Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
The Chicago Blackhawks have reassigned defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, the team announced Monday.
The move likely signals that Connor Murphy is close to returning from a groin injury that's kept him out of the lineup since Jan. 13. And with Rockford gearing up for the Calder Cup Playoffs, the plan was always for Kaiser to go back down and experience playing meaningful games and postseason hockey.
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Kaiser appeared in nine games for the Blackhawks since his March 18 recall, and he was super steady on the back end. He registered three assists in the nine games and logged more than 20 minutes of ice time three times over that span.
Kaiser's three-month stint in Rockford served him well.
"I’m not sure he was excited to go down — nobody’s excited to go down — but there is a bit of a message on what to work on and he took it seriously and he made the most of it," Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson recently said. "He went down and worked on being the guy that plays a lot of minutes in important situations and he just came back here with, it’s not a chip on his shoulder, I think it’s just confidence.
Chicago Blackhawks
"He’s skating, he’s up in the play, he's killing plays before the blue line, he’s skating himself out of trouble and I haven’t seen a lot of skating into trouble. I just really like his game right now. ... He’s been really good since he’s been back."
