RD Artyom Levshunov (2024, 2nd, CHI)

[HawksDub89]

I'd rather my team win 3 rounds and look outmatched in the finals than play an entire 82 game season looking outmatched almost every night.

Seems like both outcomes end without a cup though, right? lol

But nice job I guess.

 

[Garbageyuk]

I like him, but I just never saw that ceiling.

We’ll see. If he becomes a good 3/4 RHD that’s not the worst thing in the world.

Projecting defenseman is so difficult. ( usually)

He’s got solid #2D upside, with a smaller chance to be a 1D.

Floor is probably a solid 2nd pairing D (a #3 or #4).

He’s a smooth skating RHD with size and relatively high upside, so the rationale for taking him was the same as with Levshunov. Some fans aren’t going to like it, but it made perfect sense. When you have a chance to take these guys, you do it, even if you know people will whine about it.

Levshunov does have considerably higher upside, imo, but that’s besides the point. I do think Lev’s floor is not quite as high - he’s more risky (in terms of reaching his highest potential; at this point Reinbacher is looking pretty risky himself, but due to injuries), but the gulf in upside makes him an easy pick over Reinbacher, if we’re to compare them, imo.

Levshunov has franchise #1D upside, something like Bouchard with better defense and skating. That would be one hell of a player if he pans out that way.

Reinbacher’s best case scenario is probably something like Pietrangelo, if everything goes right. Maybe just a touch below that level.

Of course, these are best case scenarios and both these guys in all likelihood end up somewhere below those two projections. Not gonna get into the worst case scenarios because people get pissed off lmao.

 

[ColbyChaos]

It wasn’t at all as one sided as you’re claiming. All TB’s stars got pretty much shut down outside of a big game 1 - check the box scores. It was their depth players that came through, and that was the real difference in the series - MTL just could not match their depth.

Considering MTL wouldn’t have even made the playoffs in a regular year, if anyone should feel embarrassed it should be TB, but they won the Cup, so nobody remembers or thinks about this stuff.

“The series was not one sided”

The series:

 

[Garbageyuk]

“The series was not one sided”

The series:View attachment 1018216

I said it wasn’t as one sided as you made it sound, and that depth was the determining factor.

But sure, disingenuously reduce my point to what you did so you can attempt your lame little quip.

 

[ColbyChaos]

It's okay pumpkin. I know you thought your pathetic team was going to take a step this season, then they extremely didn't and Montreal did. So, now you pretend that losing in the cup final is embarrassing to keep from the reality of cheering for a 61 point team where all the players look miserable.

[Citation needed] only a Habs fan would pretend that receiving a courtesy sweep in the finals (while getting blown out of the water in almost every game) is comparable to actually winning titles. In a normal season they don’t even make the playoffs in the East or the west in that fluke of a year.

Unless you are in your 40s or 50s you’ve never even seen your team win or even have any memories of it. It’s amazing Chicago could miss the playoffs for the next ten years and they would still have success than you will ever see your team accomplish. Didn’t know Montreals cup drought is long enough to where fans like you want playoff participation banners to be raised in the Belle Center to feel like your team has actually accomplished something the last 30 years. Even leaf fans aren’t that desperate yet

 

[Mrfenn92]

Leshunov thread you clowns. PM each other and compare your dumb insults

 

[CallMeShaft]

Leshunov thread you clowns. PM each other and compare your dumb insults

This isn't yet another Lane Hutson thread?

 

[Mrfenn92]

This isn't yet another Lane Hutson thread?

Goes both ways

 

[Stephen]

If I were to old guy compare the Levshunov vs Demidov debate to another historical draft dilemma, I might go all the way back to 1993. That year, the Hartford Whalers jumped up to 2 and drafted Chris Pronger while Paul Kariya went 4th to Anaheim.

In a classic tortoise vs hare storyline, Kariya jumped out to superstardom quickly, blossoming into a 50 goal, 100 point plus forward on Anaheim, teaming up with Selanne to form one of the iconic duos of the 90s, and took Anaheim to the finals in 2003. Chris Pronger meanwhile took longer to develop but eventually turned into a Hart winning Larry Robinson of the 90s-2010s and is your iconic franchise defenseman.

That is to say, things look good for both Chicago and Montreal if both players pan out. If one blossoms and the other face plants, I'll think of another scenario.

 

[CallMeShaft]

 

[ColbyChaos]

The cope required to pretend that finishing in 31st 30+ points out of the playoffs is the same as losing in the cup finals is both sad and hilarious.

Both result in no cup as a rebuilding team id rather have an high pick over having this being my teams only finals appearance in my life time. Having actually seen cup wins in my lifetime I would be absolutely bummed out if we made the finals and put up this type of a performance when all matters most especially if we had a bit of a cup drought. Guess our expectations are different.

I understand that it's because your team is so pathetic you don't ever really see them improving from where they are now, so you need to pretend that its just as good as teams that actually did something.

Almost no Chicago fan was expecting playoffs lol it is all about seeing our recent draftees come to the team and play in Rockford which they have and they looked good at the same time. There is nothing to be jealous of in Montreal both in past 30 years or in the future 3 cups in my lifetime already will always be better than seeing 0.

It's okay, though, guys. Once Bedard forces his way out you can take the assets from that trade along with all the other top 5 picks you'll have had by then, and maybe that will lead to something. Chins up little guys.

If we wanted advice on how to waste a generational talent we know we could call Montreal for the best advice. But derailing the thread trying to make this a Hutson thread or a shameless attempt to boast about your teams non existent success in the past 30 years is pretty pointless.

This thread is about Levshunov who had a great rookie season split between the AHL and NHL at only 19 years old.

 

[Space umpire]

Manhandled? LOL Demidov manhandled the entire Hawks team.

I realize the Hawks win over the Habs was your stanley cup moment. Its players like Hutson that get your into the big show. Its players like Nazar that will be likely be keeping you from the playoffs. Time will tell. Not impressed.

And BTW, that's Mr. Lane Hutson - Calder Champion. Show some respect!

Wait! Are you a habs fan claiming to know what a Stanley Cup moment is?
As far as Calder votes go, I’d assume Hutson wins but if you are honest you would admit his next defensive stop will be his 1st

But, how is that Dach for Nazar trade looking for Montreal right now?

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Wait! Are you a habs fan claiming to know what a Stanley Cup moment is?
As far as Calder votes go, I’d assume Hutson wins but if you are honest you would admit his next defensive stop will be his 1st

But, how is that Dach for Nazar trade looking for Montreal right now?

Nazar wouldn't be my choice for a C. Too small. So while Dach's injuries have derailed him, no real interest in Nazar. Woudl rather have that 1st back to select someone else though.

In a few years, you will be ruing the day your GM selected Artyom. Woof.!

 

[majormajor]

Levshunov has franchise #1D upside, something like Bouchard with better defense and skating. That would be one hell of a player if he pans out that way.

I only saw Lev in the NHL this year, and watched him a lot last year. So maybe I'm missing something, but from what I can see he's closer to the opposite of Bouchard, who is mostly about puck skills not skating. Lev is not a great shooter or passer or dangler. His upside rests on skating up and down the ice all night, like somewhat of a rover, in the Werenski mold at least as far as the skating goes. He can create advantages with his wheels, a lot of odd man rushes and still get back on defense, if he learns to read play well enough. That's the bet the Hawks are making - that we've got an elite skating big man who we can teach the timing to and I assume they think they can advance him in all of the puck skills, because he's still miles away in that department.

I think a lot of the opinions on Lev's upside will have more to do with how much you trust the Hawks to draft and develop the right guy the right way. After the Korchinski experience I'm not sure whether to trust them.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

David Reinbacher lol. Honestly forgot about him. I think he still has an outside chance at being a nice second pairing D. ( maybe)

Anyway, back on topic. I’m stoked for year two of Levshunov. Think between him and Rinzel the hawks are set on the right side for years.

I was surprised by how good Lev was defensively. He was really strong breaking up rush chances.

Yeah I can guarantee you haven't watched any games from him the last couple years (especially since you "forgot" about him).

But I get it, thread is a shitshow so get your shit flinging in.

On topic, I had Levshunov at 10 pre-draft (same as I had Reinbacher incidentally - may have been 9, but was a weaker draft after the top 5) since I had a lot of concerns about his hockey IQ and felt he was likely to fall somewhere closer to Seth Jones than John Carlson. He's impressed me when I've watched him this season but I still have some concerns.

That being said, there's been players who I thought had seriously questionable IQ pre draft who have become better players than I expected (Bouchard for EDM who also shares some similarities, and Cozens who has played well above my expectations for him).

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Wait! Are you a habs fan claiming to know what a Stanley Cup moment is?
As far as Calder votes go, I’d assume Hutson wins but if you are honest you would admit his next defensive stop will be his 1st

But, how is that Dach for Nazar trade looking for Montreal right now?

Yeah Nazar is a beast, but you have less than no idea what you're talking about with regards to Hutson. Get your shit flinging in though.

 

[Baksfamous112]

Wait! Are you a habs fan claiming to know what a Stanley Cup moment is?
As far as Calder votes go, I’d assume Hutson wins but if you are honest you would admit his next defensive stop will be his 1st

But, how is that Dach for Nazar trade looking for Montreal right now?

Regardless of how that trade went for both teams, I wouldn’t be confident getting out of a rebuild with my 1C and 2C being 5’9 and 5’10.

Enjoy Nazar and Levshunov. They are both going to be great hockey players for a long time.

 

[Garbageyuk]

I only saw Lev in the NHL this year, and watched him a lot last year. So maybe I'm missing something, but from what I can see he's closer to the opposite of Bouchard, who is mostly about puck skills not skating. Lev is not a great shooter or passer or dangler. His upside rests on skating up and down the ice all night, like somewhat of a rover, in the Werenski mold at least as far as the skating goes. He can create advantages with his wheels, a lot of odd man rushes and still get back on defense, if he learns to read play well enough. That's the bet the Hawks are making - that we've got an elite skating big man who we can teach the timing to and I assume they think they can advance him in all of the puck skills, because he's still miles away in that department.

I think a lot of the opinions on Lev's upside will have more to do with how much you trust the Hawks to draft and develop the right guy the right way. After the Korchinski experience I'm not sure whether to trust them.

Obviously I didn’t mean an exact stylistic copy lol. More so a comparison in role and what they bring to the table, with the differences I mentioned. With that said, they do have some similarities in the way they play.

 

[majormajor]

Obviously I didn’t mean an exact stylistic copy lol. More so a comparison in role and what they bring to the table, with the differences I mentioned. With that said, they do have some similarities in the way they play.

I'm not saying it's slightly inexact. I'm saying I don't see them as remotely similar in style.

 

[HawksDub89]

Yeah I can guarantee you haven't watched any games from him the last couple years (especially since you "forgot" about him).

But I get it, thread is a shitshow so get your shit flinging in.

David Reinbacher isn’t exactly an exciting prospect, and more importantly I’m not a Habs fan. So yes, I forgot about him.

I don’t dislike him, but I’m not following his development like a Demidov or any other high end prospect.

I’m sure he’ll be amazing though, best wishes lol.

 

[Garbageyuk]

I'm not saying it's slightly inexact. I'm saying I don't see them as remotely similar in style.

Hmm, well okay then. Interesting. I won’t try to change your mind lol. Again, the focus of the comparison wasn’t in terms of style.

 

[deytookerjaabs]

Damn, I thought there was an update on Lev after the last game in Rockford.

Instead we're just turd tusslin'. Okay.

Anyways, as a Hawk fan dude was not my first choice and the IQ thing was just the same as what I saw. His blunders, oof. Watched a good bit of him in the NCAA and I'm not sure I've seen a guy get away with more epic goofs but they rarely landed him a -. Figured it was mostly luck. Couldn't deny the good parts though.

In the AHL I expected a rough first year, but he was definitely less mistake prone after a short while and in no time extremely confident all over. When he was called up I expected a certain amount of said goofs as well, even less in the big league? Hoping he continues this trajectory, the guy can be all over the ice at incredible angles in one or two strides, that cheat code gives him a huge presence to unexpectedly step up anywhere in all 3 zones which he does when he's at his best.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Star Platinum]

Nazar wouldn't be my choice for a C. Too small. So while Dach's injuries have derailed him, no real interest in Nazar. Woudl rather have that 1st back to select someone else though.

In a few years, you will be ruing the day your GM selected Artyom. Woof.!

 

[pvr]

I only saw Lev in the NHL this year, and watched him a lot last year. So maybe I'm missing something, but from what I can see he's closer to the opposite of Bouchard, who is mostly about puck skills not skating. Lev is not a great shooter or passer or dangler. His upside rests on skating up and down the ice all night, like somewhat of a rover, in the Werenski mold at least as far as the skating goes. He can create advantages with his wheels, a lot of odd man rushes and still get back on defense, if he learns to read play well enough. That's the bet the Hawks are making - that we've got an elite skating big man who we can teach the timing to and I assume they think they can advance him in all of the puck skills, because he's still miles away in that department.

I think a lot of the opinions on Lev's upside will have more to do with how much you trust the Hawks to draft and develop the right guy the right way. After the Korchinski experience I'm not sure whether to trust them.

Actually, the Blackhawks organization has done a great job developing or letting develop dmen of late. Vlasic, Rinzel, Del Mastro, Allan, Kaiser, Crevier, Harding…all looking good to great. Korchinski is the outlier, and in hindsight should have been left in juniors. Better case for D1 year would have been the AHL, but it wasn’t allowed. Best case would have been getting him into a great college program, where the games are fewer and the training facilities are top notch.

Levshunov looks fully capable of handling what the Hawks management and coaches have given him, and he’s now back in the AHL for the playoffs looking like a real stud.

Just keep repeating the same old tiresome nonsense about lack of trust in the organization regarding defensemen development based on one player and his circumstances, though. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Excellent job with your dick-measuring contest, guys.