Blackhawks have made their decision about No. 2 pick as NHL Draft approaches

LAS VEGAS — The Blackhawks won’t announce whom they’re selecting with the No.  2 pick until general manager Kyle Davidson walks onstage Friday at the NHL Draft, but they already have made the decision internally.

“We feel pretty confident with where we’re going to go,” Davidson said Thursday.

The streets of Las Vegas have been too scorching hot this week — with highs around 108 degrees — for Davidson to physically walk around and test fans’ inability to recognize him, as hilariously played out last year in Nashville, Tennessee.

But the word on the street is Belarusian defenseman Artyom Levshunov has emerged as the favorite for the pick, with Russian forward Ivan Demidov — the other candidate all along — now seeming less likely. As of Thursday afternoon, FanDuel’s betting line for Levshunov going No. 2 had risen to minus-420, an implied probability greater than 80%.

Davidson did mention he enjoyed finally getting to meet Demidov in person last week in Florida, and he came away impressed. Nonetheless, the Hawks have simply gotten to scout and talk to Levshunov far more frequently over the last year at Michigan State.

“[The process has] been really exciting,” Davidson said. “It’s been good for the group to have that opportunity to talk about different options and different avenues that we could take.”

The Hawks’ decision-making focus has now shifted to the No. 18 pick later in the first round, as well as the six picks they’re slated to make Saturday: two second-round picks (34th and 50th overall), two third-round picks (67th and 72nd), a fifth-round pick (138th) and a sixth-round pick (163rd).

“You’re looking at ranges and trying to figure out where players might be or who might come into play in certain areas,” Davidson said. “It’s a little bit futile. You’re guessing, just like everyone else would be guessing. But you still do it, and you spin your wheels. That’s the fun of it, though — the guessing and trying to kind of mock things out in your own mind.”

The Sharks moved up in the middle portion of the first round Thursday, giving the Sabres picks Nos. 14 and 42 to get No. 11, and Davidson said plenty of other teams have made their own calls about possibly trading up or down.

“Last year, we were trying to move up [from pick No. 19], and there was less dialogue around that,” he said. “It feels like there’s more of that sort of thing [this year].”

The Hawks might try trading up again this year if their favorite prospects in that range dwindle faster than expected.

“As picks start going off the board, you have to be open to that,” he said. “[As] you look at your list, if there’s a bunch of players there, then you can slide back, too.”

Trade breakdown

Davidson provided some insight into the Hawks’ trade with the Canucks on Wednesday, noting the Hawks have been interested in forward Ilya Mikheyev — whom they acquired as a negative asset because of his oversized contract — for “quite some time.” He believes Mikheyev will be able to take a step forward next season.

It sounds like signing familiar forward Sam Lafferty, whose rights he reacquired, before free agency begins Monday also will be a priority.

And the fact that the involved picks in the deal were 2027 picks was a preference, not a concession. That was the nearest year in which the Hawks didn’t already own multiple second-round selections.

“As we build this out and the team improves, you can make that pick or it’s currency to use in the trade market,” Davidson said. “[We’re] just trying to spread out the picks to make sure we’ve got a good base moving forward and not five or something in one year.”

Forward additions

Davidson gave coy responses to questions about adding more top-six talent over the next week, mentioning how Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou being healthy will provide internal boosts to the forward corps.

He eventually admitted, however, that he is scouring the market for upper-end forwards — presumably of a higher tier than Mikheyev and Lafferty — whom the Hawks could acquire without making long-term salary-cap commitments. After all, some existing Hawks forwards likely will miss time because of injury next season, too.

“We’ll find that out next week when we figure out where prices are and if we’re an appealing fit for people,” Davidson said. “We’ll also explore trades. That’s something that’s ongoing. There are options out there. We just have to decide if any of them do make sense, and nothing has to this point.

“I’d like to add to the group, but sometimes you can only control what you can control.”