ANAHEIM, Calif. — The contrast between Artyom Levshunov’s calm, even aloof personality off the ice and his high risk tolerance on the ice was alarming to his Blackhawks teammates at first.
Now it just makes them laugh. Two months into the season, they’ve already witnessed so many “that’s so Arty” moments.
“The first couple games you play with him, you’re like, ‘Uh, you’re under pressure here. You’ve got to make a play,'” Connor Bedard said Sunday. “But he’s able to do it, and it’s impressive.”
They’ve learned that Levshunov not only has the guts to make bold, difficult plays but also the strength and skill to do so.
Many young defensemen, like his Hawks teammate Sam Rinzel, enter the league still needing to build up strength. Levshunov, 20, is already extremely strong.
Many of those bold plays involve wheeling around behind his own net with one or two forecheckers on his back and another barreling down the wall toward him. In spite of all that, Levshunov looks like he’s going for a leisurely skate at Millennium Park. At the last second, though, he’ll pivot to avoid contact and/or send a perfect pass up to a Hawks teammate in the neutral zone.
Even in the Hawks’ ugly blowout loss Saturday against the Kings, Levshunov executed a few breakouts like that, including one in the second period where Bedard recalled he “had one hand on his stick and threw 100-foot sauce” up to him.
“There are some times…where everyone on the bench panics, and then he’s not at all,” defenseman Connor Murphy said. “So you’re worried something bad might happen, but then he makes the play. It is funny when you see a guy so relaxed. But then when he knows how to use it, it’s obviously really effective.
“He doesn’t look like, ‘Oh crap, I’m about to get hit here.’ He’s able to just keep his even-keel play.”
What a move by Artyom Levshunov to break the puck out and it leads to a shot for Levshunov on the ensuing rush pic.twitter.com/PFtcsJdYgJ
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) December 7, 2025
Levshunov is tied for fifth in scoring among NHL rookies — and ranks second among rookie defensemen — with 14 points in 28 games.
“His heart rate has to be 25 or 30 during the game,” Bedard said. “Seeing some of the plays he makes where he’s under pressure and he’s never rushing and never panicked, that’s not something you can teach someone to do. Either you have it or you don’t. He has it.”
Coach Jeff Blashill is still working with Levshunov — and every other Hawks youngster — on the process of deciding when to make a play and when to live another day. A risk-reward threshold is something everyone must establish before learning how to accurately judge which side of it each situation falls on.
Levshunov has become more consistent and predictable as the year has gone on. However, his threshold will probably always lie further toward the risky end of the spectrum than most, and the Hawks have accepted that.
He’s always going to be chaotic and mistake-prone, but if he can create enough offensive opportunities, a few turnovers can be justified as the cost of doing business.
“One of the hardest things for a young player…is being confident picking up a puck and making the play,” Jason Dickinson said. “You’ve got guys bearing down on you that can skate just as well as you. You’ve got guys that…can all check the way NHL players check. It’s a little different than college.
“[Arty is] strong on the puck, he uses his legs and he trusts himself to get himself out of tight spots, because he is a strong kid that can do those things.”
The Hawks’ seven-defensemen lineups have allowed Blashill to shelter Levshunov, minimizing how often he starts shifts in the defensive zone or against opponents’ top lines.
Those training wheels are coming off, though. Levshunov was officially promoted up to the top pairing alongside Alex Vlasic this weekend, proving he’s steadily earning more trust from the coaching staff at the same time as Rinzel has slipped down the lineup.
That assignment led to some learning moments for Levshunov on Saturday and Sunday — a historically awful weekend for the team as a whole — in addition to his savvy breakouts.
But the Hawks are willing to accept that, too, since long-term development is their No. 1 priority for him.
“While we definitely want to win every game, we’re never going to take a shortcut to try to win tomorrow and hurt us in March and April,” Blashill said. “Part of that is having awareness of trying to help guys reach their fullest potential, not just long-term but this year.
“If we look at the two young ‘D’ with Rinzel and Levshunov, for example, we might win a game just by keeping them more simple, but I don’t think they’ll reach their ceiling.”