After their season was brought to a close via a loss to St.Cloud State in the NCHC Playoffs Sunday, CapFriendly reports that the Chicago Blackhawks have signed defenseman Wyatt Kaiser from the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. A third-round pick of the Blackhawks during the 2020 NHL draft, Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago shares that Kaiser will report directly to the Blackhawks.
Kaiser will earn $917K in all three years of the deal, and it will run through the 2024-25 NHL season. This means that regardless of how many games he plays this season, the first year of his entry-level contract will be burned. If Kaiser is returned to the minors at any point throughout the contract, he will make a salary of $80K at the AHL level.
CapFriendly also announced the breakdown of Kaiser’s entry-level contract, the breakdown is as follows:
2022-23: $808K salary, $93K signing bonus
2023-24: $833K salary, $93K signing bonus, $425K Type ’A’ player bonus
2024-25: $833K salary, $93K signing bonus, $425K Type “A’ player bonus
Over the last three seasons playing for Minnesota-Duluth, Kaiser played in a total of 97 regular season games, scoring seven goals and 45 assists. After winning back-to-back National Championships in 2018 and 2019, Minnesota-Duluth was never able to return to the finals with Kaiser on the roster. In 2021 and 2022, Minnesota-Duluth was knocked out both years by the eventual champions.