Chicago Blackhawks
Team Leader
Wyatt Kaiser Earning Blackhawks’ Faith, Confidence
Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...t-kaiser-earning-blackhawks-faith-confidence/
Wyatt Kaiser is an important piece of the Chicago Blackhawks’ future.
His name has come up frequently in comments before an after games here and on social media. And we talked about him a lot this summer and all the way up to the start of training camp as his contract negotiations dragged until hours before the first practice in September. His play after he was recalled from Rockford for good was impressive, and led to expectations he could be a significant player for the Blackhawks this season.
Thru the first seven games of the 2025-26 season, Kaiser has backed up the words and data telling us he could be a critical player on the Blackhawks’ blue line. Indeed, we’ve been seeing more GameScore Impact Cards for the Blackhawks with Kaiser listed where he was on Sunday night: near the top.
I went to Natural Stat Trick and search for skaters who have played at least 110 minutes thru Sunday’s games. Kaiser ranks tenth overall — ninth among defensemen — in expected Goals For percentage (xGF%) in the entire NHL.
Some of the defensemen who had played at least 110 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time with a lower xGF% than Kaiser: Vladislav Gavrikov, Moritz Seider, Seth Jones, Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber.
According to MoneyPuck, Kaiser ranks 19th out of 119 defensemen in the NHL (with at least 100 minutes played in all situations) in On-Ice Expected Goals Against/60 minutes (2.58). Kaiser’s on-ice goal differential (plus-five) is tied with Lane Hutson, Mikhail Sergachev and Josh Manson for fifth-best in the league in that group.
Matt Marton-Imagn Images
Kaiser has been more physical that we’ve seen in his previous NHL stints. He’s been credited with 10 hits in 7 games (1.42 per game), which is well higher than his career rate (0.83). Kaiser has been credited with six takeaways in seven games; last year, he had a career high 23 takeaways in 57 NHL games. Again, well above what we’ve seen previously.
When we look at the players the Blackhawks have selected in the first rounds of drafts since Kyle Davidson began his aggressive rebuild, so much has been said and written about the pressure on the organization and players for those youngsters to develop into top-tier players. Especially the guys taken at/near the top of the first round.
Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel are viewed as the top defensemen for the future of the Blackhawks. They’ve spent the majority of their ice time early this year with Kaiser and Alex Vlasic, respectively. In many ways, that puts pressure on Kaiser (23) and Vlasic (24) — both of whom are still developing in their own right — to help the progress of the program as a whole.
I’ve referenced it previously, but Mark Lazerus wrote a nice piece on how — and why — Kaiser and Levshunov have worked so well together this season. Helping a young, raw defenseman like Levshunov isn’t an easy assignment for any veteran defenseman. But a guy who has skated a whole 98 NHL games before the start of this season?
There will be moments where we’re reminded Kaiser is still young, like the penalty he took late in the third period on Sunday night. But there are increasingly more moments where he looks like he belongs playing big, important minutes on a team that has bigger aspirations than not drafting in the top five any more.
Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...t-kaiser-earning-blackhawks-faith-confidence/
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