Blackhawks Take Artyom Levshunov With The Second Overall Pick

LAS VEGAS – It wasn’t who they took. It was that they finally had to pick one. The Chicago Blackhawks selected Artyom Levshunvo with the second overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. It wasn’t that there was any real intrigue as to the name they’d pick but it boiled down more to who they would take.

And the debate was real up until the name was called. The philosophy for taking either could be defended based on what was valued most by the Blackhawks front office. Always living by a “best player available” credo, Chicago opted that it was who fit precisely what they needed.

Artyom Levshunov Ended Up Being the Best Player in the Blackhawks Book

The rebuild began in earnest with the selection of Connor Bedard last year the 2023 NHL Entry Draft who ended up winning the Calder Trophy Thursday night. This year it was the second overall pick and they went with defense.

For the last few weeks, the defenseman from Michigan State was the favorite for many going to the Blackhawks. But that certainty became a bit more clouded as more interest centered around Demidov, who generated more interest after his trip to Florida.

But ultimately, the Blackhawks opted for the gifted defenseman who now creates quite a core of young, top defenseman with Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic. Potentially, there is a chance for three core defenseman under the age of 24 to fortify the blue line for years to come. That doesn’t even include Ethan Del Mastro, who may very well be up in Chicago next season, too.

Levshunov was a standout for Michigan State, anchoring a defense that was a Big Ten Tournament Champion and notched Big Ten Rookie of the Year and Defenseman of the Year honors.

Oh, and State has been kind to the Blackhawks with a guy by the name of Duncan Keith coming from there and being a rock for the three Stanley Cup champion teams.

Never mind they hype for Ivan Demidov. The Blackhawks were more than comfortable with Artyom Levshunov.

And now he’s another important young core player for the Chicago Blackhawks.

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