Why Blackhawks must draft Artyom Levshunov No. 2 overall

Despite being one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League in 2023-24, the future in undoubtedly bright for the Chicago Blackhawks. That's largely due to 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard, who was electric in his rookie campaign as a 17-year-old. The North Vancouver native put up 61 points in his first 68 games, and that was playing on one of the worst rosters in the league. He figures to get even better in 2024-25, and that will be especially true if general manager Kyle Davidson can surround him with some talent this summer.

But it's probably going to take a couple more years for Chicago to be competing for a playoff spot, and thus drafting well will be absolutely critical to this team's development over the next few years. Although the Hawks lost the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes — they'll select No. 2 in the 2024 NHL Draft at the Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28 — there are a couple of other great options on the board, and no consensus second overall pick.

The Hawks could go a couple of different ways with this selection, but the leading speculation is that the front office will select either Russian standout forward Ivan Demidov or Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov. And they should go with the latter. Here are three reasons why the franchise shouldn't let the Belarusian fall any further than No. 2.

Artyom Levshunov immediately becomes best D-man in Hawks' pipeline

It's almost certain that the Hawks will select either Levshunov or Demidov with their pick next Friday night. And there truly is a case to be made for both players.

“I’d say the debate is still very real,” Davidson said after the NHL Draft Combine earlier in June. “I thought we would have a little, maybe a decision at this point, which is not a bad thing at all, but I think there are some really good options out there. And so it’s something that we’re knocking around, we’ll take a little bit of a break after the combine and kind of revisit that in seven-10 days and start going through things again. But yeah, we’ll decide closer to again, so no, we’re still knocking things around.”

Although Demidov will be an excellent NHL player — and a great option for one of the teams directly below Chicago — Levshunov projects as a No. 1 defenseman, and you can never have too many of those. He's 6-foot-2, extremely mobile, and can play all situations. He also just had a better year in Big Ten playing for the Michigan State Spartans than both Vancouver Canucks star D-man Quinn Hughes, as well as former No. 1 overall pick and Buffalo Sabres blueliner Owen Power.

Levshunov was exceptional in 2023-24, recording 35 points in just 38 college hockey games after putting up 42 in 62 for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League the year before. And with Bedard the cornerstone of the offense for the foreseeable future, Levshunov could play that role on the back end as the Hawks continue trying to build a winner in the 2020s.

Adds another franchise cornerstone to go along with Connor Bedard

If you look at the makeup of some of the most recent Stanley Cup champions, it's easy to see that a gamebreaking forward coupled with an elite, minute-crunching defenseman helps to make up a recipe for success in the postseason. Just look at Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in Colorado, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in Pittsburgh, or Steven Stamkos/Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay.

Of course, a ton more goes into it, but the point remains: the superstar forward-defenseman combination is never a bad thing. And Levshunov would join Bedard as a franchise cornerstone in the Windy City. Fans of the Hawks haven't seen an elite defenseman since the days of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, and this could be the player to change that.

Levshunov would immediately become the Hawks' best defense prospect, surpassing 2022 first-rounder (No. 7 overall) Kevin Korchinski. It is true that he would probably need another year at Michigan State as a sophomore before turning pro in 2025, but Chicago can wait. And it could be a couple more years before Demidov is ready to play for an NHL team.

Having a player with true superstar potential on both the offensive and defensive side of the puck would be monumental for Chicago, which is likely why reports surfaced a month ago that the front office was “leaning towards” selecting Levshunov. If that happens, he and Bedard figure to run the show — one up front, one on the blue line — for the next decade at least.

Levshunov should help Hawks return to relevance

And that should help the Hawks in their quest to return to championship status. With a core made up of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Keith and Seabrook, Chicago won the Stanley Cup three times in six seasons, capturing the sport's ultimate prize in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Now that all four of those players have moved on, it made perfect sense that the team would struggle mightily for a few seasons.

But that era will soon be over as well, and it's already been speculated that Davidson and the front office are looking to improve the roster ahead of next year. It looks like last place in the Central Division will no longer be acceptable in Illinois — especially for the most successful franchise of the 2010s.

And Levshunov already knows what it takes to win, helping the Spartans capture their first regular-season and conference tournament championships since 2013. He put up a spectacular +27 rating in the process, looking like not only one of the best freshman defensemen in college hockey, but period.

The right-shot defender was named the Big Ten Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the year-end First All-Star Team. Put simply, he was a force in 2023-24, and figures to only get better as he prepares to make the jump to the National Hockey League sometime in the next few seasons.

Although Ivan Demidov is an exceptional prospect and projects as a top-tier NHL player, Artyom Levshunov is a franchise cornerstone that will transform Chicago's blue line for years to come if and when he is selected by the Original Six franchise at No. 2 overall.