{"id":258375,"date":"2025-10-21T21:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T21:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/258375\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T21:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T21:29:11","slug":"artyom-levshunov-learning-7-d-men-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/258375\/","title":{"rendered":"Artyom Levshunov learning 7 D-men role"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the 2023-24 season, the Chicago Blackhawks were trying to rebound from another poor campaign. They had drafted Connor Bedard with the top pick the year prior \u2014 and he had won the Calder Trophy \u2014 but the Hawks\u2019 puzzle still had many pieces to find.<\/p>\n

The Hawks finished 23-53-6 and ranked in the bottom half of the league in many categories. The team scored 2.17 goals per game (last in the NHL) while allowing 3.52 a game (fourth-highest in the NHL).<\/p>\n

They needed a presence to block shots and be a skater who ends opponents\u2019 scoring chances. With the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, the Hawks selected their next young defenseman, Artyom Levshunov from Zhlobin, Belarus.<\/p>\n

He made his NHL debut<\/a> on March 10 of last season. In 18 games, he averaged 20 minutes and 19 seconds of ice time and had six assists. He showed some promise going into the centennial season<\/a>, but the defenseman has struggled to start 2025-26.<\/p>\n

He turned the puck over, whiffed one-timers and allowed opposing forwards to speed past him on breakaways. There were points in training camp where Levshunov seemed out of sorts, as well.<\/p>\n

Coach Jeff Blashill made him a healthy scratch in the Hawks\u2019 home opener versus the Montreal Canadiens<\/a>. His name was announced during player introductions and he gave a straight-faced wave to the crowd.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Blackhawks defenseman Artyom Levshunov, right, celebrates with center Connor Bedard after he scored a goal during the first period against the Seattle Kraken at the United Center on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Plenty of discussion came with the benching. Is Levshunov ready for the NHL? Should the Hawks have drafted Ivan Demidov instead? Despite the noise, Blashill made it clear that his defenseman is in the future plans for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing for us is trying to look at his development path. Sometimes it\u2019s OK to miss games (and) it\u2019s OK in certain games to not get a lot of ice time,\u201d Blashill said after the 3-2 loss to Montreal. \u201cWe feel the best place for him to be is with us right now. He\u2019s going to play plenty of games and there are going to be some games where he doesn\u2019t play, that\u2019s just the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The defenseman hasn\u2019t missed a game since, but he\u2019s been a part of an interesting system under Blashill. The coach has been running an 11-forward, seven-defensemen rotation in the past few games and intends to continue the rotation.<\/p>\n

Levshunov has been the seventh-dressed defenseman. He\u2019s averaging 15 minutes and 20 seconds of ice time in six games with a plus-4 rating. The former Big Ten defenseman of the year and freshman of the year has adjusted well to this role, especially as the wins come.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery guy plays his minutes, maybe a little less minutes, but I think it\u2019s good,\u201d Levshunov said. \u201cWe\u2019re winning the games (and) I think we\u2019re doing good so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

He found taking a step back against Montreal useful to clear his head and work on his game. He wants to be more disciplined on the ice and be impactful in both zones.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying with my confidence is 100% what I want for myself,\u201d Levshunov said. \u201cJust play my game and play the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blashill has been satisfied with how Levshunov has skated in the lineup. It takes time to develop defensemen, so this is all a part of the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a really good athlete (and) has a good skill set, he just has to learn to apply that within the structure,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cWhen he\u2019s not sure what to do, he freezes a little bit, so making sure that he feels confident in what he\u2019s supposed to do and understanding that if he makes a mistake, it\u2019s OK. This is new to all of them \u2026 I think overall he\u2019s done a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 21, 2025 at 4:16 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the 2023-24 season, the Chicago Blackhawks were trying to rebound from another poor campaign. They had drafted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[495,521,37,96,5263,4794,5,4,292],"class_list":{"0":"post-258375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-artyom-levshunov","9":"tag-blackhawks","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","13":"tag-defense","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-nhl-hockey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115414287305501558","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}