I don't even know why we are talking about this big hole on defense.
Vlasic has quickly become a premier shutdown guy in just his first real season and was listed as the 2nd best shutdown defender in the league by The Athletic a month ago. The one guy who finished 1st is a decade older than him.
Korchinski struggled, but he was the youngest defenseman in the league and belonged (but was unable to play in) the AHL. A recent 7th overall pick with skating and size.
Del Mastro played his first pro season with Rockford this year and was their representative for the AHL All Star Game.
Rinzel is a huge wild card, but he's got a lot of tools. And in his first season in college, he had the highest plus/minus on the team; a stat that I've been told on the main boards by Brock Faber fans is hugely important.
We still got Seth Jones for the foreseeable future. Sorry to report, he isn't being moved for Marner.
Maybe none of them ever become a perennial top 15 defenseman in the league, but we aren't exactly weak on defense for the future. And we still have a lot of draft capital that can go to improving it even more.
What we don't have is a forward that can hold Bedard's jock strap. That's a much more significant need IMO.
If we draft Levshunov, fine. But it better be because the scouting department feels he's BPA, and not because he 'fills a need' or 'the 2025 draft sucks for defensemen, so lets waste our 2nd overall on one'.