Grading Kyle Davidson's first-round picks in his third draft as Chicago Blackhawks GM

The first round of the 2024 NHL draft is now history, and the Chicago Blackhawks made some very solid picks in my opinion.

However, it is worth saying that one cannot judge a prospect entirely on the night of the draft. The fact remains that we simply don't know what we truly have with these players until they see the ice in a real NHL game.

That said, I did disagree with the decision to draft Levshunov over Demidov. I will be the first to admit that I will be wrong in feeling this way if Levshunov becomes everything he has been projected to become. Many, (including Davidson obviously) project Levshunov as a slam-dunk number one defenseman in the NHL, and possibly even an elite/franchise-level defenseman.

Based on that description he sounds similar to Quinn Hughes. That should excite Blackhawks fans to hear as Hughes is now officially a Norris Trophy winner.

I have anecdotally heard several people saying they see Levshunov as that level of defenseman. Hey, if he is going to become the best defenseman in the entire league then obviously Davidson chose wisely here. Let's dig more into Davidson's overall draft strategy, and ultimately give him a grade for his three first-round picks.

Davidson's Draft Philosophy

Something that bears discussion in assessing Davidson's draft philosophy is that he clearly decides on a player he wants, targets that player, and then moves heaven and earth to get that player.

For example, in 2022 when Davidson moved Alex Debrincat for the chance to draft Kevin Korchinski, and then moved Kirby Dach to draft Frank Nazar, what did he say? "We got our guys."

Similarly, when Oliver Moore kept falling and falling as Davidson was desperately attempting to move up to get him, you could see the jubilation on his face when he realized that at 19th overall, he was again getting, "his guy."

Davidson is fearless in moving assets from his team (established and sometimes elite assets at that) to select his hand-chosen prospects.

Now, I admire his bravery in making such moves, as it is far better to have an aggressive GM who trusts himself and his staff. It is a sign that Davidson has immense confidence that he continues to make such trades (we will discuss his trades in this draft later on).

However, this strategy comes with inherent and tremendous risk. For example, Kevin Korchinski looks like he does have all the tools necessary to become an elite defenseman at the NHL level, but it is fair to say that he struggled mightily at times last season.

Let's play around with this hypothetical. What if Korchinski never puts it together and his career follows the trajectory of noted failed Hawks top ten pick, Adam Boqvist?

If that were to happen, I think that people would have to look at Davidson's instance on moving heaven and earth to get "his guy" as a gamble that didn't pay off.

Davidson's drafts have been marked by two things in my opinion: 1) getting "his guys" or the guys that he and his staff are most enamored with. And 2) being hyper-aggressive in trading up. Case in point, this little tidbit...

Pierre LeBrun is a very well connected reporter, I believe that he has a good source here. So if that is true, then man oh man, the Hawks could have had an A+++++ draft in my opinion.

The thinking here is that had they pulled this trade off they would have taken Demidov who was still available at this point. Imagine if after all the consternation over "who should the Hawks take? Levshunov or Demidov?", they ended up with BOTH. Davidson is a fearless general manager and I love that.

Now, time for a bit of criticism.

Again, I would have taken Demidov at No. 2 overall. I felt (and still feel) that his overall offensive potential would have been perfect in a decades-long fit beside Connor Bedard. That could have been our Crosby-Malkin or Kane-Toews duo going forward and I am admittedly bummed that we won't get to see that.

Furthermore, I felt that the other two trades that Davidson made were... odd.

Sending a second-round pick and number 20 overall to the New York Islanders to move up two spots, and then late last night sending the Hurricanes the number 34 and number 50 pick to move up to number 27, are signs of two things in my opinion.

1) Again, Davidson loved "his guys" and he went out and moved whatever he needed to to get them. 2) Davidson is aware of the fact that the Hawks pipeline is beginning to get a bit crowded, and so he opted for the old "quality over quantity" strategy. I like that idea, however, the two picks that he made carry some risk.

Davidson has now selected eight players in the first round across three drafts, and we should commend him for taking the necessary risks to get those players. Heck, even the strategy of tanking to get Bedard carried an immense risk, but that one paid off very nicely.

Eventually, I predict that Davidson and the Hawks will be burned by playing this aggressive strategy of moving whatever we must acquire "our guy", but for now, the results seem very positive.

The Hawks Three First Round Picks

Artyom Levshunov is as elite of a defensive prospect as you will find in any draft.

Despite my stated disappointment in not getting Demidov, the Hawks will walk away from this draft with very likely a future No. 1 defenseman. He is as talented offensively as he is defensively, and he projects as a duel-threat defender who can play 25+ minutes a night and play on the powerplay, as well as on the penalty kill.

I think what makes this pick particularly exciting is that Levshunov is elite right now (at his level of Hockey) and yet, it feels like there is so much room for him to grow. The Blackhawks organization adores this kid, and Hawks fans should too. Oh, and his personality is gold. I know that shouldn't be the deciding factor in drafting players, but really Chicago could use some more characters in the locker room and Levshunov is that.

Sasha Boisvert is a noted goal scorer and he has very nice size for an 18-year-old.

I feel like Blackhawks fans may disagree with giving Davidson such a high score for this draft, especially after it seemed like they had fallen in love with Demidov, and then they were screaming for him to pick Cole Eiserman at No. 18.

Marek Vanacker was a fast-rising prospect in the draft so it isn't surprising to see him go here.

He was typically ranked somewhere between 25 and 40, but again as the draft was approaching it seems that his stock was rising. He is described as a "200-foot left-handed shot who is a strong skater and can dig in on the forecheck or backcheck." I like this pick as again, it is Davidson identifying a player that fits a certain style of hockey that the Hawks want to play.