The Blackhawks got rid of a defenseman in a trade! No, it wasn’t Seth Jones. With Chicago having more than enough talent in its pipeline on the defensive end, GM Kyle Davidson was looking to get rid of a blueliner before the trade deadline, and did just that by sending IceHogs LHD Isaak Phillips to Winnipeg.
But in return, the Blackhawks got… another defenseman? The Jets sent 21-year-old Dmitri Kuzmin, another LHD, to Chicago as compensation. The move is a puzzling one at first glance, but could actually help the Blackhawks in the long run.
One attribute of Kuzmin that likely wasn’t lost on the Blackhawks’ front office is his country of origin, Belarus. There are only a handful of Belarusians in the NHL and its pipelines, and one of the most notable among them is Artyom Levshunov, Chicago’s No. 2 overall pick in 2024. Kuzmin and Levshunov share the same agent and played together on Belarus’ U20 team a few years ago. Their agent, Dan Milstein, said the two are good friends who trade together during the summer in Florida. There’s a good chance they soon live together in Rockford, and the team didn’t previously roster any native Russian speakers.
The addition of Kuzmin will certainly help Levshunov’s off-ice development at one of the more critical points in the career of the No. 2 pick. Levshunov has struggled throughout much of this season, scoring 11 points in 31 games and occasionally looking lost on the ice. He was a bit late to a team meeting a few days ago and was a healthy scratch as a result. That’s not exactly a big deal, but it sure won’t hurt his development to have a good friend on the roster, especially for a player who has experienced a small language barrier at times.
Kuzmin could eventually be a decent asset for the Blackhawks in his own right. He’s two years younger than Phillips and has a bit more offensive skill in his game. Kuzmin hasn’t had much success at the AHL level yet, but was a stud in the OHL. Plus, no one knows better than the Blackhawks that defensemen can take a while to develop (Alex Vlasic).
It certainly sounds like part of this move was to just give Phillips a chance to get playing time elsewhere. Chicago has a ton of talent on the blue line, like Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski, Levshunov, Ethan Del Mastro, Wyatt Kaiser and more, each of whom has seemingly passed Phillips in the team’s long-term plans. It’s strange that they’re replacing him with another defenseman, but at least they’re giving Phillips a chance for NHL time down the road elsewhere.
