The Next Step Of The Blackhawks Rebuild Is Going To Be A Massive Debate
Well...no lottery luck this year. Only a 13.5% chance and probably the equivalent of lightning strikes odds to get the top pick two years in a row. It is a little deflating and disappointing, but expected. Celebrini, in my opinion, was a guy who could accelerate the Blackhawks rebuild timeline unlike any player in this draft. You get him and you could justify, if not demand, the Blackhawks get aggressive this summer to put pieces around their young core of Bedard, Celebrini, Vlasic, and Korchinski. I wanted Celebrini and I wanted to try to win in a meaningful way before you have to start dishing out huge money to Bedard and co. Just wasn't in the cards.
Plan B is still exciting though. People are really high on the Demidov kid out of Russia. He hasn't played in any international tournaments so I haven't seen him. I like what I read. Sounds like stylistically he would be a nice fit with Bedard. Supposedly doesn't have high-end speed, but there is more than one way to win with your feet. Anyone who pulls up youtube can see the edge work that creates space and his willingness to be a dog on loose pucks. Good things. It's just that...nobody has seen much more than youtube, including NHL scouts. Russian factor is a problem per usual. It makes selecting Demidov inherently more risky, but doesn't mean it's a bad choice if the Hawks go that route.
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Having said that...at this point I am dreaming of a top four on defense that would be impossible to beat consistently. Levshunov would round out what is shaping up to be a pretty dominant defense.
Alex Vlasic...6'6, very good skater, already showed that he is an elite shutdown defenseman
Kevin Korchinski...6'2, high end skater. Wasn't ready for the NHL last year, but showed enough flashes and has the tools to become a legit top 4 defenseman and a guy who can run your power play
Sam Rinzel...6'4 and according to my amateur eyes he was one of (if not the) best skaters in college hockey last year. Got better and better as the season went along.
Arty Levshunov...6'3...beast. Can do everything. Skate. Has a ton of offense. Almost a point per game guy in college hockey as a freshman dman is virtually unheard of. Mean streak. Work horse. Hard to find flaws in his game at the college level.
I want to take you guys back to an absolute nightmare. April 2017. The Blackhawks have the #1 seed in the West. They got absolutely DUSTED by Nashville because their D were so fast, skilled, and dynamic. Josi, Ellis, Subban, and Ekholm. You couldn't forecheck them. You couldn't win a race. You couldn't create off the rush. It was suffocating. Unrelenting. It wasn't just the Blackhawks either. They smoked STL and Anaheim too before running out of gas against Crosby and Malkin in the Final. Hell of a team that didn't have enough fire power up front.
Adding Levshunov would give the Blackhawks, if everything goes to plan, two defensemen in Vlasic and Lev that you could trust against the other team's top lines for 25+ minutes a night. Basically the entire game the other team would look out on the ice, drop their head, and mutter "fuckkkk" under their breath. That thought makes me tingly.
It'd be great to get Bedard a true running mate. Maybe that happens in this draft, or maybe it happens by committee. Nazar is coming. Oliver Moore will be right behind him the following year. They have another 1st round pick this year and two next year in addition to all of these 2nd rounders. Maybe one of those guys pops. Maybe they use it as ammo in a trade to get someone more impactful offensively. They have options to supplement the top 9. Bedard creates so much. If they have depth of scoring and the best defense corps in the league...that's a winning formula. As of now, that is why I think Lushenov is the player, but it's May 8th and I will probably change my mind a million times between now and the draft.