RD Artyom Levshunov - Michigan State Univ., NCAA (2024 Draft)

[Michael Farkas]

Usually it's easier to scout in retrospect haha

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Jack Johnson at his statistical best was a 40 point guy who played pretty poorly defensively and has spent the 2nd half of his career as a journeyman clinging onto a roster

Every player I listed has had a much bigger impact individually, even if they havent been doing it for as long

Except he didn’t play poor defense during his prime. Advanced stats has its uses, but I find that the worst quality it has in hockey is in how it distorts the view of defensemen sometimes to be way better or worse than they are.

 

[Knarf9o5o1o4o9]

Except he didn’t play poor defense during his prime. Advanced stats has its uses, but I find that the worst quality it has in hockey is in how it distorts the view of defensemen sometimes to be way better or worse than they are.

Either way eh wasnt better than any of the names listed and you can take that to the bank

 

[majormajor]

Except he didn’t play poor defense during his prime. Advanced stats has its uses, but I find that the worst quality it has in hockey is in how it distorts the view of defensemen sometimes to be way better or worse than they are.

Na, I watched him when he was a supposed top pair D in Columbus and Jack Johnson was a problem defensively. You don't need to get into fancy analytics, the club was simply much more likely to get scored on with Johnson out there.

When he was moved to a middle pair shutdown role next to Savard for 2015-16 and 2016-17, that's when he just focused on defense and he was okay at the role. But part of that was he went from being a 40 pt guy to a 20 pt guy.

Then the following year he wasn't even one of the Jackets top 6 D at times.

So he was never a top pair caliber D, just about 5 years as a middle pair caliber guy and the rest bottom pair. If you know a prospect is going to end up like that you wouldn't touch him in the top 10.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

His physical package may be fantastic but he doesn't play with an edge. Certainly nothing like Pronger.

With you talking about processing I have to mention Reinbacher again though. Montreal was getting a lot of heat for drafting Reinbacher 5th overall the reason being that you shouldn't draft a defenseman without elite skills this early just because he's more mature. It was said that Montreal went for a safe pick instead of drafting a player with elite skill and higher upside. I agree with all of those takes and I agree that when in doubt, those early picks should be spent on high end forwards. However, I think what people have missed it that Reinbacher is processing the game as fast and well as just about every other defenseman in this world. His play may not always look sexy, he may never quarterback a top PP in the NHL, he may never be a puck hog either but he's gonna be extremely effective and create a lot of offense, put up lots of points at even strength just because of him thinking the game so well. His vision is crazy, he's extremely good at finding open ice and teammates and he has the hands and mobility to pass the puck up ice quickly and accurately even from distance.

I mentioned it already but Levshunov for me is pretty much a carbon copy of David Reinbacher. They have almost identical bodies, both of them are excellent skaters for their size, both have a very mature game at a young age already but a rather average skillset to go with that. Both of them are lacking elite talent, both of them aren't really willing to go the extra mile physically, don't really project as volume hitters in the NHL. Levshunov may be a bit more confident with the puck while Reinbacher has slightly better hands but they're honestly very similar. The real difference is vision/processing. It's Reinbacher's biggest strength and Levshunov's biggest weakness. I mentioned it already but after last year's shitstorm I think it would be the best for everybody involved if Levshunov doesn't go in the top10. Levshunov would be struggling to meet such sky high expectations and depending on the team and market he ends up landing he'd get just as much hate as Reinbacher or even worse.

Hampus Lindholm is a physical player, but doesn't collect hits like a Pronger or a Gudas. Yet, Hampus continually tilts the ice.

Lev tilts the ice for his NCAA team. Although, Lev is different from Hampus because Hampus is a defensive-minded 2-way D. Lev became an offensive-minded 2-way D this past season by improving his defensive play. He still needs to improve on his defensive play, as per THW's scouting report. I think so too and hope whoever drafts him lets him refine his defensive game at MSU (NCAA) for one more season.

As for Reinbacher, I had to look up his THW's scouting report. He's a defensive 2-way guy that needed to work on his offensive creativity. Also, Reinbacher is slightly lighter than Lev, by like 11 pounds. I didn't notice skating as one of his strengths, though.

Lev kinda exceeded his NCAA expectations after his USHL debut. He carried his team offensively (2nd in scoring by 1 point) and defensively (first in +/- by +7) as a rookie. Maybe his floor is higher than Reinbacher's, despite still being raw. Here is Elite Prospects' breakdown of Lev's games in January that might explain why Lev is being rated so highly.

 

[Hinterland]

Hampus Lindholm is a physical player, but doesn't collect hits like a Pronger or a Gudas. Yet, Hampus continually tilts the ice.

Lev tilts the ice for his NCAA team. Although, Lev is different from Hampus because Hampus is a defensive-minded 2-way D. Lev became an offensive-minded 2-way D this past season by improving his defensive play. He still needs to improve on his defensive play, as per THW's scouting report. I think so too and hope whoever drafts him lets him refine his defensive game at MSU (NCAA) for one more season.

As for Reinbacher, I had to look up his THW's scouting report. He's a defensive 2-way guy that needed to work on his offensive creativity. Also, Reinbacher is slightly lighter than Lev, by like 11 pounds. I didn't notice skating as one of his strengths, though.

Lev kinda exceeded his NCAA expectations after his USHL debut. He carried his team offensively (2nd in scoring by 1 point) and defensively (first in +/- by +7) as a rookie. Maybe his floor is higher than Reinbacher's, despite still being raw. Here is Elite Prospects' breakdown of Lev's games in January that might explain why Lev is being rated so highly.

That is blatantly false. Even the player himself says he's happy with his offensive game but has to work on the defensive side of things. Again, Reinbacher's vision is 2nd to none. Nobody can turn defense into offense faster than him. He may never quarterback a top PP in the NHL, he may never be fully comfortable with the puck on his stick but man is he ever gonna generate offense at even strength.

 

[AMScouting]

Significant plays from one game of Levshunov:

 

[Hockey Duckie]

That is blatantly false. Even the player himself says he's happy with his offensive game but has to work on the defensive side of things. Again, Reinbacher's vision is 2nd to none. Nobody can turn defense into offense faster than him. He may never quarterback a top PP in the NHL, he may never be fully comfortable with the puck on his stick but man is he ever gonna generate offense at even strength.

It's your word vs THW's scouting report. Take it up with THW.

Lev was an OFD who converted into a 2-way D. Reinbacher is a shutdown D trying to convert into a 2-way D. Not only does THW intimate this, but Last Word on Sports' scouting report does too. Sure, Reinbacher does a great job of getting the puck out, which LWoS cited, but also cites his lack of offensive creativity along with needing to improve his skating. Getting the puck out of your zone and being creative offensively in the offensive zone are two different situations, which kinda helps define who is a DFD (defensive d-man) vs an OFD (offensive d-man) vs a 2-way D.

If you're doing comparisons, then Reinbacher's forte is more similar to Hampus Lindholm, which is a shutdown D-man who can get the puck out of their zone with some propensity to score points. At least the psyche is similar about being a responsible, defensive-minded player first. Oddly, both of them were projected in the mid-teens and were selected higher inside of the top-10. Though, I believe Lindholm was a superior defender than Reinbacher coming into the draft.

Lev needs to work on his defense, but my, oh my, has he improved greatly between his D-1 and D+0 season, including from the start of his D+0 and throughout the season. So much so that he's helped carry his NCAA team as a freshman, earned Big-10 freshman of the year, recognized as the Big-10 defenseman of the year, and nominated for the Hobey Baker award. His defensive partner is 24 years old, 6-years older than Lev - which is identifying the age range of NCAA level. Again, Lev led his team in scoring (2nd on team by 1 less point) and defense (highest +/- with a +27 rating; the 2nd highest +/- on the team was +20, who was Lev's defensive partner).

Lev's floor might be higher than you perceive despite your description of all of his skills being average. If being that average allows the player to carry the team offensively as well as defensively to an improved record (ranked from 16th to 4th), win the conference championship, and play in the NCAA tourney (missed the playoffs the year before Lev), then I'll gladly take the "average" player who was a significant factor for improving the team to higher heights.

I'll reiterate this sentiment once again, "Everyone after Celebrini has flaws." Thus, every team will be taking a gamble after San Jose selects Celebrini at #1 OA.

 

[Hinterland]

It's your word vs THW's scouting report. Take it up with THW.

Lev was an OFD who converted into a 2-way D. Reinbacher is a shutdown D trying to convert into a 2-way D. Not only does THW intimate this, but Last Word on Sports' scouting report does too. Sure, Reinbacher does a great job of getting the puck out, which LWoS cited, but also cites his lack of offensive creativity along with needing to improve his skating. Getting the puck out of your zone and being creative offensively in the offensive zone are two different situations, which kinda helps define who is a DFD (defensive d-man) vs an OFD (offensive d-man) vs a 2-way D.

If you're doing comparisons, then Reinbacher's forte is more similar to Hampus Lindholm, which is a shutdown D-man who can get the puck out of their zone with some propensity to score points. At least the psyche is similar about being a responsible, defensive-minded player first. Oddly, both of them were projected in the mid-teens and were selected higher inside of the top-10. Though, I believe Lindholm was a superior defender than Reinbacher coming into the draft.

Lev needs to work on his defense, but my, oh my, has he improved greatly between his D-1 and D+0 season, including from the start of his D+0 and throughout the season. So much so that he's helped carry his NCAA team as a freshman, earned Big-10 freshman of the year, recognized as the Big-10 defenseman of the year, and nominated for the Hobey Baker award. His defensive partner is 24 years old, 6-years older than Lev - which is identifying the age range of NCAA level. Again, Lev led his team in scoring (2nd on team by 1 less point) and defense (highest +/- with a +27 rating; the 2nd highest +/- on the team was +20, who was Lev's defensive partner).

Lev's floor might be higher than you perceive despite your description of all of his skills being average. If being that average allows the player to carry the team offensively as well as defensively to an improved record (ranked from 16th to 4th), win the conference championship, and play in the NCAA tourney (missed the playoffs the year before Lev), then I'll gladly take the "average" player who was a significant factor for improving the team to higher heights.

I'll reiterate this sentiment once again, "Everyone after Celebrini has flaws." Thus, every team will be taking a gamble after San Jose selects Celebrini at #1 OA.

Again, this is false. Reinbacher will likely be never be a PP-specialist but he excels at transition. Generating offense at even strength has always been his single biggest strength thanks to his unique vision and hockey IQ to go with very good hands.

His play against the puck is a work in progress. That's also what Reinbacher says about himself. That's probably also why he never really played on the PK. His game against the puck isn't really bad either but Reinbacher was never a shutdown or defensive defenseman. He's an offensive defenseman working on his defensive game. Whoever states the opposite has never watched him. He'd probably also be the first shutdown defenseman who doesn't play PK.

Vision/processing is almost impossible to learn or teach and frankly, in that area, Levshunov and Reinbacher are miles apart.

 

[DemiGod]

How much real difference there is between Lev, Yakemchuk and Solberg.
Levshunov seems to go in pick 2 but the other two could go outside the top10.
Why?

 

[Static]

How much real difference there is between Lev, Yakemchuk and Solberg.
Levshunov seems to go in pick 2 but the other two could go outside the top10.
Why?

Physical tools.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

How much real difference there is between Lev, Yakemchuk and Solberg.
Levshunov seems to go in pick 2 but the other two could go outside the top10.
Why?

Levshunov and Yakemchuk are different based on their athleticism. Levshunov is a great athlete. Yakemchuk is 6’3, but a weak athlete.

Solberg is arguably safer than the other two defensively and should at least be a solid defensive defenseman. How much offensive potential he has is a question.

 

[Hinterland]

Levshunov and Yakemchuk are different based on their athleticism. Levshunov is a great athlete. Yakemchuk is 6’3, but a weak athlete.

Solberg is arguably safer than the other two defensively and should at least be a solid defensive defenseman. How much offensive potential he has is a question.

The weak athlete would easily win any battle vs Levshunov and he'd beat the absolute crap out of him in a fight. That weak athlete is the most feared player of the WHL for a reason
..and despite playing against kids up to almost three years older than him.

Solberg was playing in Norway. Of course he was solid playing in a such a weak league. Otherwise he wouldn't have the slightest chance to get drafted into the NHL. He looked slow and lost in international games but there he was playing half of the games on terrible teams. So of course he was tired and overmatched. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

 

[coooldude]

The weak athlete would easily win any battle vs Levshunov and he'd beat the absolute crap out of him in a fight. That weak athlete is the most feared player of the WHL for a reason
..and despite playing against kids up to almost three years older than him.

Solberg was playing in Norway. Of course he was solid playing in a such a weak league. Otherwise he wouldn't have the slightest chance to get drafted into the NHL. He looked slow and lost in international games but there he was playing half of the games on terrible teams. So of course he was tired and overmatched. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

Yak liker, Lev doubter, Solberg Stan here. I disagree with all three of your takes.

Yak is obviously a great prospect who has been very successful in the WHL, but to discount Levshunov's physical skills is pretty wild. He was ALSO playing against kids 4 years older than him. They're pretty much the same age. We even have a direct comp from the combine, they're similar. Levshunov has more natural mobility, Yak I think has more natural hockey sense. There are definitely doubts about Yak's ability to translate to the NHL, including athleticism (same with Lev but for his processing imho).

You're the first person I've heard among scouts, executives, and us armchair fans to say that Solberg looked lost at Worlds. Pretty much everyone else agrees he looked pretty confident and like he belonged. Raw, yes, but making the kind of mistakes that are coachable, rather than being in over his head.

All three of them are pretty good prospects and at this point I would guess all of them will be gone by pick 15.

 

[Hinterland]

Yak liker, Lev doubter, Solberg Stan here. I disagree with all three of your takes.

Yak is obviously a great prospect who has been very successful in the WHL, but to discount Levshunov's physical skills is pretty wild. He was ALSO playing against kids 4 years older than him. They're pretty much the same age. We even have a direct comp from the combine, they're similar. Levshunov has more natural mobility, Yak I think has more natural hockey sense. There are definitely doubts about Yak's ability to translate to the NHL, including athleticism (same with Lev but for his processing imho).

You're the first person I've heard among scouts, executives, and us armchair fans to say that Solberg looked lost at Worlds. Pretty much everyone else agrees he looked pretty confident and like he belonged. Raw, yes, but making the kind of mistakes that are coachable, rather than being in over his head.

All three of them are pretty good prospects and at this point I would guess all of them will be gone by pick 15.

Solberg looked flat, tired out there...he played heavy minutes of course but it made me wonder about his skating. You tend to see that quite often with lower tier teams. When playing vs top nations (or top skating nations at the very least) they often start games very well until they're suddenly barely moving anymore. Solberg was no exception to that.

He also made curious decision with the puck, gave away lots of pucks.

Again, not gonna bash him for it. All teams he was on were really poor and it's pretty much impossible to make stuff happen alone, especially as a defenseman. Hockey is a team sport after all.

I only mentioned international games because those games are just as misleading as the games in Norway where the level is very low as well. You can't say that he's trash because he was flat and lost in international games but also can't say that he's a defensive genius because of him dominating in Norway. All of those games are very difficult to evaluate but in any way, I disagree that he's more solid than Yakemchuk or Levshunov.

 

[coooldude]

in any way, I disagree that he's more solid than Yakemchuk or Levshunov.

I don't think he's more solid than Levshunov or Yak, particularly re: puck retrievals and breakouts. But I still don't know where you're getting that he looked bad at Worlds where most folks seem to think he looked good. I do think he has a lot of untapped potential that he may or may not realize.

I think the thing that one scout said here (or somewhere) about Lev is that because he's so physically developed, but maybe not the fastest processor, he may peak early and fall off as soon as his physical gifts deteriorate. Other prospects like Solberg may take a long time. Guys like Yak may never reach their potential because their development curve stops and they can't make the jump... Or maybe he does. It's all a crapshoot especially this year.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

One of the things I notice with Levshunov is a tendancy to go with the first play he identifies. Sometimes it works & he moves it quick, other times it doesn't work & he turns it over or makes the wrong play. His vision isn't bad I don't think, like he can thread some nice stretch passes thru traffic, and I don't think his awareness of where his teammates are is bad either, but he just doesn't seem to have the poise & rushes whatever his first thing is, not all the time necessarily but.. a reoccuring thing I've noticed.

Also I don't see the high end offense like Buium/Yak/Parekh. He's good in this area, he'll be a contributor, but he's not a dynamic creator (more of a support player) and he really struggles to get shots through. Both Levshunov & Dickinson are similar imo in that they like to jump into the play & get involved, Levshunov is a better skater which helps but an advantage Dickinson has is he's way better at getting his shot through. Lev has a heavier shot but he just rly struggles with that (I think he tends to differ & pass more than you'd like anyways, similar to Hronek).

He's safe in that he'll play, whether he's a star... I don't know if I'm there. I don't see Doughty if ppl are still throwing that name around. I think he plays more like Seth Jones if you wanna go high end.

 

[No ReGretzkys]

Again, this is false. Reinbacher will likely be never be a PP-specialist but he excels at transition. Generating offense at even strength has always been his single biggest strength thanks to his unique vision and hockey IQ to go with very good hands.

His play against the puck is a work in progress. That's also what Reinbacher says about himself. That's probably also why he never really played on the PK. His game against the puck isn't really bad either but Reinbacher was never a shutdown or defensive defenseman. He's an offensive defenseman working on his defensive game. Whoever states the opposite has never watched him. He'd probably also be the first shutdown defenseman who doesn't play PK.

Vision/processing is almost impossible to learn or teach and frankly, in that area, Levshunov and Reinbacher are miles apart.

Rein is a mobile skater with a good defensive stick, he does not possess "very good hands", he just doesn't have that offensive instinct, he is more of a defensive puck moving D, think of hampus lindholm, jonas brodin, Gustav Forsling type. Lev imo has more offensive potential with similar defensive traits. I'm a hab fan btw

 

[WeThreeKings]

Rein is a mobile skater with a good defensive stick, he does not possess "very good hands", he just doesn't have that offensive instinct, he is more of a defensive puck moving D, think of hampus lindholm, jonas brodin, Gustav Forsling type. Lev imo has more offensive potential with similar defensive traits. I'm a hab fan btw

Yeah - Reinbacher's defense is better than Levshunov's was at the time of the draft, but Levshunov's offensive toolkit and brain are a level above. Reinbacher's offense is all about his skating and poise with the puck, his offense is in transition and may not collect a lot of points but will be the key starter to many plays that end in goals.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Yeah - Reinbacher's defense is better than Levshunov's was at the time of the draft, but Levshunov's offensive toolkit and brain are a level above. Reinbacher's offense is all about his skating and poise with the puck, his offense is in transition and may not collect a lot of points but will be the key starter to many plays that end in goals.

Isn't one of Levshunov's knocks his IQ?

 

[Brock]

My report on Levshunov. Tons of video content here.

2024 NHL SCOUTING REPORT (VIDEO + GRADES): Artyom Levshunov, D, Michigan State Univeristy (NCAA)

McKeen's Brock Ottrn provides a detailed scouting report on 2024 NHL Draft prospect Artyom Levshunov including video and grades.

www.mckeenshockey.com

 

[DemiGod]

Lev's defense is worse than Reinbacher's offense.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Isn't one of Levshunov's knocks his IQ?

Defensively.

 

[AMScouting]

Significant plays from one game of Levshunov:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1804200521320010088

 

[FlyguyOX]

Significant plays from one game of Levshunov:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1804200521320010088

I see more Provorov now that people mention that comp. He has some headscratching plays, then moments of brilliance, shows great mobility then flat footed other times. Up and down play.