Analyzing where Artyom Levshunov stands after chaotic Blackhawks rookie season
April 5, 2026
Analyzing where Artyom Levshunov stands after chaotic Blackhawks rookie season
14 comments
not too encouraged after reading that with how much lev has to work on to not be one of the worst d men in the league.
he’s a very raw player with impressive tools but has one glaring weakness with his abysmal hockey iq that might hold him back from reaching his potential.
Dude might be able to play hockey but dude is just dumb as rocks. If he puts up points like Erik karlsson (who is also awful defensively) then you can live with his mistakes. Time will tell though.
Sucks we missed so bad on him
“Instead, it’s Levshunov’s hockey IQ — his decision-making, his positioning, his consistency and so forth — that sometimes holds him back and receives scrutiny.”
“There’s no question Levshunov still needs to improve in plenty of areas, including limiting turnovers, limiting penalties (21 minors called against him), tighter zone-entry defense, better shooting power and accuracy, better communication with teammates, better control of emotions and bouncing back more readily after mistakes.”
Lmao, what a dumb pick at number #2. Basically has to become a completely different hockey player to live up to that selection. The only positive about Lev in the article is that he’s physically strong for his age but he barely uses that in his game.
He has ALOT to work on this summer
Could’ve just taken Demidov
I honestly wonder why any team chooses defensemen at all in round 1 considering that they develop slower and it seems so tough to know how long they’ll take to adjust to pro pace of hockey, if ever. Forwards seem much safer to put early picks on and if that’s the case Demidov certainly seems like he would’ve been more of a sure thing at the time of the draft.
That being said, I don’t think Levshunov will be a bust, but I’m wondering when we’ll start to get a better sense of his ceiling.
Lev is 20 freaking years old. Schaefer being a star has drastically warped how people view young defenseman. You’ll be pretty hard pressed the find many at all who were instantly great. Dude is an athletic freak who has the potential to be a beast. It’s going to take some time but that’s ok. People need to chill.
Is there any reason why the hawks didnt just send him down to the AHL for the year?
Given his weaknesses are mentally learning the position at an NHL level, I’m surprised we put PP1 on him. Seems better to simplify and let him focus on a few things than trying to learn it all at once especially when you consider he’s trying to learn English, America, etc.
At this point my concerns are more about the Hawks ability to develop high end defensemen more than they are about Levshunov specifically. We’ll see how it all plays out.
Time will tell. The pick looked questionable at the draft, and still looks questionable now, especially when the other guy looks exactly like what the Hawks need and would have been great on Bedard’s line.
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert because I’m not. I’m a longtime fan with an opinion like most here. He looks fucking clueless.
He is the RHD GOAT in waiting. I have complete faith.
All this talk about how bad he was and I never see any mention he currently has 4th most assists on the team, top 10 in points on the team, and defender with the most points.
Not saying that means to ignore all the bad but people act like he has zero upside. He’s 20 – hopefully he can have significant improvement next year and the year after. We will see but it feels like people calling Bedard a huge bust the last two years despite leading the team in scoring.
14 comments
not too encouraged after reading that with how much lev has to work on to not be one of the worst d men in the league.
he’s a very raw player with impressive tools but has one glaring weakness with his abysmal hockey iq that might hold him back from reaching his potential.
Dude might be able to play hockey but dude is just dumb as rocks. If he puts up points like Erik karlsson (who is also awful defensively) then you can live with his mistakes. Time will tell though.
Sucks we missed so bad on him
“Instead, it’s Levshunov’s hockey IQ — his decision-making, his positioning, his consistency and so forth — that sometimes holds him back and receives scrutiny.”
“There’s no question Levshunov still needs to improve in plenty of areas, including limiting turnovers, limiting penalties (21 minors called against him), tighter zone-entry defense, better shooting power and accuracy, better communication with teammates, better control of emotions and bouncing back more readily after mistakes.”
Lmao, what a dumb pick at number #2. Basically has to become a completely different hockey player to live up to that selection. The only positive about Lev in the article is that he’s physically strong for his age but he barely uses that in his game.
He has ALOT to work on this summer
Could’ve just taken Demidov
I honestly wonder why any team chooses defensemen at all in round 1 considering that they develop slower and it seems so tough to know how long they’ll take to adjust to pro pace of hockey, if ever. Forwards seem much safer to put early picks on and if that’s the case Demidov certainly seems like he would’ve been more of a sure thing at the time of the draft.
That being said, I don’t think Levshunov will be a bust, but I’m wondering when we’ll start to get a better sense of his ceiling.
Lev is 20 freaking years old. Schaefer being a star has drastically warped how people view young defenseman. You’ll be pretty hard pressed the find many at all who were instantly great. Dude is an athletic freak who has the potential to be a beast. It’s going to take some time but that’s ok. People need to chill.
Is there any reason why the hawks didnt just send him down to the AHL for the year?
Given his weaknesses are mentally learning the position at an NHL level, I’m surprised we put PP1 on him. Seems better to simplify and let him focus on a few things than trying to learn it all at once especially when you consider he’s trying to learn English, America, etc.
At this point my concerns are more about the Hawks ability to develop high end defensemen more than they are about Levshunov specifically. We’ll see how it all plays out.
Time will tell. The pick looked questionable at the draft, and still looks questionable now, especially when the other guy looks exactly like what the Hawks need and would have been great on Bedard’s line.
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert because I’m not. I’m a longtime fan with an opinion like most here. He looks fucking clueless.
He is the RHD GOAT in waiting. I have complete faith.
All this talk about how bad he was and I never see any mention he currently has 4th most assists on the team, top 10 in points on the team, and defender with the most points.
Not saying that means to ignore all the bad but people act like he has zero upside. He’s 20 – hopefully he can have significant improvement next year and the year after. We will see but it feels like people calling Bedard a huge bust the last two years despite leading the team in scoring.