NHL analyst points to ‘continued development’ for Chicago Blackhawks 2024 pick

The Chicago Blackhawks have slowly compiled a group of interesting young players and prospects as they try and rebuild the team. Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar have become standouts at the NHL level, and it might not be long before Artyom Levshunov joins them.

“[He] split his season between the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs and the Chicago Blackhawks last season,” Bleacher Report’s Hannah Stewart said. “And in his 18 NHL games, he was averaging around 20 minutes a night, even managing six assists. That’s a significant workload for a rookie call-up.”

Stewart said the rookie played with “composure and polish,” and that his skating, shooting, and passing are already at NHL level. He doesn’t have much evolution to do there. Of course, a rookie prospect will always have rough moments, which he did, but everything looks positive so far.

As for the future, Stewart said, “Two of the biggest things we want to see from Levshunov this season are continued development of his decision-making in the moment and to harness the breakout skills that we saw him hone with the IceHogs and use them in the NHL.”

She also noted that his underrated playmaking abilities need to be on display more this season. Stewart called him “practically factory-made to play in the NHL” thanks to all the different tools he has. Eventually, those could coalesce into a very good NHL player for the Blackhawks.

The Hawks are taking a nontraditional rebuild route this year, opting not to sign any veterans and to mostly use their young players and prospects to fill out the team. That was the intention, but it undoubtedly means more ice time for Levshunov, which might be a great sign for his development.