Artie Levshunov

[SugarWalls]

Not lately.
Too many are ugly and insuting f others.
THAT is why I haven't been here in a long time.
No doubt there will be the usual scumbaggery asshole comments at what I just said.

Idk I spend a lot of time on ccs and I haven’t really seen too many people be that way unless @DanielCCSBears posts on the hawks forum as well

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Idk I spend a lot of time on ccs and I haven’t really seen too many people be that way unless @DanielCCSBears posts on the hawks forum as well

But did u go to Sox game in the 40s?

 

[Raskolnikov]

I wish they accepted the trade offer back to #4 and ended up with Demidov.

Or completed the trade back to number 4 and took Demidov, or stayed at 2 and took Demidov.

I don't think they try to trade back up to #4 if there wasn't a rift in organization.

I like the trade up from 20 but for a defenseman, had they came away with best offensive player in draft two years in a row, as they should have, and then targeted moving up a few spots into that coveted top tier of 2024 defenseman.

Had we acquired #1 forward and #6 d-man prospect, it could have been a dynasty step, imo.

I don't understand what they did here, passing up a chance at pairing two generationals. Unfortunately the bar for the defenseman gets out really high and they arrive to NHL in same year.

The enthusiasm for this pick could have an 18 month shelf life.

 

[Probie2429]

There was nothing about Demidov that screamed generational. He played Russian MHL that is on par with the ECHL in the US.

 

[LordKOTL]

There was nothing about Demidov that screamed generational. He played Russian MHL that is on par with the ECHL in the US.

Exactly. There was no way we were coming out of the draft will every single goatse.cx-sized hole in the lineup filled. Demi addresed one problem, Leshie addressed another. We got to choose one. Ditto with Boisvert & Eisermann.

KfC chose to fill the RHD and #2C holes in the lineup. The rest could be addressed via FA and trades. We'd have a similar, but inverse problem if we drafted Demi & Eisermann: holes in the lineup that we now have to fill in the FA and trade market.

 

[UChiLAbear]

Exactly. There was no way we were coming out of the draft will every single goatse.cx-sized hole in the lineup filled. Demi addresed one problem, Leshie addressed another. We got to choose one. Ditto with Boisvert & Eisermann.

KfC chose to fill the RHD and #2C holes in the lineup. The rest could be addressed via FA and trades. We'd have a similar, but inverse problem if we drafted Demi & Eisermann: holes in the lineup that we now have to fill in the FA and trade market.

No waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay I wanted to see Eisermann on the BHs.....I was 99 to 100% sure they weren't going to draft him. Main reason is, I've read he is a defensive liability. BHs are not drafting someone who doesn't play D, especially on the forecheck. Ain't happening....unless the player averages 2+ goals a game.....lol...... Getting TOs in your Offensive zone and preventing other teams from starting a 'rush' is crucial to playing D. And getting Neutral zone TOs that lead to 2-on-1s or Breakaways have a high probability of a goal. Eisermann doesn't bring that...again, from what I've read, not seen.

 

[LordKOTL]

No waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay I wanted to see Eisermann on the BHs.....I was 99 to 100% sure they weren't going to draft him. Main reason is, I've read he is a defensive liability. BHs are not drafting someone who doesn't play D, especially on the forecheck. Ain't happening....unless the player averages 2+ goals a game.....lol...... Getting TOs in your Offensive zone and preventing other teams from starting a 'rush' is crucial to playing D. And getting Neutral zone TOs that lead to 2-on-1s or Breakaways have a high probability of a goal. Eisermann doesn't bring that...again, from what I've read, not seen.

That was my assessment on the 'why' as well. Great scorer and would look good with Bedard, but with only Vlassic playing any D (none of the rest of the team does) coupled with our goalie situation (Mr. Azek isn't bad, but he's no Crawford), getting guys who can play in all 3 zones is a more dire need than getting O-only players.

Better to win 2-1 than lose 5-4...in my opinion.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

There was nothing about Demidov that screamed generational. He played Russian MHL that is on par with the ECHL in the US.

Holy cope

 

[ytsejam]

I think it's kinda funny that Demidov has spent time learning English only to be drafted by Montreal.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

I think it's kinda funny that Demidov has spent time learning English only to be drafted by Montreal.

Everyone in Montreal speaks English

 

[ytsejam]

Everyone in Montreal speaks English

Nuh uh!
They speak The French!
Sock Ray Blue!
Everyone knows that!

 

[Raskolnikov]

Korchinski-Rinzel
Del Maestro-Vlasic
Allen-Kaiser

Levshunov

I still don't get the calculus here.

Demidov was the clear choice and this one move fucked Bedard and his mom over.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Korchinski-Rinzel
Del Maestro-Vlasic
Allen-Kaiser

Levshunov

I still don't get the calculus here.

Demidov was the clear choice and this one move fucked Bedard and his mom over.

I am not understanding the timeline in NHL of building through the draft.

Like you have to develop players, but as soon as they develop you have to pay them.

This surplus of picks and youth expires in about 3 more years when you have to start either playing guys or pay them.

So something is wrong with the plan we are on.

 

[MassHavoc]

I am not understanding the timeline in NHL of building through the draft.

Like you have to develop players, but as soon as they develop you have to pay them.

This surplus of picks and youth expires in about 3 more years when you have to start either playing guys or pay them.

So something is wrong with the plan we are on.

It's a game of quantity over quality. Hard to hit on prospects. Build with the ones you hit. Dump the ones you don't. If you hit on too many then great. You continue to build and flip assets for more development players to offset the high cost leaders. All sports is build core. Put success around. Peel off assests to build new core.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Aren’t you guys concerned about your reaction score posting here??????? Rumor has it that’s why we lost all the fun reactions

Couldn't they just make fun reactions score neutral?

 

[Raskolnikov]

That was my assessment on the 'why' as well. Great scorer and would look good with Bedard, but with only Vlassic playing any D (none of the rest of the team does) coupled with our goalie situation (Mr. Azek isn't bad, but he's no Crawford), getting guys who can play in all 3 zones is a more dire need than getting O-only players.

Better to win 2-1 than lose 5-4...in my opinion.

Vlasic has been a revelation with his hands for a man of that size.
I agree most of defenders have disappointed, but Kaiser has been ok for his draft position,

AND Korchinski looks like an absolute effing future monster every time I see him. Shades of a faster Seabrook that can dangle. Imo. I think for sure a 2nd liner but probably 1st.

Scouts are still high on Rinzel developing.

That would be 3 if nobody else materializes and we are allowed to buy one and scrounge up a third pair?

Demigod was a travesty, we were lucky to be there and effed up the opportunity.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Offer the Habs Levshunov and a 2025 first AND 2026 first for Demigod and observe how hard they laugh at you.

 

[playthrough2001]

I wanted Demidov and it wasn’t really close for me. Demidov is Scott Powers’ only Tier One prospect for players under 23 not fully established at the NHL level.

From Scott Powers article at The Athletic today:

“Demidov is the most purely skilled forward prospect in the sport and has just broken the KHL's U20 scoring record, eclipsing the marks previously set by Kirill Kaprizov, Matvei Michkov and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Last season, Demidov’s play during the MHL playoffs (which ended due to a lower-body injury just prior to SKA winning the championship) crystalized him behind Macklin Celebrini as the No. 2 prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft for me. His play in the last couple of months with SKA in the KHL has done the same for him as one of the top prospects — period — in the game for me. He’s got brilliant individual talent but I’ve also heard good things about his work ethic on and off the ice, he's in great shape (an athletic 6-foot-0.5 and 190ish pounds) and he has developed some layers to his game so that he’s not a one-trick pony as a dancing offensive-zone player (and he has played to excellent two-way results for a winger in the KHL this season because of it).

Demidov is a skill-first playmaking forward who finished third in the MHL in scoring two years ago (extremely rare for a player that age in a league typically dominated by 19- and 20-year-olds) and played at a higher point-per-game pace than the two players in front of him alongside his older brother, Semyon. Last season, after a strong preseason with SKA, he won a KHL job out of camp but played little and then, after bouncing between levels trying to rediscover his game, injured his knee and missed a month and a half. After returning, he tore up the MHL with one multi-point game after another and five to 10 shots per game, putting together one of the most productive extended stretches of play ever at Russia’s top junior level and making pretty goals look casual. This season, despite averaging under 13 minutes per game on the year (though he has played 18-to-20-plus of late), he's still SKA's second-leading scorer.

Demidov's a true play creator and you want the puck in his hands so that he can slip around the ice to make things happen for himself or his linemates. His ability to get off the wall to the middle with the puck on his stick into traffic, his manipulation one-on-one, his knack for dodging sticks and checks, his heel-to-heel maneuvering, his cross-body handles and his passing through layers to the weak side of coverage are all extremely high-end and look singular to him and his very wide stance/unique posture. And while his skating in straight lines doesn't have your standard look to it and was a topic of conversation pre-draft, he's still a fast skater and very shifty side to side. He's got elite handling (though he can get himself into trouble trying to beat two or three guys in a crowd, he also often beats multiple guys in a sequence and has a major highlight reel quality) and has made more one-on-one skill plays over the last two seasons in the MHL and now KHL than almost any prospect I've scouted for any draft. He’s also a pretty engaged off-puck player who keeps his feet moving, hunts pucks on the forecheck and can turn a steal into a game-breaking play in an instant. Demidov’s one of the most dynamic and skilled prospects to come out of Russia in recent memory (his game also has more of a pro style, competitiveness and roundedness to it than Michkov's had at the same age).

He profiles as a point-per-game, first-line, all-star-level winger. I truly believe he's going to mesmerize in the prime of his career in the NHL.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/61...-rankings-top-100/?source=user_shared_articleTop 100 drafted NHL prospects ranking: Demidov, Buium lead Wheeler’s winter 2025 list

Artie is Tier Two and number 3 on the overall list of the top 100.

 

[Raskolnikov]

I get it. Our forward prospect pool is deep and broad.

I think Demidov is special but they need premium defender prospects to round out the future.

It's probably gonna happen again this year even though Vlasic and Rinzel stepped up too.

I expect a goalie and a defender or two in first two rounds.

The worst part is, had we taken Demidov there is a chance Artie falls out of top 12, where we had the draft ammo to come up and grab him.

I think if we were in love there is a chance we walk away with both had we done the clear and obvious thing.

 

[LordKOTL]

Vlasic has been a revelation with his hands for a man of that size.
I agree most of defenders have disappointed, but Kaiser has been ok for his draft position,

AND Korchinski looks like an absolute effing future monster every time I see him. Shades of a faster Seabrook that can dangle. Imo. I think for sure a 2nd liner but probably 1st.

Scouts are still high on Rinzel developing.

That would be 3 if nobody else materializes and we are allowed to buy one and scrounge up a third pair?

Demigod was a travesty, we were lucky to be there and effed up the opportunity.

There's more to defense than just scoring--there's shutting down passing and shooting lanes, winning board battles, retrieving and taking the puck away from the opposition, making the outlet pass, and holding the puck in at the opposing blueline. Little of any of those aspects of defensemen makes the scoresheet and gets noticed unless you (royal you) are paying attention.

Right now Vlassic, and Crevier, are the only ones really doing any of that. Jones? Has he ever kept the puck in at the blueline and not caused an odd-man rush--on the powerplay or not. Kaiser? He goes out of position and gets beaten like Rodney King. Brodie regularly goes out of position doesn't win board battles, and gets beaten like Gary Coleman trying to take on Kenny Norton. Martinez is old and slow. Same with Murphy, even though Murphy is passable at this point in his career at D. Further, the netminding has been bad this year with Mrazek not breaking .900 so far and Soder pulling a very meh. .906.

The adage of "offense sells tickets; defense wins championships" is true in hockey as well.