LAS VEGAS — The Chicago Blackhawks selected Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov with the second pick of the NHL draft Friday.
Levshunov, 18, boosts a budding corps of young blue liners that includes Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic.
Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting, called Levshunov a complete player with an all-around game.
“His understanding with positioning and reading the play, moving the puck, it’s really high-end,” Marr told the Tribune.
Central Scouting ranked the native of Belarus No. 2 among North American skaters. He was named a second-team All-American and Big Ten defensive player of the year after posting nine goals and 26 assists for the Spartans as a freshman.
The Hawks passed on other top contenders, including Russian junior-league winger Ivan Demidov and forward Cayden Lindstrom of the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers.
Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson had said Thursday he and his staff felt “pretty confident with where we’re going to go” after the San Jose Sharks drafted Macklin Celebrini at No. 1. But Davidson acknowledged there were “significant” debates.
“They’re all really good options, so that just lends itself to a debate that you want to give the proper time to,” Davidson said. “You don’t want to anoint anyone or any one direction too soon, so you give it time to breathe, you give it time to digest new information, and it’s been a pretty healthy debate and one that we’ve taken a lot of time to consider.
“If it was a no-brainer, then we probably would have known months ago,” after landing the No. 2 pick in the draft lottery.
Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard, last year’s No. 1 pick, announced the Hawks’ selection of Levshunov.
