How Artyom Levshunov -- a potential Blackhawks draft target at No. 2 -- has navigated hype and family hardships

“I like that about Arty too. He wanted to be part of really turning this place around and he definitely has been.”

Before his first semester in Lansing, Levshunov took eight hours of English class daily for six weeks.

“I can’t imagine if you drop me in Belarus and say, ‘Go to college,’ ” Nightingale said. “Like, what the heck? Just him diving into the team, diving into the community, he found a church in town on his own, a Russian church. He made a connection with a lady there who will pick him up and bring him there. Those are pretty uncommon things for kids his age.”

Nienhuis appreciates how Levshunov keeps the draft hype in perspective.

“He’s a pretty humble kid for all the noise around him,” Nienhuis said. “He doesn’t like to talk about where he’s listed in the draft as much (he’s NHL Central Scouting’s second-ranked North American skater), he’s just trying to get better every day. He never really talks about it, which I love. Because obviously, you know, that there could be guys in his position that don’t stop talking about it and almost kind of annoy you.”

That’s not to say Levshunov had it all together since he walked in the door. He had to learn consistency and resist the temptation trying to hit the home run offensively.

“Early on, I thought his first few games, he was wanting every time he was on the ice (for something to happen),” Nightingale said. “That’s a good quality, but you don’t want to play immature, right? You’re trying to find the balance.”

Nienhuis saw him evolve.

“What I loved about him was his ability to take, not criticism, but take I guess you could say ‘guidance,’ ” Nienhuis said. “For instance, ‘I think you should do this here.’ And instead of him being like, ‘No, this is what I do,’ like, he’s very receptive to coaching and vice versa. I love it, too, when he would say, ‘Maybe do that.’ And that’s kind of how we built our relationship on the ice.”

By the end of the season, Levshunov was named Big Ten defensive player of the year and freshman of the year. Nightingale, the coach of the year, brought home the program’s first regular-season and conference tournament titles.

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