The Blackhawks Are About to Make a Brutal Choice at the Draft, and Levshunov Might Pay the Price

The Chicago Blackhawks are stuck in one of the weirdest spots in the NHL right now, and it all comes down to a young defenseman who's been spectacular and terrible in the same breath. After watching Frondell score in the opening days of the season, you can already feel the ship turning in Chicago. The kid does all the little things right. Competitive. Skilled. Smart. He could be the perfect running mate for Bedard or eventually drive his own line. But none of that matters much when your team is 10 points out of the final wild card spot and finishing last in the Central for the fourth straight year.

They're Close, But the Injuries and Bad Luck Killed the Season

Here's what's infuriating about where the Blackhawks landed: Bedard missed 13 games. Nazar missed 16. Both guys needed time to ramp back up when they returned. Chicago also has the most overtime losses in the Central division with 14. You can't help but wonder where this team is if they get a full season of both guys healthy and catch some better breaks in OT. They'd probably be in the mix or at least within striking distance of that final wild card spot. Instead, they're picking in the top 5 for the fourth consecutive year, currently slated at #2 in the NHL Draft this June.

Levshunov's Shaky First Year Has the Front Office in a Bind

Here's where it gets interesting and painful. If the Blackhawks stay at #2, they'll likely take Stenberg or McKenna. But if the lottery gods smile on the Rangers or Maple Leafs and Chicago drops to the 3-5 range, the universally projected picks are all defensemen, and the top two are right shot defensemen. That's the problem.

The Blackhawks young defensive core is genuinely promising. Vlasic is a legitimate shutdown guy. Crevier has emerged as another. Kaiser looks like a staple in the top 4 down the line. But then there's Levshunov. The highs were VERY high. The tools and traits are obvious. Yet after 86 games, he's had a rollercoaster first year with lows that were genuinely horrible, usually tied to his hockey IQ. Frustrating mental lapses that make you pause about his projection long term.

He's still so early in his development. You can't write him off as a top pair guy yet. The traditional benchmark for defensemen is 200-300 NHL games, and the Makar, McAvoy, Hughes, Seider, and Schafer generation has skewed how we think about young D development. But after 86 games, it's not just the mistakes. It's that he's making the SAME mistakes over and over. If you're seeing it, the front office is seeing it too.

At this stage of the rebuild, the Blackhawks can't pass on best player available just because they already took Levshunov. If Verhoeff and Reid are the best players on the board at #3 or #4, you have to take them. And if you do, it kind of feels like an indictment on Lev. This summer is when the rebuild needs to take a massive step, whether that's a trade, or frankly, just accelerating development across the board. It's time to step on the gas.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.