NEWSLETTER
With all of the veteran additions the Blackhawks made over the summer, there weren’t many roster spots available for young players. One of the young skaters who had a great chance to make the roster was Wyatt Kaiser, but he missed most of training camp because of an “illness.”
Kaiser came into camp in a pretty good competition with the Blackhawks’ depth on the blue line. Kevin Korchinski spent all of last year in the NHL and Ethan Del Mastro and Isaak Phillips both saw NHL action. Nolan Allan was waiting for his opportunity as well after spending his entire first professional season in Rockford. When the dust settled at the end of camp, Kaiser was on IR but remaining with the NHL team.
He was activated after the first game of the season and he’s been good since entering the lineup. Kaiser is healthy, and he’s playing more confident. But getting back to where he started training camp physically took some work.
“I feel like I came into camp in good shape,” Kaiser said Thursday after the morning skate. “I felt pretty good at the beginning of camp. After my surgery I was only not doing stuff for maybe a week. So then once the scar healed up, at least I was able to sweat. I was able to get some work in and get moving a little bit so I didn’t lose too much. But you can’t really replicate a game.”
Kaiser pointed to a small scar on his neck. But his demeanor is the same confident player who came back up last year after he was sent to Rockford to work on his came in his first full professional season.
Part of the marching orders the coaches gave Kaiser when he was sent to Rockford last season was to work on his overall game and play confident hockey. Head coach Luke Richardson has consistently complimented his skating ability and how he handles the puck, but being more settled on the ice was the goal of his time in Rockford.
When Kaiser returned briefly from the IceHogs, he looked like the player who came in right out of college and confidently played in the NHL. He told me the additions of Alec Martinez and TJ Brodie — as well as a healthy Connor Murphy — have been a huge help. But he’s also more comfortable as a professional hockey player.
“I’m definitely more confident in my game and understanding our systems a little bit,” he said. “I feel like last year I was running around a little bit, trying to kill everything, do everything. And this year, I’m a little bit more calm, a little bit more understanding of how the game works. I still have a lot to learn. There’s still going to be ups and downs, but yeah, I think I’m in a decent spot.”
Decent might be an understatement. In his first three appearances of the season — at Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary — Kaiser has been rock solid on the Blackhawks’ third pair with Murphy. According to Natural Stat Trick, Kaiser has skated 48:22 at 5-on-5 entering Thursday’s home opener. He’s been on the ice for an even 21 shots for and against and the only goal scored while he’s been on the ice has been for the Blackhawks.
Kaiser being healthy is great news. Kaiser being a confident, calm defenseman playing well in the Blackhawks structure is a huge benefit to the team’s play. His development into an every night defenseman in the NHL is going to be a strong next step in the organization’s building process.
