Michigan State hockey: Artyom Levshunov draft outlook post-NHL Lottery

Michigan State hockey star Artyom Levshunov is looking like one of the best NHL draft prospects after the lottery.

The NHL draft lottery drawing took place Tuesday and we finally have solidified the top 16 picks in this year’s draft. While we now know the draft order for the non-playoff teams, Michigan State hockey fans can also start to get a clearer picture of where freshman phenom Artyom Levshunov may end up.

On top of the draft order being set, NHL insider Bob McKenzie released his post-lotto prospect rankings. Taking both into account, where does it look like Arty will end up?

Let’s discuss.

First let’s look at the draft order. I will say I’m honestly surprised at the way the lotto turned out this year. The lotto went “chalk” and the teams will all draft in their most probable spot based on how the year finished for them. That has not happened in quite some time. Normally someone ends up jumping up at some point.

With that being said, here are the top 16 picks in order:

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Utah Hockey Club (Former Arizona Coyotes)
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Calgary Flames
10. New Jersey Devils
11. Buffalo Sabres
12. Philadelphia Flyers
13. Minnesota Wild
14. San Jose Sharks (from Pittsburgh)
15. Detroit Red Wings
16. St Louis Blues

As I’ve stated before, there is almost no debate that the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft will be Macklin Celebrini who has been a highly-touted prospect for years and has kept his stock high with all the hype. This year as a freshman at Boston University, he led the Terriers to a Frozen Four appearance and also became the youngest person ever to win the Hobey Baker Award (the college hockey equivalent to the Heisman). He also won Hockey East’s Conference Player of the Year and scoring title this past season.

Macklin is 17 years old and has a list of accolades longer than most. He played and led Team Canada to a bronze medal at the 2023 World Junior Championships. This past season, he also played on the 2024 World Junior team for Canada in Sweden, though they did not medal. He was also just recently selected by Team Canada to play on the senior national team, competing with NHL’ers at the IIHF World Championships starting on Friday in Czechia. He is one of four players that have yet to make their NHL debuts on any roster for that tournament (joining Trey Augustine, Will Smith, and Ryan Leonard).

After Macklin, this draft becomes wide open.

There is a slew of great defensive prospects, including Levshunov. On the mid-season rankings by TSN’s Bob McKenzie, he had been listed third among prospects overall. After the lotto, Arty officially dropped to fourth on Bob’s list.

I have linked his full breakdown of the top 15 prospects below.

It's #NHLDraftLottery Day! Get primed for tonight's draw with our annual Lottery Day Edition prospect ranking from @TSNBobMcKenzie…

The Top 15 List: https://t.co/H9HLtXx1Za

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) May 7, 2024

The first potential landing spot I could see Arty landing would indeed be at two with Chicago. Now I will say I wouldn’t consider that super likely. Russian forward prospect Ivan Demidov is the clear-cut second-best forward in the draft and the Hawks may look to pair him with their current rookie sensation Connor Bedard to give him some help up front. Also, Russian defenseman Anton Silayev is a very talented defense prospect who is left-handed and could be a better fit defensively for Chicago specifically.

Should he not go to the Blackhawks (and I personally hope he doesn’t), next we have Anaheim. I think (and so does Bob McKenzie) that Arty is skilled enough to be a top-five pick. I happen to think Anaheim is the landing spot for him. They are in desperate need to get talent on the roster in general.

This past season saw the Ducks deal their clear-cut best defensive prospect, Jamie Drysdale, to Philadelphia for a high-end offensive talent in Cutter Gauthier. They also already have young talented forwards such as Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry upfront. The need for defensive help, specifically right-handed shooting defensive help, is quite clear. Ultimately, the Michigan State hockey star checks multiple boxes for the Ducks and this is where I see him going. Most outlets do have him as the top-ranked right-handed defenseman. That’s something that there isn’t a lot of in the league anymore so that is a premium position for teams.

Outside of three, Columbus, Utah, Ottawa, New Jersey, and Philly are all strong candidates to take a defenseman. San Jose’s second pick at No. 14 could also see a defenseman go based on who is left on the board. A lot of the teams after pick No. 5 may just go with the best player available based on their boards as well. As I previously said, there’s a ton of defensive talent in this draft so it just depends on who likes a certain player the best.

For those Red Wings fans reading this, I think there is almost a zero percent chance Arty ends up wearing the winged wheel. Defenseman is the Red Wings’ most loaded position group overall. Taking one in the first round of this draft is unlikely. Combine that with the desperate need for high-end goal-scoring and the fact that 15 would be a long way for a prospect like Arty to fall, and I do not see this happening. I think Arty, Zeev Buium, and Anton Silayev would be the three defensive prospects that would make Steve Yzerman think twice about picking a forward if one fell to 15.

Regardless of how you spin it, Levshunov has put himself in a fantastic position for this draft. He deserves it after his play in green and white this past season. Regardless of where he ends up (again, hopefully not Chicago), he will continue to be one of my favorite players to watch develop and root for.

As we get closer to the draft in July, I will keep you updated with any developments in his draft stock. Go Green, everyone.