3 Prospects the Blackhawks Can Draft if They Don't Land the No. 1 Overall Pick

2. Artyom Levshunov

Levshunov is the only prospect out of the three on this list currently playing college hockey. The big defenseman from Belarus just wrapped up his Freshman year at Michigan State. The 6’2 188 pound right-defenseman is widely seen as the top blue liner in this draft and it makes sense why. 

When looking at his game, three major things stand out with Levshunov. The skating ability and general mobility for a guy his size is better than many scouts have seen in the past few drafts. Levshunov makes solid use of his frame on the defensive end, even for a guy who will need to put on some weight before making his NHL debut. His winning these physical battles now shows a ton of promise for where he can be in a few years. Lastly, his ability to produce on the offensive end only helps his case as a top prospect even more. In 38 games with Michigan State this season, Leyshunov was nearly a point-per-game player, finishing with 35 points on the season. The nine goals and 26 assists add another layer to the 18-year-old game that some other blue-liners don’t possess in this class. 

Levshunov’s impact on this Hawks core is clear as day. The organization already has three long-term defensemen in-house. Two of them are on the current roster Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic. Rinzel would be the right-side defenseman Levshunov would be joining. While he’s not as flashy as Celebrini or Demidov, the added presence on the back end would establish a top-four defensemen core for quite a long time in Chicago.