With the Blackhawks getting three nights off in a row, the front office made a shrewd move this week, bringing up No. 2 overall pick and prized prospect Artyom Levshunov with the goal of getting him a few practices at the NHL level, getting a feel for the speed of the top level. Before Wednesday’s game, Chicago made the expected move, sending Levshunov back down to the IceHogs.
“The pace up here for practices and the compete it takes to be in the in NHL. We’ve had two good, spirited practices with a lot of pace and compete and that was a good learning experience for him to see. Talking to him, he was kind of baffled how quick it was at times but that’s good. That’s how you realize where you need to be.”
Interim head coach Anders Sorensen
That’s about the best possible answer Sorensen could give when asked what he hoped Levshunov would take back to Rockford with him. The fact that the young defenseman was “baffled” isn’t a bad thing – it’s perfectly normal for a call up to be an eye-opening experience for young skaters. He’s now clearly learned what he needs to work on and can take that into the remainder of his season in Rockford.
While one of the Blackhawks’ moves was predictable, the other was largely a head-scratcher. When Chicago sent Levshunov down, they added forward Colton Dach to the list. As we discussed on Tuesday, it’s not unlikely that the Blackhawks could send a few more youngsters down to the AHL while the NHL is on a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. But with three games until then, the move was quite the surprise.
This isn’t the first time this week that the Blackhawks have displayed questionable decision-making. To open Wednesday’s game, Chicago scratched Nolan Allan and Philipp Kurashev, two youngsters looking to work on their game and become more valuable to the organization. In their place, the Blackhawks started guys like TJ Brodie and Craig Smith, who was activated from IR in a corresponding move. Chicago had a chance to start a lineup with nine players ages 23 and younger, but didn’t include Allan, Dach or Kurashev (who’s 25 years old). What gives?
To be fair, Sorensen wasn’t starting Dach anyway, so GM Kyle Davidson is at least doing his job by giving him more ice time in Rockford. And with the Blackhawks headed for a break next week, it makes sense for them to send young skaters to the IceHogs. But why now? Why wouldn’t the team, in a season that is already lost, give its youngsters as much run as possible? Quite the head-scratcher.
