Frank Nazar ending season how he started it: 10 Blackhawks thoughts

CHICAGO — As Chicago Blackhawks center Frank Nazar knows, there’s nothing like that rush to score a goal.

“I think it’s almost like an energy boost when you score,” Nazar said recently. “Nick (Lardis) and I were talking about it (in a recent game). It’s like, you score a goal, and you get that, like, momentum and energy boost. It’s like you took a caffeine shot or something.”

Lately, Nazar has been getting that rush often. In his past 15 games, he has scored seven goals. He has also had seven assists to give him a team-high 14 points in that span. It’s exactly what he and the Blackhawks were hoping for the end of his season. He finished last season strong and carried that over to the beginning of this season. In his first 10 games this season, it looked like he was going to be the team’s breakout player, and he produced five goals and six assists.

When you combine what he did at the beginning of the season and what he has done recently, the numbers add up to 12 goals and 13 assists in 25 games. That would put him at a point-per-game rate and over 40 goals if he could keep that up for 82 games.

The problem: Nazar’s game fell off. Between his start and finish, he had a 34-game stretch in which he produced two goals and 11 assists. He also missed 14 games after being hit in the face by a puck.

Throughout the season, Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill and his staff have tried to better understand what the difference is when Nazar is producing and when he’s not.

“I think when Frank plays his best, he’s skating,” Blashill said before Tuesday’s game. “That, to me, is his superpower, so to speak. I think he’s done a better job of attacking the game, using his speed as opposed to trying to kind of slow it down and go through people. I think he’s way better when he’s going around people.

“He’s such a dangerous player. That starts probably in our breakouts, kind of getting into pockets low, and once he gets the puck, he can attack. Sometimes when you’re pressing, you get too high because you want to take off, and you take off too early. I just think his timing’s been better. All of that goes with confidence. Again, he’s in his second — this is his first full year. It’s part of the confidence that you kind of grow and learn from.”

Nazar doesn’t normally lack confidence. Even when he wasn’t scoring much, he was still often positive about his game and how he was playing. But there is a noticeable difference when he’s rolling. The confidence is unmistakable.

“I mean, obviously, yeah, you see the puck go in the net, you feel a hundred times better to shoot the puck next time, right?” Nazar said. “You think you can’t miss, right? So, either way, I always felt confident throughout the whole year that I can score and that every shot was gonna go in.”

Nazar scored twice in Sunday’s loss, but he could have had even more. He was so confident that he even attempted to shoot through his legs on one chance around the net and just couldn’t convert.

“Honestly, I probably should have faked it and came back through,” Nazar said. “The goalie comes out pretty far. But no, why not try it, right? Try to do something cool.”

1. Connor Bedard’s position at the top of the first power-play unit came after he asked to try it.

“I played it growing up a bit, a decent amount — I think a couple games in junior I tried it — but I like it,” Bedard said recently. “We got guys that can do it, obviously they’re good, but I think that it’s kind of fun to try something different, and I thought we were getting maybe a little stagnant with some things. But in the end, obviously, that’s the coach’s decision, to … try something new or not. So, I was excited and will hopefully get more comfortable up there.”

One of Bedard’s objectives in playing that quarterback is stepping into the offensive zone further from the blue line and bringing the unit deeper into the zone.

“I don’t watch too much, but Tampa, you watch their power play, how low it all is, and then everyone’s kind of a threat,” Bedard said. “If you’re at the top of the circle, your shot’s a threat and one-Ts (one-timers) are a little lower and more of a threat. If we can do that — obviously, it’s about timing; you can’t really force it right away. But if I can help do that, that would be good.”

Bedard realizes he’s the last player back to prevent a rush the other way, but it’s not where his head is.

“At the end of the day, we’re trying to score,” Bedard said. “I’m not going to be passive or anything. I’m trying to set guys up. So, obviously, if they get the puck, that’s when you got to get back and be responsible in that sense. But I’m not going to play worried of giving up something.”

2. When Teuvo Teräväinen is feeling it, he’s making passes with the best of them in the league. Lately, he’s been noticeably nowhere near that and has struggled at times to make even an ordinary pass in recent games.

What’s going on with him?

“Just overall, no confidence,” he said after Wednesday’s practice. “Kind of hard to play with no confidence.”

Teräväinen acknowledged feeling the wear and tear of having also played in the Olympics.

“I feel like it’s been a long season without really even any breaks,” Teräväinen said. “Of course, you go day by day, but … it’s been a tough season.”

Teräväinen said he has gone through stretches like this before and is able to correct them. He thought he needed to stop thinking about hockey and reset. He also said the Blackhawks’ on-ice struggles haven’t helped his own this season.

“But at the same time, losing, losing, losing sucks too,” he said. “It takes your fun out of it.”

Blashill understood Teräväinen’s confidence issues.

“I hear what Teuvo’s saying,” Blashill said. “He’s probably not feeling it, and that happens. It happens with every player. … One thing with Teuvo is he still contributes, even if he’s not playing a major role five-on-five, because he’s a really good penalty killer and he’s a really good bump on the power play. So those two things, he’s continued to do a good job at.

“Five-on-five, he’s probably not feeling it as well as he’d like to. I think the biggest thing with him is making sure he moves his feet when he gets the puck, and when he does that, he’s a really smart player and can make a lot of good plays. He’ll fight through it. I think he’s been better here the last little bit, though.”

3. Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier had no idea what exactly had been cut when he lost his balance and the Philadelphia Flyers’ Noah Cates caught him with his skate blade near the end of last week.

“It was scary,” Crevier said Wednesday. “I didn’t know where it hit. I just went down and saw blood coming fairly quickly. At that time, I was scared. When I went into the locker room, I kind of felt it was on my jaw more. It felt like it was OK. You kind of see some close calls on the ice sometimes. You feel like it can’t really happen to you. When it does, it’s scary.”

Crevier came away with six stitches and a swollen jaw.

“People say I look like a squirrel eating nuts or something,” he said. “I think it’s going down right now and should be able to take off pretty soon.”

4. Blackhawks goalie Adam Gajan’s turning pro wasn’t completely unexpected. You could sense he might consider it if he had a bounce-back season at Duluth. He did. Being asked to join Slovakia at the Olympics was also a vote of confidence in where his game is going. It wouldn’t be surprising if he gets some games for Slovakia at the Worlds.

5. As for what Gajan’s signing means for the Blackhawks, it complicates their goalie pool a little. Spencer Knight and Arvid Söderblom are under contract next season. Drew Commesso will be a restricted free agent, but he’s expected to re-sign. Stanislav Berezhnoy, who is currently suspended for using a performance-enhancing substance, is signed for next season. Those four goalies will make up the Blackhawks’ and Rockford IceHogs’ goalie tandems in some order.

Gajan, who turns 22 next month, is expected to get most of his starts next season with the Indy Fuel in the ECHL. That could change if there’s a roster move. Gajan also might excel in the ECHL and earn opportunities in the AHL. Injuries could factor into that. But for now, it sounds like the Blackhawks just want to get Gajan a bunch of games and ease him into pro hockey next season.

6. The only prospects who could sign before next season are likely John Mustard, Jack Pridham and Roman Kantserov. Mustard’s sophomore season recently ended at Providence, but there has been no official word on what he’ll do. Pridham and the Blackhawks will likely have a discussion after his OHL season. Kantserov’s talk will come after the KHL playoffs. Marek Vanacker and A.J. Spellacy are also already signed for next season.

7. Unless the IceHogs pull off some miracle in the coming weeks, they’re unlikely to reach the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They have played better lately, but they dug themselves a hole. There have been 27 times this season when the IceHogs allowed four goals or more. They’re near the bottom of the league with 217 goals against.

8. The Blackhawks are officially eliminated from everything but the final Western Conference wild-card spot. They’re 10 points out of that spot. With seven teams ahead of them, it would take something magical. Chicago will likely be eliminated from the playoffs within a week.

9. Though Artyom Levshunov’s hand fracture has ended his season, it isn’t expected to impact his offseason. This should be another important offseason for his development.

10. Marcus Krüger had no problem with Anton Frondell wearing his old No. 16 with the Blackhawks. Krüger and Frondell developed a friendship while playing together in Sweden over the past few seasons. Krüger’s children are also big fans of Frondell.

“Kids will like it,” Krüger texted Tuesday about Frondell changing to No. 16 from No. 15. “Don’t have to buy new (jerseys), just change (the) name.”