With the draft coming up soon, we are trying to understand what the order in which the different players will be drafted in the next auction will look like. We suspect MacLean Celebrini will be the first, but it gets complicated from there.
The Blackhawks, who have the second pick, are often linked to Ivan Demidov and Artyom Levshunov. The first is a dynamic Russian striker who could form a very dynamic duo with Connor Bedard, while the other is a very solid defender who has the potential to become a No. 1 in the future.
Who will be the choice? No one knows, but…
According to Corey Broman, who discussed the Levshunov case over the last Hockey Sports PodcastBlack Hawk passed a lot Time to track down the defender. In fact, Bronman is so confident he says the Blackhawks have seen him “at least 20 times” in the past year.
He talks about it in the first minutes of the podcast for those interested.
Latest podcast w @crispeters @m_bultman @scottquiler Discussing the 2024 NHL Draft and the men's worlds
Spotify https://t.co/ncEtcLuOHe
apple https://t.co/jp0YDB9Fx9– Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) May 17, 2024
Obviously it's normal to see Chicago doing their homework, but twenty-plus games for the same player is a lot. Whether he makes the pick or not, there is clearly interest from the Blackhawks in the right-handed defenseman.
On top of that, there's also familiarity with Levshunov in the organization: Last year, the Blackhawks drafted goaltender Adam Gagan, who played with Levshunov in the USHL. It's not a big relationship, but considering they haven't really been able to see Demidov in person since he plays in Russia, it's already more familiar with Levshunov.
This is, in the end, a good thing for the Canadian from the point of view that the club would like to sign a striker, and ideally, that striker would be Ivan Demidov. The more clubs draft a defenseman before the Canadian, the more options Kent Hughes will have to add an attacking player to his prospect bank.
We would think the Ducks, who are in third place, would want to draft a defenseman considering the precarious state of their blue line and the abundance of good young forwards. For their part, the “blue jackets” appeared to be a hidden card, especially since the person who will make the decision is not even in his position due to the vacancy of the position of general director at the present time.
If the Blackhawks want to select Levshunov, it would be excellent news for CH, which would greatly increase their chances of landing Demidov. Again, things have time to change… but clearly, if the Blackhawks have invested a lot of time in Levshunov this season, it's not because they don't want to know anything about him.
a lot of
– In any case.
Montreal Canadiens fans have a lot to be excited about with the fourth-best prospect group in the NHL, led by the fifth overall pick in the 2023 draft, David Reinbacher.
For in-depth scouting reports and exclusive hockey insights, stay tuned to the next edition of McKeen's 2024… pic.twitter.com/MPMkbYUeql
— Hockey McCain (@mckeenshokey) May 19, 2024
– He went to defend his colleague.
Kaiden Guhle 🇨🇦 received a 2-minute minor penalty for that cross-check on Kevin Fiala 🇨🇭, who received a 5-minute major match misconduct for a serious knee injury on Dylan Cousins 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/F2AtsB2pcv
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) May 19, 2024
– interesting.
All Rangers strikers in traininghttps://t.co/MSFWEXGJcV
– RDS (@RDSca) May 19, 2024
-What do you think?
I've never been a huge fan of Dubois, and he had a very disappointing start to the season with Los Angeles, but his career is a marathon, not a sprint. Players can have off years…and PLD had a pretty bad year. However, he is only 25 years old. It is more likely to return to over 60 points rather than 40.
– Grant McCag (@grantmccag) May 19, 2024
-He's an MLB sensation.
“Shotta mania” is in full swing in Chicago for the man who, at the moment, is the Cy Young favorite. https://t.co/C3Vn33oAWT
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) May 19, 2024
“Hipster-friendly tv trailblazer. Problem solver. Infuriatingly humble introvert. Reader. Student. Subtly charming bacon maven.”
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