Ivan Demidov or Artyom Levshunov? Why best player — not positional need — should win out at No. 2 overall for Blackhawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
The Chicago Blackhawks will own the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and it will likely come down to Ivan Demidov and Artyom Levshunov.
What makes the debate interesting is that the two players don’t play the same position. One is an offensively-gifted forward and the other is a dependable all-around defenseman, which makes the decision unique for Chicago GM Kyle Davidson as he looks to identify his next core player.
Davidson’s approach of taking the best available player no matter what has been his motto for years, and he has no plans to waver from that.
“We’ll see how that weighs into it, but I think the main thing we’re going to do is just rank the players and see where it falls,” Davidson said on NBC Sports Chicago’s draft lottery special. “Positionally, we’ll take a look and see if it makes sense to go one direction or the other, but my philosophy has always been ‘best player available’ and we’ll likely stick to that. But it’ll be an interesting debate to have as we get closer to the draft.”
Taking the best player available will rarely steer you in the wrong direction, and I always think back to the 2015 NHL Draft as an example why.
Boston had back-to-back-to-back picks in the middle of the first round, holding the No. 13, 14 and 15 overall selections. At the time, the Bruins were rebuilding on the fly and were looking to reload quickly with that draft class.
Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci were still in the prime of their careers at age 29 and 28, respectively, and anchored the first- and second-line center positions. Zdeno Chara was 37 and figured to be nearing the end of the road.
So what did the Bruins do? They drafted defenseman Jakub Zboril, winger Jake DeBrusk and winger Zachary Senyshyn at No. 13, 14 and 15, respectively. Notice anything? None of them were centers.
Did the Bruins feel more inclined to add higher-end, immediate impact-type wingers to surround Bergeron and Krejci along with a defenseman to prepare for life after Chara? Deep down, you have to wonder whether it played some kind of role.
If that’s the case, it didn’t turn out particularly well for the Bruins by targeting specific needs. Zboril and Senyshyn have appeared in a combined 92 NHL games, and DeBrusk has eclipsed 45 points just once in seven…