I agree, I think out of the defensemen Silayev and Levshunov are likely at the top of our list based on upside and fit. It is just very worrisome to not be able to see any offensive upside in Silayev even when he was playing in the MHL,
The more I think about it the more I'm okay with that, so long as they believe he can be an elite defensive guy. Having a guy who covers so much space, yet has mobility, can make him a dominant defender not just in his own zone, but in transition as well ... it struck me when watching all these playoff games how not only are games decided by generating chances and maintaining possession, but also how many games turn on scoring chances being thwarted by taking away time and space and passing lanes, even on the rush, and breaking up the opponent's possessions. It'd be one thing if he was big and a mediocre skater, but big with the mobility of a much smaller dman is truly noteworthy and exceedingly rare. And I don't think anyone has described him as stone handed.
It does take thinking outside the box to take a guy with limited offense at 3oa, but in a year where 2-12 are so close ... would any of us be upset if we were picking 12th and he fell to us? Doubt it. In a way we have to approach this pick with the mentality that we're not picking 3rd, we're picking much lower ... and if a guy is good enough to make sense at 12 then he also makes sense at 3.
I think only Demidov is the kind of player that almost always goes top 5 or so (depending on the strength of that draft). If he's gone, you just take who you like best, and don't get hung up on the pick #.
and seeing lack of defensive intensity from Levshunov in the NCAA.
As with a lot of young dmen with skill, I think it's possibly because he's being asked to do so much. A dman who's essentially one of the primary guys carrying the offensive load is sometimes going to have to pace himself defensively, because the team isn't loaded enough for him to coast on the other end. Michael Jordan wasn't going into full lockdown mode defensively on nights when the Bulls needed him to go for 50+.
I'm not a draft guy, I don't watch these guys beyond some highlights. But from the sound of it and what I've seen in those highlights, Demidov looks amazingly dynamic/creative, Lindstrom could be a near perfect do-everything power forward, Silayev would perfectly complement our more creative D, and Lev has the potential to be our best all around dman. Happy with any of them, if any of them succeed even to like 75% of potential they'd make us a much better team.
And now I've jinxed it and they'll pick Eiserman. Bastards.
