In every year of his career so far, Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser has taken a substantial step forward.
Already this season, the 22-year-old Minnesota native has established himself as a permanent NHL defenseman after splitting his time roughly equally between the NHL and AHL last season. He has played in 21 of 23 Hawks games so far and averaged 17:16 of ice time.
The pressing question for Kaiser now requires looking at his long-term path moving forward.
“He’s going to have to find out what kind of player he’s going to be,” assistant coach Kevin Dean said recently. “What’s his role? What’s his identity moving forward?”
“You do see him and think he’s got some offense, and he certainly plays well and competes hard defensively. He’s going to have to dial in, and that takes time. I think he’s going to be a really good first-pass, hard-to-play-against — via his skating — guy that can be a secondary threat off a rush. He’s going to have to live with some mistakes and find that out for himself.”
Kaiser, a quiet but thoughtful man, has clearly spent time contemplating his own answer to that question.
“My style is defense first, offense second, so making sure I’m solid in that defensive end and then transitioning to offense,” Kaiser said.
“I break up a good amount of plays, but it’s now making that next play: How can I create that next good domino? Where I make a clean tape-to-tape pass and now we’re out…[and] then I’m contributing to the offense, as well, hopping up in the rush with skating and making good decisions at the point.”
His versatility is a good thing. He’s more physical and more defensively responsible than most offensive defensemen, and he’s more creative moving the puck — and also smaller and lighter — than most defensive defensemen.
But when Hawks management brainstorms what they want their, say, 2026-27 defensive depth chart to look like, Kaiser’s versatility manifests more like ambiguity.
It makes him more difficult to write into one specific box than most of the other promising young defensemen in the Hawks’ pool: Alex Vlasic, Kevin Korchinski, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel and potentially Nolan Allan and Ethan Del Mastro.
In the years ahead, Kaiser will need to demonstrate where he best fits within that stacked position group. It’s worth noting he will need a new contract next summer, too.
“Because he’s such a good skater, he’s very competitive and he’s not afraid to get inside guys, I think he’s going to be a really good defender — especially off the rush, because his gaps are terrific because of his skating,” Dean said. “I think he will evolve into a second-layer offense [contributor, too].
“I don’t know if he’s going to be running a power play…but right now, let’s just get from A to B, which is simple, strong plays where you can earn your next shift. If he keeps doing that and getting shift to shift to shift for a couple years, he’s going to be in a good spot.”
In the meantime this season, Kaiser is working on reading options and making smarter, faster decisions when possessing the puck.
Dean has talked to Kaiser about deciding when to shoot and when to pass or rim the puck deep in the offensive zone, for example, hoping to reduce the frequency with which his shots get blocked. He’s still awaiting his first NHL goal entering his 63rd career game Sunday against the Blue Jackets.
Coach Luke Richardson, moreover, has talked to Kaiser about keeping his feet moving on retrievals and breakouts in the defensive and neutral zones. He sometimes holds onto the puck too long, so Richardson wants him to either assertively move the puck north or — in certain situations — utilize his skating skill to circle back and give himself more time and space.
A similar case
Hawks prospect defenseman Ethan Del Mastro is six months younger than Kaiser and not quite as far along in his development, but he’s a similar case in terms of his versatility leading to ambiguity when determining his long-term role in the defensive depth chart.
At 6-4, he’s bigger and more imposing than most offensive defensemen, but he’s also more offensive-minded than his size implies.
After an amazing first pro season in 2023-24, representing Rockford in the AHL All-Star Game and leading all Rockford defensemen in scoring with 37 points in 69 games, Del Mastro’s role has changed greatly this season.
Ethan Del Mastro’s role on Rockford’s defense has changed this season.
Jenna Spanola/Rockford IceHogs
He has become a stay-at-home partner for offensive dynamos Korchinski and Levshunov, and he has lost his spot on the top power-play unit. As a result, he has recorded just three points in 16 games entering Saturday. Meanwhile, his partner from last season, Nolan Allan, has suddenly become a full-time NHL player.
“[Ethan is] getting used to playing less minutes and adapting your game to that,” Rockford coach Anders Sorensen said. “We’ve had some good conversations about, ‘What is he going to be in the NHL?’ He’s really mindful about realizing what he’s going to be, and he’s working toward that. [When] you go from 22 or 24 minutes to playing 20 or 18 minutes, sometimes it takes a little time.”
Said Del Mastro: “I’ve done a lot of Hockey Canada events where I’m playing with offensive guys and had to pull back on the reins. They’re great players and love to get in the rush, so [it’s about] working with them. [I’m] not completely leaving the offensive side, still trying to be a two-way player, but knowing when it’s time to jump.”
In the coming years — as their rebuild nears its end — the Hawks will inevitably end up trading some of their squeezed-out prospects for more established guys, because they simply won’t be able to fit all of these similar-age players. Del Mastro, who will turn 22 in January, could fall into that bucket.
But for now, he’s obviously hoping and preparing for a future in Chicago, and Sorensen is working with him to figure out what that future could look like.
