In his third NHL game in March, Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser was skating down the boards in his defensive zone when he got manhandled off the puck by then-Wild forward Ryan Reaves, who scored a few seconds later.
The play indicated how much physical strength — and NHL-caliber awareness — Kaiser needed to gain this offseason.
That’s exactly what he did. In overtime of a preseason game against the same opponent this past week, it was Kaiser who manhandled veteran Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin in a very similar situation along the boards in the Hawks’ defensive zone. Brodin ended up on the ice while Kaiser accelerated the other way, leading an offensive breakout.
Entering training camp, the Hawks weren’t completely sure yet whether Kaiser was fully ready or needed some AHL seasoning. During camp, Kaiser’s performance decisively proved the former.
When the Hawks finalize their opening roster Monday, there’s no doubt the 21-year-old Minnesota-Duluth product will be on it.
“His skating ability is so NHL-level right now that he’s got to just use that and take his angles. And he’s strong,” coach Luke Richardson said. “He’s probably a guy who, with the way our team is built this year, we’ll have to flip-flop on both sides.”
What Richardson means is the Hawks will use Kaiser on both his natural left side as well as his off-side on the right, since all four of the rookies in contention for playing time — Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic and Isaak Phillips — are natural lefties.
Before playing a couple preseason games on the right side, Kaiser had virtually zero prior experience doing so. Fortunately, he learns things quickly.
“He’s really dialed in,” Richardson said. “When you talk to him, you can tell he digests it and tries to implement it into his game. So he’s really literal that way.”
Playing the off-side requires a few adjustments. When he’s defending an opponent coming down the boards, he’s largely doing so on his backhand. That matters even more when he’s retrieving a puck, because it means he’ll have his back to the play. That requires an extra glance a second beforehand to see where his teammates and opponents are.
“Then when you’re turning up the wall [to make a pass] on your backhand, usually you’re weaker there than you would be on your forehand, so you have to be careful,” Kaiser said.
Conversely, it can be easier to defend a player along the defensive-zone boards on his off-side. He can use his stick with his right hand — poking the puck along the boards — while using his free left hand to grab and push the opponent.
Kaiser will, of course, also get to play the left side. And when he’s in that comfort zone, his skills really shine. He led Hawks defensemen in the preseason with a 56.1% scoring-chance ratio at five-on-five.
“Kaiser is great defensively [even though] he’s not the biggest guy,” Korchinski said. “He uses his skating, his puck sense, his stick, his aggressiveness, and he knows he’s going to recover. He’s awesome at closing gaps, stuff like that.”
The Hawks love how vocal Kaiser is on the ice, given that’s often an area where rookies struggle. His presence makes others around him better. And he looks easily confident and poised enough to handle the adversity of the NHL right now.
“You’re working on your skating in the summer and there’s nobody watching,” Kaiser said. “The hours you put in build your confidence so that when you get [in games] and you’re under a little bit of pressure, you feel like, ‘Alright, I’ve got it.’ You’re not just hoping it works.”
Roster update
Joey Anderson was the only player the Hawks placed on waivers Sunday, likely meaning bubble forwards MacKenzie Entwistle, Boris Katchouk and Reese Johnson and bubble defenseman Nikita Zaitsev all made the team.
That means forwards Philipp Kurashev and Colin Blackwell will both likely be placed on season-opening injured reserve and either Isaak Phillips or Kevin Korchinski will not make the defensive roster, which will be finalized Monday.