Exploring Wyatt Kaiser’s strong finish to the 2024-25 season

(Editor\'s note: Yes, we\'re aware the hockey season ended on Tuesday night. We\'re finishing these season recaps up this week and then we\'ll be all-in on the offseason!)

Wyatt Kaiser emerged as a prime example of being patient when it comes to in-season development for the Blackhawks\' young players. While he endured some early-season struggles, a stint in Rockford allowed the young defenseman to reset and refine his game. When he returned to Chicago, he looked like a different player: poised, confident, and impactful on the ice. Kaiser\'s progression from NCAA to NHL hasn\'t been as successful as Alex Vlasic\'s, but how Kaiser handled adversity this season and the results at the end made quite the case for him to be in the Blackhawks long-term plans.

Like last season, Kaiser made the Blackhawks roster out of training camp, although he didn\'t suit up with the team until the second game. Still the whole team had a rough couple of months to opn the season, and Kaiser was among those who couldn\'t seem to find their footing consistently. He was rotated in and out of the Blackhawks lineup, then yo-yoed between the NHL and AHL staring in mid-December. Throughout all that, Kaiser would have some really good stretches followed by ones in which he was invisible in a negative way. It got to the point where the Blackhawks coaches were questioning what type of role he would have with the Blackhawks in the future.

Blackhawks trying to figure out Wyatt Kaiser's long-term NHL role and identity https://t.co/4hAzbAkEsm

— Sun-Times Sports (@suntimes_sports) December 1, 2024

However, upon his final call-up in March, Kaiser seemed to hit his stride, looking more confident and being rewarded with increased minutes as the season closed out. He was arguably the Blackhawks best defender during the final 20 or so games of the season, flashing the potential that had the organization excited in the first place. The identity that Kaiser leaned into was the one he\'s always had: defense first, but leveraging his skating ability to contribute offensively as a secondary threat off the rush.

This didn\'t necessarily mean Kaiser was going to start appear that much more on the scoresheet -- in the 57 games Kaiser appeared in for the Blackhawks, he recorded just four goals and four assists -- but he absolutely initiated and facilitated offense in a more meaningful way in the last two months of the season. On top of his strong defensive metrics, Kaiser became a more balanced player this past season.

Let\'s take a look at some of the numbers that fueled the strengthening of this identity.

The first thing that stands out is obviously Kaiser\'s high even-strength offensive WAR, showing he was in the top 59th percentile in the NHL this past season. Considering his actual point totals didn\'t hit double digits, it\'s really all about the smaller elements in his game contributing to this above average number. He achieved this through a high shot count, by making clean, tape-to-tape passes and joining the rush when appropriate.

Kaiser\'s high shot rate obviously helps keep his offense rating up, and he did an admirable job with his shot selection to achieve this. His shot attempt rate (7.8 per 60) was sixth on the team and in the 43rd percentile in the league, but his shots on goal rate (4.03 per 60) rate was second among the Blackhawks regular defenders (behind Seth Jones) and in the 65th percentile in the league. Kaiser took his time trying to find the best shooting lanes, dancing along the blue line and generally using his skating to create openings, and timed his shots for his teammates crashing the net. Two of his four assists were tipped or deflected shots, and he had the third highest rebounds created rate (0.65 per 60) among the Blackhawks defensemen.

The clips below showcase Kaiser\'s skating to get into good shooting positions, illustrating both his agility and speed to do so.

Sweet spin move on the blueline from Wyatt Kaiser to create a quality shot pic.twitter.com/fdr51JKYlg

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) March 30, 2025

Chicago goal!

Scored by Wyatt Kaiser with 12:12 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Teuvo Teravainen and Ilya Mikheyev.

Anaheim: 0 Chicago: 1 #CHIvsANA #FlyTogether #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/uMib5jscIw

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 2, 2025

Below are clips when Kaiser\'s shot was tipped or deflected:

October 12th Goal: Philipp Kurashev (1) Assisted By: Wyatt Kaiser (1) & Taylor Hall (1) pic.twitter.com/NI6Y096sYv

— Every Blackhawks Goal (@BlackhawksGinos) November 20, 2024

Captain Foligno to the rescue! #Blackhawks have a 2-1 lead thanks to this neat redirect of a Wyatt Kaiser shot pass.

pic.twitter.com/bxB2GeCJ90

— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) January 4, 2025

Passing was more of a mixed bag for Kaiser. While Kaiser\'s in-zone primary shot assist rate (3.41 per 60) was below average in the 47th percentile, his total shot contributions was exactly league average thanks to his neutral zone assist rate (2.44 per 60), which was in the 55th percentile. All of that means that Kaiser wasn\'t that successful with his passes leading to a shot on goal in the offensive zone -- exacerbated by the Blackhawks being a poor cycle team -- but he was good at springing a player in the neutral zone for a drive that ended up as a shot on goal. Again, this didn\'t show up as points for him much this season, but he often played a complimentary role to an offensive play that did result in a scoring chance or goal. This was a hallmark of defensive players like Niklas Hjalmarsson, who definitely played a role in the transition portion of a goal sequence but did not show up on the scoresheet.

Below are two examples of his neutral zone passing play. In the first, Kasier skated out of the defensive zone before going cross-ice to his teammate right on the blue line for a clean zone entry. In the second, he walked the blue line for a shot, then intercepted a neutral zone pass shortly after before passing up for a rush play that resulted in a shot:

Frank Nazar. 10 seconds into the 2nd Blackhawks on the board

Nick Foligno wins the draw to Wyatt Kaiser, feeds across to Nazar skating in the zone and fires a shot on the blocker side of Georgiev #Blackhawks : 1 #TheFutureIsTeal : 2 pic.twitter.com/Bqc6ZyV3oC

— Joseph (@HockeyJoseph10) March 14, 2025

Wyatt Kaiser is flowing

He walks the line for a shot, then intercepts a neutral zone pass shortly after which leads to a Bertuzzi shot pic.twitter.com/NmQzJjjz2k

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) December 13, 2024

There were some moments when Kaiser showed off strong offensive zone passing, it just wasn\'t as consistent as his transition passing. His passes to the center lane -- something more offensive defensemen do well -- was especially lackluster, dropping down to the 13th percentile, and his high-danger passing rate was also on the lower end, landing in the 22nd percentile. Kaiser doesn\'t need to be a great offensive zone playmaker, but it\'d certainly be better if he could get closer to league average. Hjalmarsson, for example, typically hovered right around average basically from when he entered the league throughout his prime years.

Below is one such example where a high-danger passing play was successful for Kaiser, although his skating is still really the star of the clip:

Chicago goal!

Scored by Ryan Donato with 03:46 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Joe Veleno and Wyatt Kaiser.

Chicago: 2 Vegas: 2 #VGKvsCHI #Blackhawks #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/Okitvi0d6u

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 29, 2025

Unsurprisingly, with a skater of Kaiser\'s caliber, transition plays were key to his positive progression. Last season, Kaiser had one of the worst zone entry rates (4.62 per 60, the second worst among Blackhawks defensemen), but he improved to almost double that rate (9.15 zone entries per 60) and had the highest quantity of attempts on the team. Interestingly, his carry-in success of 39 percent (third best) only dipped slightly from the 40 percent from last year, which is impressive considering how much he increased entries in terms of volume. Additionally, Kaiser wasn\'t too far behind Jones\'s 44.2 percent of successful carries, but Jones attempted much less per 60 (basically just league average).

Here Kaiser protects the puck in the neutral zone then regroups for a zone entry:

Wyatt Kaiser showing off his skill. This was smooth. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/wBlF2ZYeIG

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 11, 2023

For zone exits, Kaiser saw less improvement and saw similar uneven trends as last season. Kaiser continued to thrive in the subtler aspects of the game that reward a smart stick and good positioning, particularly in puck retrievals. He was able to exit with possession about 47 percent of the time, down slightly from the 49 percent rate of last season, but still in the 67th percentile for the league. He also increased his rate of puck retrievals that led to zone exits, moving from 10.48 per 60 last season to 11.42 this season. However, the rest of Kaiser\'s exit numbers are pretty poor, especially when focused on the passing elements: 2.17 exit passes per 60, 10.24 botched attempts per 60, and 3.42 failed clears per 60, leading to his overall success rate at exiting the zone being down in the 3rd percentile. Altogether, this paints Kaiser as a player who can skate the puck out but has issues when trying to pass the puck out. Some of this was due to opponents targeting Kaiser aggressively, but he\'ll need to learn to exit the zone via passing if he wants to be more successful in the league.

Now let\'s take a quick look at what went into Kaiser being an even-strength defensive WAR in the 61st percentile. Skating again was the skillset he most used to be defensively successful this season.

Anders Sorensen on Wyatt Kaiser’s game in Anaheim pic.twitter.com/ReVqC9pcFT

— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) March 3, 2025

Last season, Kasier struggled with defending the blue line, but he turned that around well: 55th percentile for entry denial rate, 57th percentile for possession entry prevention, and 69th percentile for entry chance prevention. His defensive impact was defined by disciplined positioning, an active stick, and being able to skate toe-to-toe with quality opponents. His carry-in percentage agaist was somewhat high, but Kaiser often angled attackers toward the boards, using his body and stick to take away time and space. His gap control consistently forced dump-ins or disrupted controlled entries altogether. Kaiser wasn\'t as effective if a player did get past him, with shot and chance rates against higher than average, but that was the case for every Blackhawks defender.

Also an interesting note, Kaiser wasn\'t a high-quantity hitter -- his 3.12 per 60 rate was seventh among Blackhawks defenders -- but his hits leading to possession was above average in the 55th percentile. Kaiser is on the lighter side at 173 pounds, so it\'s honestly impressive that he\'s able to create separation with smart hitting, focusing more on the right amount of pressure rather than going for the hardest force.

Perfect example is this open-ice hit to break-up a zone entry and allow his teammate to gain possession:

Brett Howden takes a big hit from Wyatt Kaiser, and tries to return the favor, but he misses Kaiser and runs into the boards pic.twitter.com/Mba71Uq4Tb

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) March 29, 2025

Now, what does all this mean for Kaiser going forward? It\'s difficult to predict at this point, thanks to a defensive group that is overflowing with young players vying for a permanent spot on the Blackhawks blue line. The progress he made and the ending to his season would seemingly put Kaiser ahead of some of the more raw, younger players like Kevin Korchinski or Arytom Levshunov, but the Blackhawks may want to get those kids more NHL experience this upcoming season, which could crowd Kaiser out. However, barring a trade of some sort, Kaiser showed enough this past season in becoming a more balanced player that he really should be penciled in for the Blackhawks starting roster next season.

Talking Points