Debating who Blackhawks should take at No. 2 overall in 2024 NHL Draft

On the latest Blackhawks Talk Podcast, Charlie Roumeliotis and James Neveau talk about Connor Bedard’s hot start at the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship and debate who the Blackhawks should take with the No. 2 overall pick between Ivan Demidov and Artyom Levshunov. Should positional need come into play? Plus, Charlie and James address the latest allegations against the Blackhawks, who are being sued by a former employee for breach of contract, fraud and sexual harassment.

#ChicagoBlackhawks #NHLDraft #ConnorBedard #IvanDemidov #ArtyomLevshunov

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[Music] welcome to the Blackhawks Talk podcast presented by Toyota Let’s go places I am Charlie rottis and you will not believe who is with me I dragged him into doing this with me because it’s been a long time I just saw him Saturday we played around of golf together it was a beautiful day the one and only James Novo back on the Blackhawks Talk podcast James what is up what is up my dude we will not dwell on who won and who lost uh at our little outing at Cog Hill but I will just say hopefully it will be the first of many times that you and I te it up this summer you are quite the golfing companion Mr rottis I need everybody to know that J if you’ve never played golf with James he has this sickest draw on his irons and it’s I’m kind of jealous the first few holes you really were dialed in on your drivers um and then the draw came back into play later in the round and I was like James I was like I have I have a I have more of a fade you have a draw and so we that’s that’s why we compliment each other so well golf course we we should do a scramble tournament together I feel like we would be good I I do believe we can make that happen I’m not talking about the one that you host I’m talking about a fourman scramble tournament we we’ll we’ll go uh yeah we’ll go screw up the lives of some unsuspecting individuals I think that’s a really good idea all right Perfect all right so we we have a we have a couple topics we want to hit on we’re going to talk about Conor Bard what he’s doing at the worlds we also want to hit on the primary discussion that we’re going to have um and that was the main focus of this podcast is who the Blackhawk should take at number two overall whether it should be Ivan demidov or artam lefanov and kind of breaking down the positional needs for the Blackhawks like whether that plays a role into who they should take number two overall but we wanted to address the the stuff that was going on on social media on Wednesday there was a a Native American woman who worked for the Chicago Blackhawks ended up filing a lawsuit uh against the organization uh suing the Blackhawks and its charity uh accusing them of breach of oral contract fraud and sexual harassment now I don’t want to get into the details on this podcast because I feel like I’m going to leave stuff out unintentionally and I don’t want to if CBS did a great story on it you can read the the article there and let me just say this James I think it’s tough uh for the Blackhawks where where they’re at right now because of what happened in 2010 like everon Danny WS Jamie fauler Kyle Davidson they took over at the helm for the Chicago Blackhawks part of their Duty a big part of their duty is wanting to reshape the image of the Chicago Blackhawks given what happened in 2010 and I think they’ve done a pretty decent job of that um since all the allegations have come out they’ve overhauled the front office a lot of the pretty much everyone that was part of the organization in 2010 is no longer inside the organization um and I think I I saw the way the Blackhawks handled the Cory Perry situation earlier in the season and it was pretty admirable how quickly they moved on from that player after an incident was reported to the Blackhawks and you could argue that they they could have gotten out in front of it sooner at least publicly because rampant rumors ended up being uh started because of that but I think the way they handled that situation was was pretty admirable given uh given the circumstances and how quickly they had to act and I think I saw a lot of comments about it was almost like the the the Blackhawks were getting dragged into the mud before anyone really knew what was what the story had was and I want to be respectful to the person that filed the lawsuit uh but it was also like the Blackhawks released a statement and and they were pretty adamant about their findings of the investigation and and the fact that some of the people being accused were not employees of the Blackhawks so there is some some gray area um as far as what the Blackhawks believe to be true and what their investigation did find versus what is being found now hopefully both parties it it ends up being um there’s Justice in some way but I I think you look at how the Blackhawks have handled the situations this is how I think the Blackhawks should be judged from the 20 2022 and moving forward when the all the allegations came out from 2010 is how do they respond from allegations uh today I don’t think like if there is an allegation inside the organization how they handle that situation internally is more telling than whether whether something actually happened inside the organization does that make sense am I I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know if I’m being uh it’s a sensitive topic so I I don’t want to misspeak in any way it’s more so like you there are so many people inside the organization that if some if there is any wrongdoing it’s hard to prevent someone from from crossing a line um when that person does c cross a line or if a person does cross a line you want the organization to take the proper steps and I think for the last two years the Blackhawks have done that and I think it’s unfair that they’ve been getting dragged into the mud in a situation like this where they’ve already done investigations and they released a statement of their own so long-winded uh I didn’t mean for that to be long-winded but I wanted to address uh some of that on this podcast before we get into to what we want to talk about I I think the thing to keep in mind here is that I don’t think that you necessarily have to uh react in the way of giving the Blackhawks the benefit of the doubt on anything we don’t have to assume that their due diligence was sufficient I think that you always question those things especially in the wake of some of the um allegations that have been levied against the team in the past on a wide variety of fronts I think with that kind of caveat being put out there I do agree with you in terms of the way that they approached the Corey Perry situation I think really did kind of show a more organizational shift toward you know thoroughly vetting these types of allegations and addressing them rather than trying to sweep them under the rug so I do think that you have a very valid point with that and I also do think you have a very valid point in terms of the way you know the Blackhawks came out and address this situation I think that a lot of times with these types of lawsuits and high-profile situations you’ll see we don’t comment on pending litigation whatever it is but the Blackhawks made it a point to emphatically say look we investigated this we did not come to any conclusion that there was wrongdoing here and also some of the accused in the lawsuit were not employees of the team and so I think that they obviously have a very uh experienced team of lawyers that will help them in situations like this I don’t think they would make broad pronouncements unless they thought that they were on pretty firm legal footing I do think where you can still you know have that discussion is on whether or not the investigation was thorough enough and I think that’ll be something that’ll be adjudicated through the courts or arbitration or however this lawsuit ends up Res uh resolving itself so I don’t instinctively trust the Blackhawks I think that there is a very good list of reasons why you should not but I also do not instinctively distrust them if that makes sense I think that there is definitely a middle ground to be treaded upon here and I do think that as this situation plays out we will learn more about it and of course we’re you and I are always and a lot of us in Chicago media hopefully are of the opinion that we kind of have to let this thing play out but it was just very striking to me the tenor of the Blackhawks response to this and just the emphasis that they put on the facts that as they see them in this case while also respecting the um the plaintiff in this case and also saying that you know you can’t implicitly trust the findings of an investigation when it comes to a situation like this so definitely a couple of really interesting uh things at play here yeah and I think the Blackhawks are an easy target given what they went through um in 2010 and and just the the findings of that um of those allegations and rightfully so and they know that it’s going to take a long time for them to to rehab their image but it’s just it feels like there were a lot of people that read the headline and didn’t actually read the story um you know and that’s kind of unfair and and I also and by the way like I don’t know what’s true or not right I’m just saying like the Blackhawk statement is is is pretty clear that this person didn’t work for us um we we we investigated this and we didn’t find any evidence and it’s it’s pretty easily disputable if you can find the Paper Trails like if this person did or didn’t work for the organization so that’s they can easily find that um but I also want to say this and we’re going to put a ball on this because I don’t want to spend too much time on it given just the sensitivity of of the nature is if you’ve met Danny warts if you’ve met Jamie fauler if you’ve met Kyle Davidson those three are incredibly committed to reshaping the image of the Blackhawks and they are As Nice of people as I’ve come across inside the hockey community and I it’s doing them a disservice by thinking that they wouldn’t be taking stuff like this very seriously and I think that’s where I’ll leave it because it Hawks are an easy target you see a headline like that and it’s easy to roll your eyes but then you kind of dig in and you’re like well the Blackhawks actually J judging by what the statements that they released feels like they they seemingly did the right thing as far as investigating the situation releasing a statement as far as hey we this guy never worked for or these whoever are being accused they never they never worked for us so um yeah sensitive topic and I I it felt unfair for us to do a podcast today without at least add addressing that so um we’ll park that James and let’s move on to some hockey talk there is there’s a guy uh Blackhawks know pretty well his number is 98 for the Chicago Blackhawks he’s playing at the World Championships right now for Team Canada any idea who I might be talking about um let’s see who would be on the Blackhawks playing for Team Canada right nowadays uh is Adam burish uh suiting back up is he back in the game unfortunately Adam is not oh who who is it then Charlie tell spoil it for our listeners here so Connor bard shocker is tearing up the worlds he leads the tournament with five goals through three games I do want to say this they have played not the strongest opponents so there’s no surprise that he is a top of the leaderboard in the gold departments but the Hawks have do they do have some some other guys that are that are there that are playing well SE Jones like you mentioned before that we jumped on this podcast Alex vasic good opportunity for him Philip Kev is playing for Switzerland I think he had to shoot out winner a couple games ago Peter marzik is there and also Lucas Reichel he was a late ad for team Germany after Rockford season came to an end so um Hawks prospects Hawks guys are are shining at the world so far and let’s see I’m curious to see as the tournament progresses and the games become far more meaningful like we get some of those upper echelon teams facing off against each other um it’s going to be exciting to see those Blackhawks players playing against each other but no surprise James that Conor Bard is off to a hot start yeah not remotely and I think that one of the things that we have grown to appreciate about Connor Bard during his time with the Blackhawks is just that innate ability to make adjustments on the fly to do the little things required to really have big impacts on games and I think we saw that happen right off the Jump in this tournament you see the shots that he’s choosing to take and the adjustments that he makes the little minute details that he looks to when he’s firing a wrist shot from the blue line or driving the puck toward the net I think that he is such an instinctually good hockey player and as he like grows more aware of like the style of play that he’s going to face in the NHL and now you know playing this you know upper level International competition you did mention not like they’ve had the most difficult schedule so far but you want him to dominate against competition that you think is you know not quite up to the level that team Canada is able to put forward in a tournament like this right like you don’t want him to be easing off the gas pedal you want if he’s going to be there you want him to Be an Effective player and I think he’s quitting himself really well on the international stage which is again like you said hardly a shock at all and then yeah some of these other guys that have been playing over there in the International Tournament like the Lucas rles and the alexv assics of the world I want them getting that high level experience they’re not going to get that playing in the playoffs right now for the Blackhawks and so I just think that as I watch this tournament the more I watch it the more I’m just kind of looking to see who is really filling into the roles that they’ve been slotted on their given teams and in Conor Bard’s case he is going to be looked at as a premier topend goal scorer for this Canadian Squad and through three games he has done nothing but succeed in that endeavor I don’t think he’s going to continue scoring at a 39% clip but I mean you never know he is Conor Bard after all yeah don’t don’t put it past him that that he might have that in his Arsenal I will say this too it is interesting that he is playing on the wing for Team Canada um it feels like once we get into the Olympic talk in a year or two we’re talking about Sydney Crosby Nathan McKinnon um Conor McDavid Conor Mard is going to be in that conversation to and it feels like the fact that he’s already playing wing for Team Canada is a pretty good sign that when there are these International tournaments Bard is probably the guy that’s going to get pushed to the wing and not the center position position um even though that’s his natural but just I think it just comes with his size you know he’s not the biggest guy so um he’s an offensive possession driver a goal scorer a an a playmaker um and he can do that wherever he is left wing center right I remember Luke Richardson said I think at the uh closer to the end of the season he was like we can Connor can play any position and he would be fine with it any position outside of goalie like he just wants ice time and honestly that that that feels Fair like as long as he’s getting his ice time and he’s getting um he’s getting opportunity I don’t think he cares where he plays and I and the thing I love about that is it means that he can fit and have chemistry with so many different types of guys right like and that is going to end up coming into play with something like the NHL draft like what kind of a Winger would you target with the ideal of pairing him up with Conor Bard I think that you can go with a guy who’s a really good passer and Bard will be able to potentially you know Drive possession and score goals or you can go with just an absolute sniper and cter Bard will feed him the puck effectively I think that that versatility and that ability to kind of tailor your game to play with whoever is around you is going to come in handy on a stage like the World Championships where you’re going to end up playing with some higher end players and that will also come in handy as the Blackhawks kind of approach the NHL draft process and I just I look at a guy like Conor Bard is this like Swiss army knife of a forward God that is such a a versal thing to have and really will I think enable him to become one of the best forwards in this league when all is said and done and I’m really excited to see like how this helps to advance his development in terms of being able to play with those different styles of players definitely all right let’s get to the entree portion of the podcast who the Blackhawks should take at number two overall between demov and leinoff um we have looking at the calendar now I think six weeks six weeks on Thursday will Mark the um six weeks from Thursday will Mark the the six week Mark from the NHL draft so we’re going to beat this topic to death uh between now and then but I feel like this is really a it’s on the top at the top of Blackhawks fans minds of who they’re going to take at number two overall just because what’s interesting James is the two players that are being debated at number two do not play the same position it’s not like the Hawks are debating between a center or a Winger it’s a it’s a forward and it’s a defenseman and they’ve had some relatively easier decisions in the past they they last year was obviously a slam dunk with Conor Bard and then they with the number seven overall pick two years ago they took Kevin kinsky then they took Frank nzar so you’re you’re seeing all these pieces line up and you got kinsky potential top pairing defenseman Alex vasic he emerged as a a top four defenseman this season and he got paid uh like a potential like he’s going to be a core member moving forward Seth Jones we all know his contract situation he’s not going anywhere anytime soon and then you look at the Blackhawks up front and it’s Conor Bard and then it’s any I don’t know if there are any slam dunks like we saw Frank nzar he he definitely showed flashes but the jury is still out on what his ceiling is at the NHL level oler Moore is not in the NHL yet he’s going to be he’s at least a year away because he’s going back to college so there’s just a lot of these moving parts and I’ll throw this question over to you James do you factor in posi the position at number two overall like if you think demov is the better player or let’s just say you think lefanov is the better player but the Hawks probably need someone to play with Bard do you go with demov or do you take do you take the the need like where where do you fall in that argument I generally fall on the best available player when it comes to like a pick like the number two pick and especially in a situation like you mentioned Charlie where you have two guys who both have really compelling cases to be that number two player I think that you ultimately just go with the one you think is going to have the better NHL career and I think that there are a few different reasons why I’m leaning that way to one of them is that I don’t think you’re making this decision necessarily for you know next season like immediate impact kind of guy I mean demidov there is no guarantee he’s going to be able to come over immediately one would think he probably is going to spend another year in Russia and then then with lanoff you’re kind of looking at the uh development Arc of a defenseman always taking a little bit longer than that of a forward you’re more likely to see a forward make an immediate impact in the NHL as opposed to a defenseman and so I think that since that ends up washing out you’re automatically kind of looking at year two is going to be the jump forward Year from who ever the number two pick is I think that you can just simply evaluate what impact the guy is going to have for the entirety of his NHL career and with a guy like demov I think that Conor Bard would definitely benefit from having a guy like that next to him I think that having kind of that dynamic duo that immediate impact Winger to be able to plug in next to him I mean he had 60 points in 30 games last season like this is a guy who is going to score in bunches and who is going to be able to move the puck and do all sorts of things that you really need a guy to be able to do to take that pressure off of Conor Bard so I think ultimately that’s why I would lean in that direction I know a lot has been made about the Blackhawks organizational depth of defenseman and that being a reason not to take Le Sha but when you really think about it like if you have that opportunity to get that type of guy who has the potential of making I I hate saying a kale Mar like impact because I think he is a unicorn I think he is truly a one-of-a-kind player but when you look at the way Scouts Rave about him the way that he averaged almost a point per game in the NCAA as a defenseman I think that you look at a player like that you just think to yourself there’s something really really special there and I know you’ve got your vasix and your kinsky but leinoff could be even a level above those guys I think you have to give that very serious consideration and kind of set aside organizational depth as a reason not to take him I think ultimately what you say is I think MAV paired with Bard ends up being the guy who probably has the longer term impact on the Blackhawks both by his benefit and that of your top Superstar I think I probably lean in that direction a little bit but I think there is a really compelling case to be made if they do end up deciding to take lein off even with the defensive depth that they have yeah I definitely agree I I’m So Pro take the best available player and I wrote about this on NBC Sport chicago.com last week and one of the examp the example I used was it was the 2015 NHL Draft when the Boston Bruins were going through a little bit of they were going through the retool on the Fly where they where they wanted to I think it was 2015 and 2016 they they might have missed the playoffs and they were using they’re trying to use those first round draft Capital to to reload um to kind of uh have a it was basically like they had their run then they it was like a couple years of retooling and then back in business which we we’re seeing now like they got Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo and David poock all these players but in 2015 in that draft they had three first round picks in the middle of the round it and they had backto back to back it was 13 14 and 15 overall and the three players that they took were Jacob zoral uh defenseman Winger Jake debrusk and Winger Zachary sen sen I don’t even know how to pronounce his name but it was defenseman Winger and it was Winger and I imagine they took a defenseman because sedan oara was 37 years old at the time and they’re like well we need we need our next defenseman to kind of replace him and then I don’t know this for sure I’m I’m just speculating but I wonder if it played a role of not drafting a center because berson and Cree were their first and second line centers and there were still only 28 and 29 at the time so they’re probably like well we need Wingers to play with these guys and that’s why they went with um the two Wingers do you know James who was the center that got picked right after at number 16 overall by the New York Islanders I actually do know that one it was Matthew barsel was taken with the number 16 pick and it like it set off just this run of really incredible players than end up getting taken in like the next like eight to nine picks it was just an absolutely it’s like a who’s who right right now of some really excellent hockey players and it all started with that and you’re like wait what what were you doing Boston come on yeah and again I don’t know if that played a role of not drafting a center but you have to wonder how much it maybe crept into the psyche of hey if we want to retool this quickly how can we support berson and Cree and give them you know solid Wingers for the for the next whatever five to seven years and so Matt barzel he was the he was the guy the the center right after that that went taken and then the next Center that got drafted was four picks later Joel Eric senek who is a two-time 60-point player and a s candidate for the Minnesota Wild so man Boston could really use those players right now can’t they and I think didn’t didn’t the Flyers end up drafting like a really highend Center too like a couple of picks after that um they could have and I always butcher his name so I apologize I think it was Travis kkny wasn’t it oh maybe it was he’s a Winger oh sorry my mistake yeah but actually I think he could I think he could play both positions like I think he might have gotten drafted I was gonna say I think he got drafted as a center and that’s why my brain just completely like misfired I haven’t done a hockey podcast in a while man I’m still like you know shaking off the rust a little bit we’re giving giving you some Grace we’re giving you some Grace I appreciate that I guess what my point is the the Blackhawks should absolutely take the best available player whether it’s at number two overall whether it’s at 20 overall whether it’s their second round picks or third always take the best player because it’s it’s rarely going to steer you in the wrong direction I did want to ask you this and I did not bring this up before the show and I want to apologize for not doing that do you the Blackhawks have seven picks in the first three rounds again this year like they are absolutely loaded up again do you see a scenario where they maybe try to move off of that number 20 pick and maybe try to recoup some assets for later when they maybe have fewer fewer picks like basically from like the fourth round on I think they have like two picks left or maybe even pick up an asset for next year do you think that’s something they consider doing I I think I don’t think they would consider trading back or trading uh like I think there could be a scenario where remember two years ago where the Blackhawks had um they just drafted um gorinski they just drafted Nar and then they swapped they jumped 13 spots because they traded for Peter morazzi and they ended up getting Sam renzel like I wonder if there’s a scenario where you can maybe package your second round picks or whatever and get into the back half of the of the first round and or or whatever not both second round picks but you know what I mean where you can you can get another high quality player at the end of the first round I don’t see it’s going to be really hard for the Blackhawks to to move ahead from 20 like if they wanted to jump up from 20 to like 15 I think whatever I think that’s going to be pretty tough because um I just think the first round picks are pretty cut and we just don’t see that in the NHL it’s all like it’s all uh it’s fun to think about as fans but then the draft comes and you’re like man we didn’t really get any movement and it happens every year so I would I I would it would be S surprising if we saw like a ton of movement in that on that front and then I do have a followup to that and that is if they do keep the 20th pick which I kind of agree with you I think going to end up doing that do you think there is a scenario where that maybe impacts who they take with the number two pick because there are a ton of forwards that are to be ranked right around that spot you think of guys like Sam O’Reilly John mustard like I think of guys like that um I think eigor sharesha was the guy that Cory prman had brought up as a potential Target for the Blackhawks at 20 do you think that the kind of overabundance of forwards available in that spot Maybe plays into it a little bit where they maybe try to go grab the game breaking defenseman with the number two pick or do you think that position should not dictate that at all and they should do exactly what you and I have said and that’s just draft the guy they think is better so I think at number 20 I think the Blackhawks should take the best available player having said that I think you can like two years ago the Kevin kiny draft they they took Kinski seven overall they took Sam renzel 29 they really like the defenseman class last year the Hawks didn’t think the the defenseman class was as strong so they forecasted that a year prior and said hey let’s go let’s get we we like the defenseman class this year let’s get our defenseman here and next year we won’t we won’t get as many defensemen because we like the forward crop so I think if the Blackhawks were projecting this draft class and they thought okay I think there’s going to be it seems like a lot of defensemen are going to go on the first round this year just looking at some mock drafts and and like a fairly good portion of them are probably going to go on the first half of the first round and so I wonder if the Blackhawks are at least projecting that maybe like hey if we take leinoff there there is still going to be like really good defenseman at number 20 um I know what you’re saying there but I would still want the Blackhawks to not deviate from best best available player mentality um so if it is a defenseman at number 20 I I guess I would take them too um but at the same time I think the Hawks are probably projecting that because they’re going to be a run of defenseman in the first half of the first round they’re probably looking at the 20th overall pick and saying we might get a really good forward at that position and he’s going to be the best available player because a lot of defensemen are going to go in the first half of the first round and we just got our guy leinoff so that’s a scenario that I could see happening but I don’t think that if they take leinoff I still think best available player at number 20 but it that’s probably going to be a forward if if I’m making sense it just it just seems like there’s like the it feels like there’s going to be a lot of things that will be equal in that number two pick in terms of future impact in terms of when on the timeline we think that they are going to be able to not only get into the NHL but to start making an impact in the NHL I just I wonder if a factor like that ends up being even like the littlest of a tiebreaker or if they think that a guy has a particularly good fit with Conor Bard for example if they really watch Dead’s video and they say we think this guy is going to fit like a glove with Conor Bard I feel like that maybe is a little bit of a tiebreaker but then I also think the availability of a good number of quality forwards later in that first round maybe that kind of tips the scale a little bit in terms of leov I think or linov I think that that’s that’s where we’re going to be it’s going to be just this like little minute thing I think between the two of them that ends up making the difference and honestly like I can’t sit here and say oh well this is by far the definitive pick that you have to make here I think they have two really high quality options and I don’t think that you know Kyle Davidson is going to be in a position where he’s gonna have to worry that one of them is just going to be a complete flop and the other one will be a superstar I think both of them have really great pedigrees really great resumes and I think could both make really big impact for the the Chicago Blackhawks yeah I think there are really only two concerns they not even concerns about uh demidov the first being what’s his how quickly does he want to come to North America because we had that whole thing last year um with matf mitchoff like he he was three years under under KHL contract and it was like man that’s a long time to be sitting on a potential really really good player um so it what’s demidov’s situation I believe his I think it’s only one I think it’s only one year I think that he’s still under contract in Russia I I think it’s pretty quick yeah I think it’s pretty quick but I I think if you’re the Blackhawks you want to assurance that his plan would be to come over to North America after that contract ends you know right you don’t want to draft him and then he’s like oh yeah son signs a twoe extension in the KHL and you’re like oh man um so I think that that’s one and then two it’s because demidov is is a Russian player the Hawks have not been able to scout him in person um because of all the that’s been going on the last couple years now they do have a Russian Scout so they are getting direct feedback I believe some NHL teams don’t have a Russian Scout so the Hawks do have a little bit of an advantage in from that point but because they they’re only going based on video is they have a they have a more confident body of work with leinoff than they do with demidov because they they’ve been able to see him many times in person um that’s not to say that’s going to scare the Blackhawks away because I still think they they feel you know they feel really good about either player um but that those are just two things that aren’t really concerns with leinoff that you know demov has and so um I I think Kyle Davidson was asked this after they won the lottery um what would be the tiebreaker or like how how and it’s like the tiebreaker would be like if it’s so close that we you can like flip a coin between two players then maybe that’s when you Teeter on the need the positional need over you know the best player but I guess it wouldn’t even be best player because if it’s that close then then you haven’t made a decision on who the better player is so I I think that’s where they would lean that way yeah I can see the logic in that I just I think that uh your point about I think the contract ultimately would be the thing that would be most intriguing if like he did not if he refuses to say like I will come over after this contract is over I almost feel like you have to go with L shanoff at that point I don’t think that you can sit there and say well we’re willing to take the risk it’s like no you don’t you don’t take risks with the number two pick like you go for more of the sure thing the guy that has shown you know dominance in a pretty competitive hockey league in America like NCA Hockey being able to average a point per game while also showing some of the skill set that he’s shown on the defensive side of things too and the passing he’s been able to show case I feel like to me it’s like all right fine if you’re not going to guarantee me you’re going to be here in 2025 I got to go with that guy because I know he’s going to be a part of this mix very quickly so I I just think that contract thing like I I almost just thought it was a you know immediate thing like oh yeah one year I can come over after that but if he shows any sort of hesitance man I am not willing to take that gamble if I’m the Blackhawks you got to start kickstarting this movement forward for this roster and you’re not doing that if you have a guy you may have to sit on for multiple Seasons like I just I don’t think you can take that risk yeah I agree I I don’t think it’s a concern with demov like it feels like he’s going to come right over after that that one year and last thing I say yeah last thing I’ll say about leinoff too and I look at the P look at the past decade and a half of Stanley Cup champions and yes they have the generational or you know they have the the core players up front but almost every team that has won a Stanley Cup over the last 15 years has that one number one Bonafide defenseman that can play in all situations not just like I think of the Toronto Maple Leafs they they have they have a decent backend like Jake McCabe Morgan Riley they have really good like pieces on the back end but they don’t have that one player that could in any situation just throw him out there and he can eat half the game in in any situation and just be the the the kind of like the trump card you know like just like oh when and doubt it was kind of like with the Blackhawks like when and doubt just throw dunin Keith on the ice because he will you know and what happened Hawks won three Stanley CBS with Duncan Keith La won multiple Stanley CBS with Drew dowy Pittsburgh won three CBS with Chris leang Tampa Bay Victor Hedman St Louis in Vegas had Alex petrangelo Boston had sedan noara Colorado had kale Mar like all of those all of those defensemen that I just listed are guys that will are probably on a power play but they’re also on a penalty kill and they’re in the situation in the last two minutes of a game whether it’s scoring a goal or defending a goal or defending a lead like you need that I do have I do have to point out too that the Blackhawks didn’t sit there in 2010 and go well we already have Duncan Keith and brentbrook we probably and we need to make sure that our goal tending is really shored up we need to make sure we keep antii over Nick jerson they didn’t do that in 2013 they didn’t say oh we’ve got jerson Keith and SE Brook we don’t need to add any more high-end defenseman no they traded multiple second round picks and went out and got Johnny Oduya like you can always have a strength but it is always beneficial to strengthen that strength too like you can’t just sit on your laurels you have to be willing to make aggressive moves and so I do think that that that you know opens up a lot more avenues for the Blackhawks yeah and I also think it’s it’s so much harder to find a Top Line forward than it is to find a Bonafide number one allaround defenseman like you just can’t trade for those players and so and and I also like the Hawks have a a really good forward pipeline like some of the names I listed in my article was Frank nases are Oliver Moore obviously but then you got Colton doc Ryan green Gavin Hayes Roman canro Nick lardis Paul ad winsky Marty missak Lon slagger like all these guys are are they’re not slam dunks but it’s like okay some of those guys might play pretty pretty big roles and then you weigh in the fact that the Hawks have multiple first round picks next year as well it’s like there will be opportunities for them to load up on on forwards and and maybe that’s when you also dip into free agency or trades to to round it out so um I don’t if you haven’t told if you if you can’t tell already which way I’m leaning I think I’m I’m you know leaning lefanov right now but if the Hawks do take demidov I will not fault them whatsoever like I I do think there’s a separation after there’s a drop off it’s celebrini little drop off demidov lean off and then another little drop off so I think they can’t go wrong with either but I’m just I don’t want them getting a defenseman because they have kinsky because they have vasic because there’s Seth Jones still and they got Sam renzel coming there’s a Wyatt Kaiser Ethan Del mat like I that still wouldn’t deter me from going to get the sure thing number one defensmen that can play 30 minutes a night I think we’ve all seen in our lives as hockey observers and fans teams that think they’ve got a lock on the development Pipeline and they think that everything is going to be pretty good and then that Prospect ends up flaming out right like you like you mentioned Charlie like there are no there’s no such thing generally a Surefire you know All-Star caliber player outside of you know your occasional Conor bards Etc but I just I really get the sense that they are in a position right now where they really are going to get the sense that they are sitting on a really quality player at number two and make that move regardless of what’s to come just based on the sheer certainty of it and I really wish you could tell me that one of those first or maybe both of those picks in the first round next year maybe they won’t be in the lottery I really wish we were at that point the rebild but I’m not going to hold your feet to the fire 40 minutes to the podcast and be like hey Charlie where do you think that first round pick is in 2025 that they have that’s their own are they G to be talking about winning the lottery again or they gonna be talking about hey you know what we made some progress for it I won’t make you do that but you know I’m not on this podcast very often so I feel like I at least have to like plant the seed in people’s minds that maybe if they see you out shopping at like Trader Joe’s or something they can ask you about that is so kind of you not to put me on the spot and make me come up with a concrete answer James well that we still have a long off season to go too like we still have a draft to go through free agency to go through there will be plenty of time to discuss expectations later I just wanted to you know get my teasing of Charlie and I had to scratch it off my bingo card when you invited me on the show today listen it was really good to have you back on I I uh I got my James fix over the weekend when we golfed together but I was like now now now the Blackhawks fans need to get their James fixed so I dragged you on here to come do a podcast with me so I I uh we thank you for your service I I ended up choosing Blackhawks talk over Cubs talk this afternoon so if you need any sort of validation about the esteem that I hold you in I said to myself I will forgo my Cubs talk responsibilities for one week to talk some Blackhawks with Charlie Rell Otis that should tell you everything you need to know what I thought I I figured you would be doing that I figured you got the big 10 country podcast too I didn’t think you would you would ditch another podcast to join this that’s making feel really special I I will say it is in good hands Peter Marzano and Lila rahime will be doing the show later but I did make a conscious decision that I wanted to come talk some Blackhawks with Charlie Rell Otis that is where we are gosh earning BR more browning points James hey good to have you on that’s going to do it for this edition of the Blackhawk Talk podcast for James I’m Charlie we’ll catch you next time don’t forget to rate US and review us on the Blackhawks Talk podcast congrats you finished the video if you want to build on that 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