Blackhawks thoughts: Wyatt Kaiser eyes higher ceiling after first full NHL season

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff projectionsNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterNHL Regular Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser on his first full NHL season: "I think I've grown this season, and there's still things to work on, obviously." Matt Blewett / Imagn Images Share full articleCHICAGO — One of the things working against Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser during contract negotiations before this season was that he bounced between the AHL and NHL his first two years and hadn’t played a full NHL season. On Wednesday, the 23-year-old Kaiser will change that, completing an entire season in the NHL. “It’s crazy because it’s felt really long but also really short — like, training camp didn’t feel that long ago,” Kaiser said after practice on Tuesday. “There’s been lots of ups and downs, kind of just working on staying with the mental side of it. Like, hey, three games slipped maybe, but you don’t let that continue to downfall. … I think I’ve grown this season, and there’s still things to work on, obviously.” Based on Corey Sznajder’s tracking data, Kaiser was the Blackhawks’ best defenseman at carried defensive exits per 60 minutes and retrievals leading to exits per 60. He led Blackhawks defensemen with six goals at five-on-five. He thinks he has more offense in him, too. “It’s always a focus,” said Kaiser, who plans to spend most of his offseason in Chicago. “It’s like, defensive side, it’s really solid. We’ll continue to get that stick better, win more battles, get out of the D-zone, so we can play more offense. But now, it’s when you get some of those pucks at the blue line or off the rush, it’s how can we be more effective or what are better options (offensively)?” Kaiser was too risky around opponents’ blue lines lately and had turnovers that led to goals against. “You just got to learn quick (from those mistakes) since you don’t get to make too many of them,” Kaiser said. “So just continuing to work on that balance and still adding more and more offense. I also think as the team continues to do better offensively, that will come.” Here are 20 more thoughts on the Blackhawks: 1. Former Blackhawks defenseman and Hall of Famer Duncan Keith weighed in on Kaiser recently. “I got to meet him when we were here in January,” Keith said of Kaiser last week. “He looked bigger on the ice, so I hope I looked that big when I was playing. He moves really good and he’s a good-skating defenseman. He’s scored some pretty highlight-reel goals over the last couple years. I remember catching a game when they were playing in Anaheim and the way he moved in there. There’s a ton of potential for them, as well. It’s about everybody finding what they do really good and trying to excel at it. He’s a good skater, so getting the puck up to guys like Connor (Bedard).” Kaiser wasn’t aware of what Keith said. “That’s neat,” Kaiser said. “I’ve talked to him a few times. Just the way he thinks hockey is awesome. We kind of do have like the forward gaps, where we’re kind of like a little smaller, quicker forward gaps. It’s fun watching his game or talking to him because he’s been such a great player.” 2. There’s a very slim chance the Blackhawks hold onto the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick this year. Let’s walk through a couple of scenarios where the Panthers’ pick falls outside the top-10 protection. As of now, the Panthers are in 25th place, which would guarantee them staying in the top 10 in the draft lottery. For one, the Blackhawks need the Panthers to win their regular-season finale in regulation. That would give them a .512 points percentage. The St. Louis Blues need to lose their final game in regulation. If both of those things happen, the Panthers would drop to 24th place, or the ninth-worst team. The odds would still be really low for the Panthers to fall to No. 11 in the lottery. If those two things happened and the San Jose Sharks lost their final two games in regulation, the Panthers would jump to 23rd place, or the 10th-worst team. They’d still have a 73.3 percent chance of landing the 10th pick in the lottery, but it would be possible for the Blackhawks to keep the pick. Again, it’s more likely that the Blackhawks will take over the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2027. 3. Oliver Moore’s season is officially done after suffering a lower-body injury March 8. The Blackhawks decided it’s not worth playing him in the final game. So, what’s ahead for him this offseason? He plans to focus on the mental part of the game. “There’s a lot of things I can do better,” Moore said on Tuesday. “Junior to college, I didn’t have to think the game as much. Here, you have to really think the game. A lot of the steps I’m going to take this summer and going forward aren’t going to necessarily be physical or anything like that. I’ve put in the work there. It’s just now learning the ins and outs of the game. You look at guys like (Nikita) Kucherov, (Patrick) Kane, (Connor) McDavid, (Nathan) MacKinnon, they’re all obviously physically gifted, but they have that ability to think the game, as well. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but that’s what I want to improve on.” Moore does feel like he’s already started that process. “Even over the past four or five weeks, watching games and talking to people here, it’s been a good opportunity for me to take a step back and really realize, ‘How is the NHL game played?'” Moore said. “There’s a lot of times guys aren’t moving extremely fast out there, (even though) the puck moves fast. Over the summer, continuing to watch film. It sounds cliché, but honestly, I think it’s going to help me a lot.” 4.  In Sznajder’s data, Moore is second on the Blackhawks in scoring chance assists per 60, behind Connor Bedard. If Moore can be that type of creator, they’ll find a spot for him up the lineup. Moore was also second to Bedard in shots off the rush per 60 and zone entries leading to scoring chances. The Blackhawks need more players setting up teammates in high-danger areas, too. Bedard was the only Blackhawks player this season who had notable numbers in that category. 5. The Blackhawks will stick with the five-forward power play unit for the season finale. It’s hard to say whether the Blackhawks will consider the strategy next season. Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill was asked about it after practice on Tuesday. “I’ve liked it overall,” Blashill said. “I thought (Monday) we were too careless with the puck, but overall, I’ve liked it. I think Bedsy looks good up there. He definitely does a great job of quarterbacking up there, does a good job of getting pucks to the net and finding the right guy.” Since the Blackhawks went to five forwards eight games ago, they’ve scored four goals on 32 opportunities for a 12.5 percent rate. Before that, the Blackhawks scored 36 goals on 201 chances for a 17.9 percentage. The power play was trending negatively when they opted to switch. Blashill has to ask himself whether Bedard is best served as an effective power-play quarterback. He passes the eye test at the top of the power play unit: The puck moves a lot quicker, and there’s more action while he’s up there. Maybe as Anton Frondell figures out how to score with his one-timer on the power play, the unit will become more dangerous. But Bedard has not been as dangerous as a scoring threat in this system. He’s further away from the net, and it’s harder to beat a goalie from distance, especially when Bedard isn’t able to shoot as many one-timers, which often catch the goalie moving. He hasn’t scored on the power play in the last eight games. He scored 2.04 goals per 60 minutes before the switch. His shots on goal per 60 minutes have dropped slightly from 14 to 11.22. 6. The Blackhawks understood that handing their defense to a group of young, inexperienced players would be a challenge after the trade deadline. I don’t think they imagined it would be this challenging. Since trading Connor Murphy and losing Matt Grzelcyk to a season-ending injury, the Blackhawks’ defense inconsistencies have grown. As much talk as there is about adding offense this offseason, one of their priorities will likely be adding a veteran defenseman, which could force them into a difficult decision with a young defenseman. Still, they would be rolling the dice if they bank on the current young defense to carry them next season. 7. Ethan Del Mastro hasn’t made a ton out of his opportunity since the deadline. In his 15 games, the Blackhawks have been outscored 12-2 and had an expected goals percentage of 35.21 with him at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. 8. The Blackhawks wouldn’t have minded if goalie prospect Adam Gajan had gone back to Minnesota Duluth for one more season, but he was eager to sign and start his pro career. “I think it was my goal, one of the biggest goals for me this season, to have a good year and sign after the year,” said Gajan, who had a .908 save percentage in 33 NCAA games this season. “Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of school. That’s probably a part of it. And then, a big part is, I worked with (Blackhawks goalie development coach) Matt Smith at development camps, and I know how great of a goalie coach he is. That was a big thing for me. I really feel like I need someone working with me every single day. He will help me to get my game to another level that I think I can get.” 9. Gajan made his pro debut for the AHL Rockford IceHogs against the Chicago Wolves on Sunday, stopping 36 of 39 shots. He had faced 30 or more shots only four times this season. “I don’t know if there was any game where I got more shots than my first pro game,” Gajan said. “I feel like it’s always easier to play when you have a lot of shots. The only tough part is the Wolves’ rink is super hot. I heard from other guys: It’s probably the hottest rink they play all season. I was kind of battling that, especially the first period. But other than that, I felt great.” For the record, he did face 40 shots against Colorado College in November, stopping 38 of them. 10. Gajan’s arrival adds a fifth goalie to the Blackhawks’ pool for next season. They already have Spencer Knight, Arvid Söderblom and Stanislav Berezhnoy signed for next season. Drew Commesso, who will be a restricted free agent after this season, is expected to re-sign, too. That could mean the Blackhawks will put Gajan or someone else with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel. “I wasn’t thinking about it,” Gajan said of the goalie pool. “Next year, anything can happen. With goalies, you never know. It might happen that I’m sent down. It might also happen I might get a game in the NHL if some injury comes. With goalies, you just never know. There’s only one net and two guys with each team, but with injuries, you just never know.” 11. Gajan is leaving Rockford this week to join Slovakia in preparation for the World Championships in Switzerland. It’ll be interesting to see who joins him. Bedard would be an obvious candidate for Canada, but players aren’t always comfortable playing in that tournament without an NHL contract. Alex Vlasic and Frank Nazar played for the U.S. last year. Could Kaiser and Knight be candidates this season? Frondell will likely draw interest from Sweden. I’m not sure how much Teuvo Teräväinen would have left in the tank for Finland. 12. Forward prospect Jiri Felcman, a 2023 third-round pick, recently signed an NHL entry-level contract, which begins next season. After playing in Switzerland this season, he’s gotten in five AHL games with the IceHogs. While the Blackhawks have been encouraged about his transition to North America so far, he’s not as pleased. “I think there is a lot to improve on my side,” the 20-year-old Felcman said this week. “I haven’t been very happy with the way I played. But I think the teammates and everybody helped me a lot to adjust to this league a little bit. But I still need to improve a lot of things in my game.” Felcman said he thinks he especially needs to improve his speed and strength to win more battles. 13. Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi are the only two players who have been on the ice for more five-on-five goals for than against since the trade deadline. The Blackhawks have a 19-12 edge with Bertuzzi on the ice and 10-9 with Frondell. 14. Ilya Mikheyev has been the Blackhawks’ star producer since the deadline. He leads the team with six goals at five-on-five over the last 20 games. He and Bertuzzi are also tied for a team-best 11 points at five-on-five during that stretch. Will Mikheyev re-sign with the Blackhawks? He may have helped himself by waiting for a better offer from them. He’s played some of his better hockey this season as of late. 15. Analytically, Bertuzzi was the Blackhawks’ best all-around player in Evolving Hockey’s model this season. He had 16.8 goals above replacement. Murphy was second with 9.1, then Grzelcyk (7.4), Jason Dickinson (6.1), Nick Foligno (4.2), Moore (4.1) and Bedard (1.5). Bedard was dragged down by his defensive metrics. It hasn’t helped that the Blackhawks have been outscored 23-11 with him on the ice at five-on-five since the deadline. 16. At the other end, Artyom Levshunov is at minus-11.3 goals above replacement, Colton Dach is at minus-5.5, Landon Slaggert is at minus-4.5, Del Mastro is at minus-3.8 and Teräväinen is at minus-3.5. 17. Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov and Metallurg are rolling in the KHL playoffs. They took their first-round series 4-1 and lead 3-0 in their second-round series. Kantserov has been quieter in the playoffs with two goals and two assists in eight games, but he’s still averaging 18:55 of ice time. 18. Blackhawks prospect A.J. Spellacy scored an impressive goal in the OHL playoffs on Tuesday. Outside of Frondell and Kantserov, he might be Chicago’s most intriguing prospect come next season. The Blackhawks don’t have any other prospects exactly like him. What a goal from the #Blackhawks prospect to double the @SpitsHockey lead!#WSRvsFLNT | #OHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/hZGKg3kgdt — Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 15, 2026 19. The IceHogs continue to fight, fight and fight some more. They’re up to 49 fights on the season. They fought a total of 53 times over the previous two seasons. Connor Mylymok and Andrew Perrott are tied for a team-leading 11 fights, followed by Dillon Boucher’s 10 and Taige Harding’s seven. 20. If you’re looking for any financial signs of fans’ impatience, it didn’t show up in attendance numbers this season. With one home game remaining, the Blackhawks have averaged 18,913 home fans, good for fourth in the league. Their attendance fell to 17,167 in 2022-23, but it’s been growing since. They averaged 18,836 fans in 2023-24 and 18,836 in 2024-25. Their average this season is the highest since 2019-20. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Scott Powers is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Chicago Blackhawks. Previously, he covered the Blackhawks and the White Sox for ESPN Chicago. He has also written for the Daily Herald and the Chicago Sun-Times and has been a sportswriter in the Chicagoland area for the past 15 years. Follow Scott on Twitter @byscottpowers