The Philadelphia Flyers have lost a prospect, as Wyatt Kalynuk will sign with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Former Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Wyatt Kalynuk has agreed to a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Details of the deal have not yet been released, but there was no doubt Kalynuk, who is a talented puck-moving defenseman, would sign on with another NHL team.
Kalynuk was a 7th round draft selection of the Flyers back in the 2017 NHL Draft and stood out at Wisconsin as he racked up 19 goals and 59 assists in 110 games played in his three seasons at the university. In his sophomore season, Kalynuk would go on to make the All Big-Ten Second Team and was named the Spike Carlson/Chris Chelios MVP as he finished second on the team in goals with 9 and was named a team captain ahead of his junior season.
Wisconsin Head Coach, Tony Granato spoke highly of the now-former Badger.
The Blackhawks WILL be signing Wisconsin defenseman (and former Flyers draft pick) Wyatt Kalynuk to an entry-level deal, per two league sources. One college source said the swift-skating Kalynuk reminded him "a bit of Nick Leddy."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) July 6, 2020
Story: https://t.co/bWyXJ5JV7w pic.twitter.com/GWkP5YKmgO
“He’s got special offensive ability that other defensemen don’t have,” Wisconsin head coach Tony Granato said in March, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “He’s confident, his skating ability allows him to be able to have opportunities offensively that other players won’t have and he can beat the first forechecker.
“He was our go-to offensive defenseman, he got the most minutes on the power play, he was the guy we wanted the puck to go through. He’s an elite offensive defenseman that has the ability to run a power play. We asked a lot of him.”
https://twitter.com/WisconsinOnBTN/status/1069701741896187905?s=20
The move makes a ton of sense for Kalynuk as the Flyers organizational depth would’ve made it hard for him to crack the NHL roster any time soon and at 23 years old he doesn’t necessarily need a lot of time to “cook” in the minor leagues.
If Kalynuk were to sign his ELC with the Flyers, he likely would’ve joined a Lehigh Valley Phantoms defensive corps consisting of Yegor Zamula, Wyatte Wylie, and Linus Hogberg. Wylie and Hogberg both signed their ELC’s this spring.
As a fan of the Flyers, I’m obviously disappointed to lose a player who could’ve provided even more organizational depth as you can never have too much defense in the system, but I completely understand the decision from the player perspective.
Kalynuk likely would’ve never cracked the Flyers roster as their defense corps is already loaded with young players like Ivan Provorov, Phil Myers, and Travis Sanheim.
Add in 2019 1st round pick Cam York and 4th round pick Mason Millman, and the road to the NHL is even more muddied in Philly. So, once again, I’m bummed to see Kalynuk sign on with another NHL club but also completely understand the move from the player perspective and I wish him all the best in Chicago!