CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks have gone through a lot of different line combinations since Connor Bedard arrived.
The one combination coaches have rarely tried is Bedard with Frank Nazar and Teuvo Teräväinen. The trio has played a total of 9:55 together in the last two seasons. That amount of time tells you it was more of an accident than anything they ended up on the ice at the same time.
That will change come Tuesday when the Blackhawks play the Minnesota Wild. After Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill wanted to get back to the drawing board with his line combinations. What he and his coaching staff landed on was uniting Bedard, Nazar and Teräväinen.
Now that the three forwards are together, it’s almost strange the combination hadn’t been tried before. The trio may just be the Blackhawks’ most skilled forwards. With Teräväinen’s vision and passing combined with Bedard’s shot and playmaking combined with Nazar’s offensive skill and speed, there’s a chance, at least on paper, for the Blackhawks to produce offensively.
“Frankie and Bedsy haven’t played a lot together, small sample size, so we’ll see how they do,” Blashill said. “I think Teuvo is a real good complement because he’s really smart, can put pucks into space for them, but also is really good defensively.”
Bedard and Nazar had some time together last season. They played 253:22 of five-on-five ice time together and had a 41.54 expected goals percentage and a 40.91 actual goals percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick. They were mostly split apart, though, because the Blackhawks envision both being long-term centers. They’ve barely played together this season because of that.
But with Bedard unable to take faceoffs yet because of his recent shoulder injury — Blashill said he wouldn’t start taking them before the Olympic break — and Bedard, Nazar and nearly all the Blackhawks struggling offensively lately, Blashill decided to try something new. Bedard has just one goal, an empty-netter, since his return. Nazar has zero points in his three games back. As a team, the Blackhawks have been held to two or fewer goals in seven of their last nine games.
The Blackhawks used to turn to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on a line when they needed a jump-start. Nazar and Bedard are this team’s version. Teräväinen, coincidentally, would get that reference better than anyone, having been Kane and Toews’ teammate.
“Certainly they’re our two most dynamic forwards,” Blashill said of Bedard and Nazar. “What you hope when you put lines together is the sum is greater than the parts, even. So can they be exponentially better? We hope so. The one thing I got to do is give it some runway. I’ve changed too much here in the last three games or so, trying to find the right spark or the right kind of match. I have to try to stay with it here, just stay with it through the next three games and see how it goes.”
Because Bedard is unable to take faceoffs, that responsibility will fall on Nazar. From there, the situation will determine whether Nazar or Bedard is playing center.
“It’s harder when you’re not taking faceoffs to always be in the center position as much as possible,” Blashill said. “It’s just harder. … Whoever is low is low, so whoever is first back between (Bedard) and Frankie will cover that center spot and cover the D-zone spot. Same thing in the neutral zone. It’s definitely not impossible to learn how to have success that way. I coached (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg and they played great hockey together, even though both were pure centers. You just got to learn that chemistry and learn how to kind of get back into those spots. We’ll see if him and Frankie can develop that chemistry.”
Nazar thought it would work.
“Honestly, it’s kind of better,” Nazar said. “Because it’s kind of been that way my entire life playing with another guy down the middle. It helps coming back to the D-zone. Like, if he’s first guy back, he’s first guy back and he has to play center. If I’m first guy back, I’ll play center. It makes things easier and allows us to play fast.”
Bedard was hopeful they’d find some chemistry.
“(Nazar’s) obviously a great player, everyone knows that,” Bedard said. “Has so much speed and makes so many plays, him and Turbo (Teräväinen). I played with Turbo 10 games last year and then kind of never did again. Looking forward to that. Playing with Frank, obviously played with him a little bit last year. Looking forward to that line and stuff. I’ve played with great players all year, so it’s just kind of adapting to whomever I’m with.”
Teräväinen understood his role.
“Just try to be myself, try to play good both ways,” said Teräväinen, who is expected to play Tuesday in his first game since Jan. 12 due to an injury. “They’re going to make a lot of things happen in the O-zone, so I got to maybe be a little careful and responsible for them out there. Yeah, I’m excited, should be good.”
Frank Nazar is excited to play with Teuvo Teräväinen again. (Mike Carlson / Getty Images)
Nazar was happy to be back with Teräväinen, too.
“Just his sick passes,” Nazar said with a big laugh. “I’m glad he’s back in the lineup, starting to play again. Obviously he’s an Olympian, he’s got a lot of things. He’s a great player. He’s going to help, and I’m looking to help him.”
The Blackhawks also reassigned forward Nick Lardis to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL on Monday. With Teräväinen coming back from injury, the Blackhawks were expected to make a roster decision.
The Blackhawks sending Lardis down wasn’t necessarily about his play. From what I’ve heard, the Blackhawks actually thought he played better than expected in his first NHL stint. His reassignment was just the reality of the roster. With Oliver Moore proving himself at center, Landon Slaggert solidifying himself into a bottom-six role, some realities around veterans and contracts and how the lineup is constructed, the 20-year-old Lardis was the odd man out. He was always likely going to have to blow the Blackhawks away to stay up once healthy.
Blashill was asked after practice, which was before Lardis was officially assigned, of his thoughts on Lardis’ play.
“I think he’s done a good job,” Blashill said. “I think he’s done a solid job. He came in and early on probably trying to find his way a little bit. I thought he got more confident. So I think he’s done a good job of making a first impression to the coaching staff and where he’s at.”
Lardis will go down to Rockford and get a ton of ice time again. It’d be surprising if he wasn’t back with the Blackhawks by the end of the season. He showed he can play with pace, can play with skilled players and can score at the NHL level.