Just saying I think Levshunov needs one year in the AHL before he can play in the NHL. Also I think the Hawks take him over Demidov but I'm not a Hawks fan so I don't know what they are really needing right now

The potential downside on Lev is that he turns into like, Erik Gudbranson or Erik Johnson, and is always "pretty good but not great."

Demidov seems like a boom-or-bust guy who will either be an electrifying offensive talent or Nail Yakupov. It's significant that (to my knowledge!) none of the Hawks front office have even seen this guy play in person.

To me, CHI has done a great job of restocking the pipeline with quantity and quality prospects over the past 2 offesasons and now is the time to roll the dice on a potential star rather than take a "sure thing" (nobody really is lol) with a ceiling below Star.

Demidov it is.

Agree with this, except I believe the hawks FO probably have seen him in person. Chicago is one of the few teams with a Russian national scout based in Europe (anatoli semenov)

You are right, but I meant like the coaching staff, GM, etc. I know they have a scout in Russia who has signed off on the guy, but that to me seems like pretty thin in terms of scouting.

That said, scouts from other teams and in Russia have given similar assessments about him: he could be great.

Watch them go Lindstrom or Sennecke at 2 lol

They are small up front. Bedard as amazing as he is needs someone to help other than 37 yr old Foligno

Won't happen. It's 99% Levshunov.

I see Levshunov's ceiling is as an adequate first pairing RD, IF everything goes right. Not a #1 D, not a star D, and not a top 20 in the NHL D. I went into the season thinking he was "it" if we didn't win the 1st overall pick. I buckled down, got myself a big10+ subscription, and watch a ton of his games. His overall performance was just fine, but his performance against the best teams and players in the NCAA left a lot to be desired. Well rounded doesn't make you worth the 2nd overall pick, it makes you a safe pick in the 8 to 15 range. And I don't even believe he is as "well rounded" as people make him seem. Picking at 2nd overall, we should be looking for the best player available, and I don't believe Levshunov even belongs in that discussion.

Demidov has real potential to be a superstar. The next Pasta, Panarin, Kane, Kucherov, Marner, Kaprizov, etc. And he is defensively responsible, and he is a leader. What is so maddening about this debate isn't whether or not Levshunov is a good young RD, because he is, it's that there is even a debate to begin with. Yes, we need more depth at RD... So, go get Emery, Elick, Badinka, Kleber, Brunicke, etc., in the late 1st or 2nd round. Or even Hensler, next year.

Rinzel already seems like a strong candidate for a top 4 RD, too. Rinzel is JUST BARELY a year older than Levshunov, and he was also a freshman this year, and he was also a #1D for one of the best teams in the NCAA, and he looked more dominant, confident, engaged, and competitive, than Levshunov, and we got him at 25th overall... Yes, we need good defensemen, but we don't need to blow a 2nd overall pick on one when there is a someone available who is clearly the better player by such a wide margin.

I think there is way too much hype around Levshunov, and a lot of it is just people seeing what they want to see.

I'm team Demidov, and I believe that every team who passes on him is going to regret it. Quite possibly even San Jose.

Ya gotta love a guy who's willing to get out there with a contrarian viewpoint and back it up with argument. My hat's off to you.

I have been making this argument since January. So, I have my $hit together. haha. BUT, If you are insinuating that I am Bedards_Burner from twitter, I am not. Although I do agree with them on many things, that is a bit much for me. lol

Outstanding post, Bedsy/Garak; thank you. You and I have discussed this; I also am not WOWed by Levshunov and think Rinzel is better. Lev is good; just don't see him as a #1 defenseman.

Frankly, I don't think he's the best defenseman in the draft, either... If I had to pick one D at this draft, it'd be Buium. IMHO, U of Denver doesn't win the national championship this year without him. Even though we're stacked (relatively so, anyway) with good LD prospects in the system, I'd be okay with Buium as our pick. Or Silayev, too, if they want to really roll the dice. Can always trade from strength, too, to get a good RD. Perhaps, too, our future #1 won't even come from this draft.

I just don't know about Demidov's skating style and how it may or may not lead to injuries. If all that commentary is wrong, Demidov is the one for me, too. I just gotta trust the Hawks on that.

Crazy as it sounds, I wouldn't mind Sennecke as the #2 OA pick. The only thing that folks seem hesitant about with him is that he lacks top-end speed. But if that can be improved, he could become elite... Again, IMO. Even Bedard isn't a speed burner (not that he's slow; just not elite in that way)...

If a dramatic draft trade or two comes from the Hawks, too, I trust the brain trust of Hawks to put the odds in the best long-term favor of the pipeline. They've done well in the last couple drafts; I expect they'll do well in this one. I'm gonna be glued to my TV on draft night (tomorrow!)

GLTA!

Mind you, Buium plays the Right Side almost exclusively for Denver.

I'd roll the dice on Parekh before Levshunov, if it were up to me. But yeah, I have Buium over both. Silayev is fine, not super impressed with anything about him outside of his size and skating.

Demidov's skating is fine. I watched at least 10 of his games this year. The knocks shouldn't be knocks. I think people see the way he uses his feet to maneuver around the O zone and get confused by it, it's unconventional and different from most "by the book" skaters. But it is effective and allows him to pull off the magic that he is able to pull off. I don't foresee any problems coming from it.

So, who the BPA is; is purely opinion. Sure, there could be some underlying facts used to base the opinion on but at the end of the day these are 17 year old kids playing in different leagues, in different countries, with different teammates & coaches, playing against different opponents.
I am more unsure who they should pick than I have been in the last 18 years . Way too much input now to clog up my brain. Or maybe I just killed too many brain cells……

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I'm 76 years old. I don't do Tweeter or FaceSchnook.

I'm 68, OldNYIfan, and also have declined to use social media. Not because I don't see some usefulness to them; I just don't like the censorship that seems to run amok with people and ideas being banned. Cheers

Same here, YeahRighttt, same here... Every time I think I've settled into whom I think the Hawks should take, something comes up that makes me re-think it.

I'll say this, though. If Demidov's skating style is NOT "a knee injury waiting to happen," then I'm all for taking him at #2 OA. If the Hawks determine that it will be a problem, then I think they should take Buium. (Thank you, Bedsy; I didn't know that he has played RD almost exclusively for U of Denver.)

Cheers

lol. Fair enough. You got 40 years on me. I am only on twitter to keep up with hockey news/buzz and some world news. I left facebook years ago. Social media is a cesspool.

But there is someone on Twitter with the username Bedards_Burner who is going nuts with the pro-Demidov/anti-levshunov posts. He isn't wrong, imho, but it is very much overboard. Stressing about this stuff is only gonna give us heart attacks and it isn't going to change Kyle Davidson's mind. haha

Like me, he or she doesn't hate Levshunov, they just don't think he belongs anywhere near the conversation.