Sports

/

ArcaMax

Whom did the Chicago Blackhawks select in the 2024 NHL draft? Meet the 8-player class.

Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune on

Published in Hockey

LAS VEGAS — The Chicago Blackhawks had a busy two days of the NHL draft.

On Friday, they used the No. 2 pick on defenseman Artyom Levshunov and the No. 18 pick on center Sacha Boisvert. But they weren’t done, trading two second-round picks — Nos. 34 and 50 — to the Carolina Hurricanes to select winger Marek Vanacker at No. 27.

On Saturday, they made another trade in the third round and added speed to the prospect pool in John Mustard, AJ Spellacy and Jack Pridham.

But success hinged on the No. 2 pick.

Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said Thursday that 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.

“If it was a no-brainer, then we probably would have known months ago,” after landing the No. 2 pick in the draft lottery.

 

However, Davidson later said he and Hawks staff zeroed in on Levshunov a couple of weeks ago.

“We’ve known Arty for two years going back to Green Bay, and we saw him in his first USHL game last year in the Fall Classic,” he said. “You see the way he skates and the size, for a big guy to get around the ice that well, and he’s very puck friendly and he’s ultracompetitive. He just continued to take the steps.

“(At Michigan State), he was able to elevate his game against players that are 3, 4 and 5 years older than him and not miss a beat from the USHL. And then once you meet him off the ice, he’s an engaging personality.

“His character, the way he treats people, it’s just what we’re about.”

...continued

swipe to next page

©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus