Just in the nick of time! With a little over 12 hours until training camp begins, the final piece of offseason business is finally wrapped up.
After about a month of negotiations, the Chicago Blackhawks signed restricted free-agent defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to a two-year contract extension on Wednesday night. The deal carries a $1.7 million cap hit and runs through the 2026-27 season.
Kaiser, 23, was a third-round selection (No. 81 overall) for the Blackhawks in the 2020 NHL Draft. After playing three years of college hockey with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Kaiser signed his entry-level deal with the Blackhawks in March of 2023. He then appeared in nine NHL games at the end of the season, effectively burning the first year of his contract.
Over the last two seasons, Kaiser has played in 89 NHL games with the Blackhawks, tallying four goals and 11 assists for 15 points. The 6-foot, 173-pound defenseman has had an up-and-down start to his professional career, but he’s also flashed capable two-way play in spurts. Kaiser had a strong finish to the 2024-25 campaign, in particular, scoring three goals and adding two assists in his final 22 games. He mostly played a top-four role for the team during that stretch, recording at least 19 minutes of ice time in 13 of his 22 appearances.
Kaiser recorded new career-highs in goals (4), points (8), games played (57), blocked shots (93), and hits (54) during the 2024-25 season.
What Was The Hold Up?
Kaiser wasn’t arbitration-eligible as a restricted free agent this summer, which made reaching a deal a bit more complicated. Instead of having a neutral, third-party arbitrator settle the negotiations, the two sides were left to resolve the situation throughout the summer. With the only real deadline left being the start of training camp, there wasn’t much pressure for either party to agree to a deal… until this week.
Another reason for the holdup likely stemmed from the Blackhawks’ current situation defensively. While the team reportedly believes Kaiser can be a top-four defenseman in the NHL, he still hasn’t shown it much up to this point. Some of that isn’t necessarily his fault, as he’s spent a decent chunk of the last two years developing in the AHL. Regardless, the Blackhawks have a jam-packed group of young defensemen in Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Kevin Korchinski, not to mention depth players like Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, and Louis Crevier. With only so many NHL roster spots available, GM Kyle Davidson has to be mindful of his long-term commitments.
Kaiser and his camp likely felt his performance down the stretch of last season garnered one of those long(er)-term commitments. But with still so much to learn about both him and the entire Blackhawks’ blue line, that type of commitment didn’t make sense for the team right now. After all, he’s yet to play 60 games in a single season.
The swift-skating left-handed defenseman was spotted on the ice at Fifth Third Arena last week during an informal skate along with most of the Blackhawks’ NHL group. Kaiser and the Blackhawks no longer have to worry about him missing any action during training camp, thanks to his new contract.
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