This is why you SHOULD be excited about Artyom Levshunov
Artyom Levshunov has had a rookie season filled with ups and downs, but should leave fans excited for the future. There are still clear gaps in Levshunov’s game that need to be worked out, which is natural for a D-man so inexperienced. However, there are also clear strengths to his game that should get you excited for what he can be in the near future.
Photo by: Chicago Blackhawks
The 20-year-old right shot defensemen appeared in 68 regular season games with the Blackhawks where he notched 2 goals and 22 assists for 24 points. That equates to 0.35 points per game – impressive for a young defensemen given the fact that the Blackhawks rank 31st in goals for per game at 2.55.
The most recent stretch of hockey for the Blackhawks has not been very good, especially on the defensive side of the puck. It is easy to over analyze each game and feel like the struggles may have lasting implications, but development is anything but linear, especially for a defensemen. It is important to see the big picture, things don’t come together over night. With the departure of Connor Murphy and with Matt Grzelcyk being injured the Blackhawks have the youngest defense-core in the NHL with the average age being 22.28. The future looks very bright, but the path there will be rocky. As we saw a lot with Levshunov this year, the lows can be very low.
Levshunov was drafted to be a cornerstone #1 defensemen who can quarterback a powerplay, play the penalty kill, and drive play in all 3 zones. He hasn’t been that on a consistent basis yet. The 2024 2nd overall pick plays his best hockey when he is confident and not overthinking. A big problem with Levshunov is his decision making. Like a lot of young defensemen, he often over analyzes reads and overthinks simple plays. When he is stuck overthinking the game, he turns the puck over, misreads developing plays, and gets out of position too easily (a consistent example being leaving the d-zone too early on the breakout). However, these are all things that are fixed with experience, and we have seen that from him this season. The task with Artyom is building on his strengths without sacrificing development on his weaknesses. “We want him to reach his offensive ceiling, but it can’t be at the sacrifice of defense, Arty may [become] an offensive player. He might be. But I think he’s going to be a really good player no matter what because he’s really strong [and] he’s going to be able to defend really well.” Head Coach Jeff Blashill on March 1st.
Levshunov has played stretches of hockey where he is dangerous every shift in the offensive zone, and making responsible decisions in his own end. The key for him is trusting his instincts, and not overthinking small decisions. See clip below:
He has very noticeable strengths. First being his speed — Levshunov is deceptively fast, he uses his long stride to propel himself past the opposition. Second is his skill, Levshunov is confident enough here to make an impressive move around the defender (Niko Mikkola) with ease, lining himself up for a quality shot on net. At only 20 years old and with less than a full NHL season under his belt, this is very impressive. As he gets more experience and gets more comfortable at the NHL level, plays like this will become a lot more frequent.
An area of Levshunov’s game that has also taken a step forward this year is his physicality. As Levshunov has gotten more comfortable trusting his instincts, he has been able to throw the body a little more. In his last 10 games, Levshunov has averaged 2.6 hits per game (including 3 games with 4 hits and 1 game with 5 hits). In his first 10 games of this season he averaged 1.2 hits per game. I say again, development is anything but linear. Here is an example of Levshunov using his body:
Some people may point to Levshunov’s +/- rating of -41 as an indicator of serious flaws in his game (next lowest D-man is Alex Vlasic at -18). The Blackhawks are a bottom team in the league in both goals for and goals against, which is reflected in his personal plus/minus. However with the gap between Levshunov and Vlasic being so large, it is hard to ignore. But there is no need to be concerned. As stated above, Levshunov’s biggest weakness is his decision making and execution in his own end which often leads to a goal against. With time, he will learn how to make more responsible decisions.
Just before the Olympic break in February, Head Coach Jeff Blashill scratched Levshunov due to his inconsistent play and overall struggles. During the Olympic break Artyom went down to Florida where he continued to train. Rather than take a nice relaxing vacation like some of his teammates, Levshunov was trying to get better. General Manager Kyle Davidson had this to say on Levshunov: "When you do something like we did with Arty, where we took him out for a number of games...that can go one of two ways. They can embrace that. They can dig in. Or they can pull back, maybe feel bad for themselves or feel frustrated. Arty dug in. He went full throttle into the development opportunity that was presented. [He did] everything we asked of him."
The bottom line — Artyom Levshunov is going through the typical ups and downs of a young defensemen, with the added pressure of being a 2nd overall pick. Levshunov is under a microscope every game and is critically analyzed after every shift. Not only is it due to how high he was picked, but who was still available when the he was taken. But his development so far indicates that he still has an extremely high ceiling, with the toolkit and work ethic to be an elite defensemen in the NHL.
