on. Not sure he offers a ton outside of that.
From the guys I've seen a lot, and this won't be popular, but I would strongly consider someone like EJ Emery over Levshunov. Emery is bambi on skates right now and seems to have so much more development runway left. I really like his upside as a shutdown type. Levshunov to me is who he is. Still lots of hockey to be played though.
The first game I thought he was very bad. No poise in his own end just throwing the puck away, not engaged. Agree completely.
The 2nd game I thought he was better. Looking more competent and engaged in his own end/off puck. Moving the puck better. On the offensive end making some good plays. Nothing earth shattering but competent as opposed to dreadful.
I think someone earlier said he lacks intensity and I'd agree. But could he be a 2nd pair defenseman that plays the PP, adds a bit of offense & frustrates you with inconsistent performances in the other parts of the ice? Sure. I think he's a 10-20 ranged guy at the moment.
Also I saw a bit of Buium in one game, but alot more last season, I really like him. Not top 10 but I'm surprised he's universally being rated late first tbh.
I actually liked his Friday game better than Saturday, but neither were good. The first period on the Saturday game was as bad as I've seen him. I counted 5? turnovers. Just 'what are you doing' type of stuff. He settled in after that, but still some bad moments to pick out.
Re intensity, that was me. I think he could be a PP2 guy. Not sure he has the deception to his game to make guys commit/move to run a top unit powerplay.
I could see Buium going 15-20. Not sure I'm there yet, but he's been good.
I’ve only seen one Michigan state game this year so I won’t comment on Levshunov, but it’s probably worth noting that Buium essentially played a partial D1 schedule with the program last year whereas Levshunov spent the entire year in the ushl. Much less of a learning curve for Buium coming into the year
Sure, but at the end of the day, they are both adjusting to new teams and new levels.
Buium played on an all star team that dominated 75% of the games they played so you could even argue the adjustment is tougher for him.