The Chicago Blackhawks have yet to sign a contract extension with 23-year-old defenseman Wyatt Kaiser.
Kaiser completed his three-year, $2.75 million entry-level deal and has yet to sign an extension. The left-shot defenseman expects to compete for a full-time role next season. But, the Blackhawks do have a plethora of young defenseman.
With that, NHL insider Frank Seravalli was on Bleacher Report and wondered if the Blackhawks would look to trade Kaiser.
“But the interesting thing for the Chicago Blackhawks and looking at their defense moving forward is, where’s everyone gonna fit? They’ve got so many young guys on that back end, Kaiser part of it, and I think Kaiser and Allen could be your sort of perfect, ideal, prototypical, third pair moving forward,” Seravalli said…
“There’s so many guys taking a step forward. I think the Blackhawks are probably looking at nine to 10 legitimate, realistic NHL defenseman. Someone’s going to have to be on the move,” Seravalli added. “I’m not suggesting at all that it’s Kaiser. But, just wondering how this all ends up working out, because it does become a numbers game. And, I wonder if that’s part of it as well, in terms of these contract talks and where it ends up going.”
Kaiser was selected in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft and played in 57 games with the Blackhawks last season. But, with him still not being signed and Chicago having a plethora of defenseman, perhaps the Blackhawks do look to trade him and get another asset back.
Kaiser has skated in 98 career NHL games, recording 4 goals and 14 assists for 18 points.
Insider: Blackhawks Don’t Want to Commit to Kaiser
Part of the reason why Chicago could look to trade Kaiser is due to the fact that the team hasn’t signed him to a long-term extension.
The Blackhawks have done a good job signing their young players to long-term deals, but Kaiser is one of the few who haven’t been signed. Heading into the offseason, Blackhawks insider Scott Powers of The Athletic claimed Chicago didn’t want to commit to the 23-year-old long-term.
“Kaiser’s contract negotiations will be the most interesting among RFAs. The Blackhawks think the 22-year-old can potentially be one of their top-four defensemen in the years to come,” Powers wrote. “He’s just not definitively that yet.
“He looked much better after returning to the Blackhawks after his final stint in the AHL last season. But, the reality is he still spent time in the AHL last season and had to work through some inconsistencies. The Blackhawks probably don’t want to commit a long-term deal with a significant cap hit to him just yet. With a larger sample, they’ll be happy to,” Powers added.
Kaiser projects to be on the Blackhawks’ second-pairing alongside Artyom Levshunov.
Blackhawks Interim Coach Praised Kaiser
Kaiser really paved out his role with the Blackhawks this past season, and interim coach Anders Sörensen was impressed by him.
After the 4 Nations break, Kaiser really started to find his groove. Sörensen noticed it and heaped praise on him to the media.
“He’s been really good,” Sörensen said… “Second year, as a young D-man coming in and ups and downs of the first year, start of this year, similar things. So now he’s starting to grasp, ‘What am I here? What am I going to be here?’
“He’s a smart kid and when you talk to him I think he’s starting to understand that now. He’s done a good job, too, of understanding, ‘When do I have to just advance the puck, bunt the puck and live to fight another day?’ He’s learning that and he’s done a much better job.”
Kaiser and the Blackhawks will open their season on Oct. 7 against the Florida Panthers.
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