At the peak

Three Belarusians have been selected in the top 100 of the 2024 NHL Draft

“Well, I have finally been drafted. I was waiting for this for 18 years. Finally, somewhere. Not somewhere, in Chicago. Feels real now. Now it feels like a dream come true,” Artyom Levshunov shared his emotions after the NHL Draft, which ended in Paradise, neighborhood of Las Vegas. The 18-year-old defenceman has updated the Belarusian record at the talent fair of the world’s strongest league — the Zhlobin-born hockey player has been selected by Chicago in the first round as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The previous achievement belonged to Ruslan Salei, who was picked 9th overall by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1996. Artyom Levshunov is not the only one who has been drafted this time. There are two more Belarusians in the top 100 — left winger Ilya Protas and goaltender Pavel Moysevich.

Belarusian hockey player Artyom Levshunov selected by Chicago in the first round as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft 

Everything just begins

They started talking about Artyom Levshunov’s chances to become one of the first players to be selected in this year’s NHL Draft long ago. This guy played for the youth teams of Metallurg Zhlobin and Dinamo Minsk, as well as Belarus’ national junior ice hockey team. He spent the previous two seasons overseas, where he proved himself as a great hockey player in the USHL and NCAA Leagues. The experts complimented the defenceman, noting not only his excellent hockey skills, but also his unbelievable love of hockey and incredible hard work. Along with that, Artyom understands that he has a lot of work ahead of him. Thus, speaking about Ruslan Salei’s rewritten record, he noted that it was great to beat it, “But the work continues, there is still a lot to do. There is a lot to strive for. The draft is one thing, but the work has just begun. There is still a lot to do.” 
Artyom Levshunov received a lot of congratulations. One of them is from Dmitry Baskov, Deputy Chairman of the Education, Science, Culture, and Social Development Commission of the Council of the Republic, “Congratulations to Artyom Levshunov on the historic achievement for our country! Last year we talked about the record for the number of players selected in the NHL Draft, today we are talking about a high-quality record. The fourth Belarusian in the first round of the NHL Draft is the highest peak in history. The main thing is not to stop and continue working and enjoying the favourite game as much as possible.”

Following in brother’s footsteps 

In the third round of the NHL Draft, Washington selected 17-year-old left winger Ilya Protas, the younger brother of Aliaksei Protas, who has played in the capital camp for three seasons already, as 75th overall. Both guys were present at the ceremony in Paradise. The brothers have never played together before, only trained. The news that they will now be in the Washington system together thrilled the hockey players.  
The elder brother told Tarik El-Bashir about the newcomer to Washington, “I think he is real smart, somewhat similar to me. He has done great job improving his skating. Still got a long way to go. I am so happy and proud of the job he has done this season. Of course, I hoped that Washington would choose him. It is nice to be drafted by every team but for sure you want to be together. It is an unbelievable feeling.” 

Path to the dream

Goaltender Pavel Moysevich,
19 years old, has become the third Belarusian selected in the NHL Draft. The Vegas Golden Knights selected Pavel Moysevich with the 83rd pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. While Ilya Protas, like Artyom Levshunov, has already managed to prove himself overseas, Pavel Moysevich has a different story. He played for Belarus’ national junior ice hockey team, and in Kapitan Stupino, Moscow Region. Since the 2022 season, he has been in the SKA St. Petersburg system. Pavel did not hide it — the fact that he was drafted by Vegas was very unexpected. “I am sure every boy in the world who has played hockey dreams of playing in the NHL. I am no exception. I want not just to play in the world’s strongest league, but to win the Stanley Cup and the Vezina Trophy [annual award given ‘to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position’ — Editor’s note]. This is my main dream and I will do my best to achieve it,” belarushockey.com quoted the athlete.

ONLY FACTS

Forty-two Belarusian hockey players have been selected in the NHL Drafts throughout history, the first being Yuri Krivokhizha who attracted the attention of Montreal Canadiens in 1998. Belarusian players receive invitations from the clubs of the world’s strongest league at the ninth talent fair in a row. However, this is not a record: the longest streak when Belarusians were drafted lasted ten years — from 1988 to 1997. The current streak started in 2016, when the Calgary Flames picked Stepan Falkovsky. Last season turned out to be a record one for the number of Belarusians drafted: back then, the NHL clubs paid attention to five players from our country.

By Tatiana Litvinova