Blackhawks brothers: How Wyatt Kaiser's versatility boosts Artyom Levshunov's success

The Blackhawks have known since late last season that defensemen Wyatt Kaiser and Artyom Levshunov share a brotherly bond.

During their long stretch of dressing seven defensemen, however, everybody spent shifts with everybody else, and Kaiser and Levshunov weren't immediately paired together even after Sam Rinzel was sent down.

Blashill finally reunited them Dec. 28, and they clicked immediately. It's not a coincidence Levshunov has played the best hockey of his young NHL career lately.

The young Belarusian has looked extremely confident, doing things very few of his peers have the skill or the risk tolerance to do — such as skating with the puck for 10 or more seconds around the offensive zone, dancing around and weaving in between opponents.

His growth hasn't been linear, but it has been substantial. For every one step back, he has taken about three steps forward. By this point, he's 20 steps beyond where he was a year ago. He appears on track to become the No. 1 defenseman and franchise cornerstone the Hawks drafted him to be.

Kaiser gets less attention than Levshunov, and admittedly he doesn't have as lofty a ceiling. But he deserves immense credit for providing the safety blanket that allows Levshunov to be so confident.

During the second period Saturday in Washington, for example, when Levshunov over-skated the puck at the offensive blue line, there was Kaiser covering for him, racing back to break up a possible breakaway for Capitals forward Ryan Leonard.

It's not just defensively that Kaiser helps Levshunov, too. After weeks of Kaiser talking about trying to create more offense while partnered with stay-at-home veteran Connor Murphy — and succeeding in doing so, scoring three goals during the span of Dec. 12-28 — he has now flipped his mindset.

"Honestly, it changes...because Arty is already so 'Attack, attack, attack,'" Kaiser said. "Now it's almost like I play back a little bit and play off of his attack mindset. Whereas when it was me and Murphy together, maybe I'm the one attacking, and he plays off of me."

That chameleon-like nature has helped Kaiser become the glue of the Hawks' defensive corps. Despite being extremely inexperienced overall — with zero proven top-pairing guys — they have been competent, partially thanks to his versatility.

And with pairings of Kaiser-Levshunov, Matt Grzelcyk with Murphy and Alex Vlasic with Louis Crevier, the defense just enjoyed its stoutest week yet. They've allowed only six five-on-five goals over their last four games, and they allowed only 15 shots on goal Sunday against the Golden Knights.

"We've had a big emphasis on intensity in the 'D'-zone, winning your one-on-one battles down low, making sure that we're first to close and [that] we have that second support coming in quickly," Vlasic said. "We're spending less time in the D-zone, which leads to a little bit less fatigue, and then the puck is in the 'O'-zone."

Simultaneously, Levshunov has taken his game to "to another level in terms of attacking the game offensively," Blashill said. Something has clicked within him.

"[Arty has] been very aggressive and commanding offensively," Kaiser said. "He sees the play and he just makes it. He goes and tries it, regardless of if he [messes] up or not. He's back to committing to it. And then if he messes up, whatever. He's still there, so usually it works itself out. It's hesitation that gets him in trouble sometimes."

Blashill doesn't believe playing with Levshunov should necessarily eliminate Kaiser's production, though.

"Kaiser can create offense from the offensive blue line in through [his] ability to move the puck," Blashill said. "[He can] be good in the offensive end without taking on a lot of risk. He can still do that with Arty. But I get the idea that he’s a good fit for Arty because he understands to let Arty be Arty."

Risk tolerance

Levshunov has certainly never been fearful of taking risks, and Blashill is becoming more accustomed to his ways, too. It's easy to be convinced when it works out more often than not.

"Even when he gets himself in trouble in high ice — and I get really nervous — he seems to win the puck back and does all the stuff," Blashill said. "It’s amazing, actually, because he’s really, really strong. We want to see him push his game [offensively to] see what that ceiling looks like."

Blashill recently taught Levshunov, who entered Wednesday with six points in his last eight games, what being a "rover" means in hockey. He also told him he's OK with him being one.

"If you look at the best 'D' — [Cale] Makar, [Quinn] Hughes, [Zach] Werenski — they’re up in the play but they always win the race back to [their] end," he added. "Arty’s got that powerful skating stride [where] he can be involved offensively, keep pushing that envelope and win the race back to our end."