[GT] 2024 NHL Draft - Round 1 - 5pm MT - SN, ESPN

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Zary's-Mustache

Where are people seeing the Quinn hughes comparison? I saw the video where they compare them and really I don't see them similar at all.

Their skating is so different. Their stick handling is different. Hughes looks smaller on the ice and seems to go around guys with his skating but doesn't stick handle much unless he's going to the outside.

I see Parekh more similar to Makar where he uses head fakes a lot and stick handles to the inside more and gets shots through.

Hughes has a hard time getting shots through from the point. He was absolutely useless against the Oilers shooting from the point.

The comparison comes from the fact that he wants to control the puck and control the offensive set-up. His ability to change direction and create his own space is extremely Hughes-esque. Are they the same player? Of course not. But the way he controls the blueline, and creates space, and moves in to use the wrist shot (as opposed to the Bouch-bomb) is exactly like Hughes.

[Tibnadian_tpd]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

He was the consensus #2/3 pick by most experts and considered the best dman in a draft full of great dmen. I get the Demidov argument, it was a toss up, but by drafting Levshunov, it pushes their dmen down one spot and might well solidify their dmen roster for years to come.

I didn’t see one expert pan the pick, just the opposite.

Originally Posted by Tibnadian_tpd

I cannot get behind the drafting of Aryom Levshunov by the Blackhawks at number 2. I think he could be a solid but unspectacular player, and it's just too high to take him at that spot. I think the Blackhawks are going to look back on this draft and regret seeing many players they should have taken ahead of Levshunov, such as Demidov, Parekh and Buium.

Revisiting the Chicago Blackhawks pick of Levshunov at #2 half a season later, and the writing is now on the wall with his slow adjustment to the AHL, that he will very likely be looked at as a worse pick than many players taken after him. Players such as Demidov, Parekh and Buium who are having very good seasons (Demidov scoring highlight reel goal after highlight reel goal in the KHL pro league to boot), are amongst the players that are turning out to be better prospects than Levshunov. This is without even considering lesser prospects like Catton, Tij Iginla etc, who could also turnout better. Although Levshunov was the consensus #2 pick as determined by the "experts", he just never truly had a ton of "skill". He currently has 11points in 34 AHL games. He always seemed like a player that could at most become a second pairing NHL dman with the ceiling of 40-50 points on the offensive end. The experts were mistaken in their assessment of Levshunov right from draft day. He was ultra aggressive both offensively and defensively in college, masking his lack of puck skills. He has always been a good skater with a great physique, coupled with questionable decision making and mid tier skills. Hopefully for the Blackhawks he can turn it around, but at least Conroy was able to draft a future all star in Parekh at #9, imagine if we had pick #2 and drafted the "experts" consensus pick Levshunov.

[dammage79]

Hawks were beyond stupid to skip on Demidov. Demidov/Bedard had the potential to be a modern Hull and Oates.

[stemit14]

Yeah. Of all the players projected to go in the top 10, Levshunov was by far the one I was the least interested in. I’m never a fan of the “safe” pick who does everything well but nothing elite. With forwards, that usually means a ceiling of a 2nd liner and with defencemen it’s usually a ceiling of a 2nd pairing. I know there can be a higher bust risk with other players but I think that risk is generally worth it if the upside is to get a superstar. That’s what I like about the Parekh pick.

[Canada 02]

I'm not debating if he should have been #2. However, he is just 19 years old playing on a bottom third team in the AHL. I think he missed training camp with an injury, as well. He has tons of runway

[TheIronMaiden]

Yeah. I am not ready to call a D man a bad pick until they're 21 atleast.

[dammage79]

To be fair, I don't have anything against Levshunov, I just think the Hawks were dummies for skipping on the potential of a top line pairing of Bedard/Demidov. A decade of destruction IMO.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Hawks were beyond stupid to skip on Demidov. Demidov/Bedard had the potential to be a modern Hull and Oates.

The error now potentially compounds because if they don't have confidence in Levshunov (though I think it's premature to say that) then they could draft Schaefer instead of a forward. Which means they still are not bringing in forward talent to help Bedard.

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by Tibnadian_tpd

Hopefully for the Blackhawks he can turn it around, but at least Conroy was able to draft a future all star in Parekh at #9, imagine if we had pick #2 and drafted the "experts" consensus pick Levshunov.

Yeah. Although I think the rumours were that the flames were high on Lindstrom, Demidov and, obviously, Iginla. Had they been picking as high as 2nd overall, I think they would have selected one of them. With mixed reactions today likely. Iginla and Lindstrom are injured for potentially the rest of the season which could affect their development - especially with Lindstrom because it seems like a serious back issue. And Demidov is not a centre - which the organization desperately needs.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

I'm not debating if he should have been #2. However, he is just 19 years old playing on a bottom third team in the AHL. I think he missed training camp with an injury, as well. He has tons of runway

Yeah and you can't really make a straight line comparison between Levshunov, Buium, Parekh, Dickinson etc because the AHL is a major step up in competition for a 19 year old.

[stemit14]

It’s early still but I have not been overly impressed with Chicago’s drafting in this rebuild. They are reminding me a lot of Edmonton who could only draft with high picks and, even then, were poor at developing them.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by stemit14

It’s early still but I have not been overly impressed with Chicago’s drafting in this rebuild. They are reminding me a lot of Edmonton who could only draft with high picks and, even then, were poor at developing them.

That's what happens when you strip a team down to the studs. Young players have to play before they're ready and their development struggles.

[Canada 02]

I hate the Hawks and hope they bomb, but they had 8 1st round picks the last 3 seasons and two more this season. I'm afraid of what is coming in 3-5 years

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

I hate the Hawks and hope they bomb, but they had 8 1st round picks the last 3 seasons and two more this season. I'm afraid of what is coming in 3-5 years

Good point. If the flames exchanged their vets (Backlund, Coleman, Huberdeau, Kadri, Weegar and Andersson) for the Chicago vets, the team would look to be in dire condition as well - despite the solid drafting they have done. The prospects (like Chicago’s) are a few years away from being ready.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

The error now potentially compounds because if they don't have confidence in Levshunov (though I think it's premature to say that) then they could draft Schaefer instead of a forward. Which means they still are not bringing in forward talent to help Bedard.

I may be misunderstanding the rule but didn't they just win two lotteries in a row? Or does it have to be #1 overall?

[Ba'alzamon]

Levshunov is a D1 playing in the AHL lol. How many defenders do that? Kylington and Honka are the only ones I can think of, and Levshunov is much better defensively than either of them at the same age.

tough crowd.

[Ba'alzamon]

Originally Posted by butterfly

I may be misunderstanding the rule but didn't they just win two lotteries in a row? Or does it have to be #1 overall?

IIRC it's only if you move up as a result of the lottery. Last year they just stayed at 2nd, so I don't think it counts toward the limit.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Ba'alzamon

IIRC it's only if you move up as a result of the lottery. Last year they just stayed at 2nd, so I don't think it counts toward the limit.

Yeah, a team can only win twice if they actually move up

[Monahammer]

Seems premature to call the blackhawks stalled out. They have a bunch of guys playing well in the NCAA right now, Frank Nazar who is too good for AHL but maybe not good enough for NHL yet... Sacha Boisvert still looking pretty good. Kantserov is picking up lots of points in the KHL. Nick Lardis looks pretty good.

Definitely don't see an oilers comparison with how they are drafting. Not at all.

[YyjFlames]

Originally Posted by dammage79

To be fair, I don't have anything against Levshunov, I just think the Hawks were dummies for skipping on the potential of a top line pairing of Bedard/Demidov. A decade of destruction IMO.

This is a legitimate criticism, but I still like the pick over Demidov. When a team is still relatively early in a rebuild, pick the top defender in a defense heavy draft and the top forward in a forward heavy draft the next year.

They'll get their guy to play with Bedard in 2025, or they'll pick another centre and will have a crazy one-two punch with a super talented defender feeding them for the next decade -- similarly to the Penguins.