According to The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, the Blackhawks have agreed to terms on a two year entry level contract with former Philadelphia Flyers seventh round draft pick, defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk.
Kalynuk was drafted by the Flyers in 2017 but his rights expired this year. The 23-year-old, 6’1″, 181 lbs, left-handed defenseman played for three seasons under head coach Tony Granato at Wisconsin, serving as their captain this past season. Prior to college, he played three years in the USHL with the Lincoln Stars and Bloomington Thunder. He scored at least 25 points each of his three years at Wisconsin and was described by Granato as an “elite offensive defenseman that has the ability to run a power play.”
The signing could be a replacement for former fourth round pick Ryan Shea, who had a great season while also serving as team captain at Northeastern University this past spring but chose to not sign with the Blackhawks and is now an unrestricted free agent.
Kalynuk will have to fight through a pretty dense crop of defenseman to find his way to the NHL, but the path is no worse than it would have been with Philadelphia. The Flyers are stocked with a plethora of defenseman in their system under 24, as well. It’s expected that he will play in Rockford whenever the 2020-21 AHL season begins. Kalynuk will not be eligible to participate in the NHL’s Return to Play tournament this coming August.
Decent pick up for Chicago in a position where they already have some good young prospects that will push NHL roster. Kalynuk has some good offensive tools, skates well. Thought he played better in 2018-19 compared to this season, but has a good base of skills to work with. https://t.co/Oa5JdSqAsx
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) July 6, 2020
#Blackhawks pick up a solid prospect. As a Flyers fan I’m a little disappointed. Was excited to see what he could have brought to the team. But the Flyers do have a lot of depth throughout their defensive core so he mostly likely will have a better path to the NHL with Chicago. https://t.co/bgBGVJeKqR
— Clare McManus (@claremcmanuss) July 7, 2020