Blackhawks prospect Wyatt Kaiser using lessons from training last summer to push toward NHL

Toward the end of last summer, Blackhawks prospect Wyatt Kaiser casually told his trainer, Tommy Powers, he had gained about 15 pounds during their offseason together.

“I’m like, ‘Holy smokes!’ ’’ Powers said.

“He looked good. You could tell; you could see it. I asked him, ‘Do you still feel good on the ice?’ Because you can put on . . . bad weight, and you can feel a little slow. And he’s like, ‘No, I’ve never felt better. I just feel so solid on my skates.’ That’s when we knew we had a really good offseason.”

Powers, formerly the Panthers’ strength and conditioning coach, opened his facility (Empowers Performance) in the Minneapolis suburbs last spring. Hawks developmental strength and conditioning coach Christian Burrus, a mutual friend, connected him with Kaiser, who became one of his first clients.

And in four months, Powers helped Kaiser take the next step in his development. The Hawks have been thrilled with Kaiser’s performance this season as a junior at Minnesota-Duluth and believe that’s a big reason why.

“It has really translated onto the ice,” said Mark Eaton, the Hawks’ assistant general manager overseeing development. “He’s playing the best hockey that I’ve seen him play in three years since we drafted him.

“It has been a steady rise in his play. He has had a long year with development camp [in July], then World Juniors in August right into Duluth’s season, really without any break, and he looks faster and stronger than ever.”

Physically, Powers taught Kaiser, 20, how to activate his core and glute muscles simultaneously while reducing dependence on his quad muscles, allowing him to not only get stronger but also get more out of his strength.

Beyond the nitty-gritty workouts, though, Powers also shifted Kaiser’s diet toward lean meats and low-glycemic carbs and improved his warmup and recovery habits. The 6-foot defenseman is now up to about 190 pounds but has experienced no corresponding speed or flexibility reduction.

“That helped me a ton [with] learning more about my body, how it functions, some small details about how [it] works and how to better take care of it,” Kaiser said.

On the ice, meanwhile, he’s happiest with his improvements in positioning and reading the game.

“You watch film, and you think about, ‘Why am I here?’ ’’ he said. “And I talk with [Duluth coach Scott Sandelin] a bunch about it. . . . I’m just understanding how to put yourself in spots to be a more efficient hockey player.”

His point production has held steady with 19 points in 32 games this season after 19 in 34 last season. His shot is one weakness — he has scored only six goals in his college career — that he’s aware of and working on.

But within the Hawks’ talented, crowded pool of defensive prospects, Kaiser stands out for his elite transition ability — orchestrating defensive-zone exits and offensive-zone entries — and solid, well-rounded portfolio of other skills. He has legitimate top-four NHL potential.

And he could get an opportunity to show that potential soon. A series loss to St. Cloud State in the NCHC playoffs this weekend could end Minnesota-Duluth’s disappointing season, which has been “frustrating” to Kaiser. The Hawks might try to sign him immediately afterward.

Kaiser didn’t commit one way or another to that possibility, but whenever he arrives in Chicago, Burrus and Paul Goodman — the Hawks’ head strength and conditioning coach — likely will love what they see.

“I was so impressed with how athletic and coachable he was,” Powers said. “It’s so much fun when you get those guys . . . and you tell them [something] one time and do a few demos, and they get it. You’re like, ‘OK, we’re going to get a lot out of these next four months.’ ’’