Blackhawks top prospect defenseman Artyom Levshunov finally has someone in Rockford who can speak in his native language.
The Hawks traded depth defenseman Isaak Phillips to the Jets on Wednesday for prospect defenseman Dmitry Kuzmin, a 21-year-old Belarusian.
Levshunov and Kuzmin are good friends who train together during the summer in Florida, said agent Dan Milstein, who represents both of them. They both hail from Belarus and played for Belarus’ national youth teams as teenagers, albeit a few years apart, and also played together on Belarus’ team in an international tournament in 2022.
There’s an open room in Levshunov’s house in Rockford (along with forward prospect Paul Ludwinski) that Frank Nazar used to live in, and Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen suggested it might soon have a new occupant. Rockford previously didn’t have any native Russian speakers on its roster.
Kuzmin’s presence could be helpful for Levshunov’s off-ice development and comfort level during the second half of the No. 2 overall draft pick’s first professional season.
Kuzmin had tallied four points in 21 games for the Jets’ AHL affiliate this season and split last season between the AHL and ECHL, so he’s not a heralded prospect on his own.
Phillips, 23, had logged 56 NHL appearances with the Hawks over the last four seasons, including three this season. But he had begun to be surpassed on the depth chart by the organization’s plethora of prospect defensemen, and that process was only going to continue. He has eight points in 28 AHL games this season.
“[Isaak] has been a good player, both in Rockford and here,” Sorensen said. “So if it’s a fresh start for him, [I’m] excited for him.”