{"id":501833,"date":"2026-03-13T21:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/501833\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T21:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:09:23","slug":"young-center-frank-nazar-turns-up-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/501833\/","title":{"rendered":"Young center Frank Nazar turns up heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frank Nazar\u2019s season started with a bang.<\/p>\n

Fresh off signing a seven-year, $43.16 million extension<\/a> in August, the young Chicago Blackhawks center scored the team\u2019s first goal in the opener and five in the first 10 games.<\/p>\n

That would end up being a rare occurrence for a while.<\/p>\n

Nazar went through a 21-game stretch without a goal from Oct. 30 though Dec. 16 \u2014 though he did have nine assists in that span \u2014 before sounding the horn Dec. 18 in Montreal. He had no chance for a snowball effect when a jaw injury then sidelined him for 14 games.<\/p>\n

Despite the drought, coach Jeff Blashill looked deeper into Nazar\u2019s play and saw some positives, including his improved ice vision, puck play and confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s learning how to have the puck a lot, (and) you have the puck a lot by winning puck battles and making sure you\u2019re not careless with the puck,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cHe (doing) a much better job because he had the puck more, and when he has the puck more, then he has to use his speed, which (is) probably his superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nazar has put his skills on full display in the last four games, compiling six points, including scoring the overtime game-winner<\/a> Monday against the Utah Mammoth. His two goals in that stretch matched his total from the previous 35 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times, (not scoring) can be frustrating, but (it\u2019s) just reminding yourself that that\u2019s part of the game, so all means have to even out,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cJust keep shooting and keep creating those chances, and that\u2019s more important than if they\u2019re going in because sooner or later, it\u2019s gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has kept shooting, putting nine shots on goal in those four games. The 22-year-old Detroit native appears to be getting his mojo back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to get get better at something is jump right into it and practice,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cI think through playing each game I play, the game starts to slow down and you see the plays a lot better. That\u2019s something that has been growing a lot since my first game a couple years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SanBlackhawks center Frank Nazar (91) tries to keep control of the puck against Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren on Feb. 2, 2026, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

While the game has slowed down for Nazar, his superpower \u2014 as Blashill put it \u2014 has not. He has the 10th-fastest skating speed in the NHL this season at 23.76 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a huge aspect, using my speed to either create pressure on the other team and try to make them turn the puck over or push them back and find guys later or create some open spots for my teammates,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cThat and reading the ice well and seeing the ice is something that helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

The heater has put him at 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 48 games, a career high despite his long cold stretches (he had 26 points in 53 games in 2024-25 after playing three games in his first season). Nazar\u2019s best games this season have come while skating alongside alternate captain Tyler Bertuzzi. A Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teuvo Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen line has seen the center\u2019s best production as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s really good on the forecheck and getting the puck, and then he gets to those gritty spots in front of the net, not many guys do that, and he\u2019s so good there,\u201d Nazar said of Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen. \u201cThat pairs well with what I try to do, get the puck up top, shoot the puck and get it to him down low. A lot of props to him for being so smart, so skilled and always making the right play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nazar has learned the little things over time, something Blashill has tried to instill in the younger players this season. Mastering those techniques will lead to more goal opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably most important thing in hockey is being able to see the ice and and being a smart player,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cLook at (Nick Foligno), he\u2019s not still playing now because he\u2019s the fastest player in the league. He\u2019s still playing because he knows the game and he can read everything really well. That\u2019s why he\u2019s able to keep up, play this long and still be a factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nazar refers to Foligno as \u201cformer captain,\u201d along with ex-alternates Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy, all of whom were traded last week. The Hawks are in ground-up mode, so the players\u2019 consensus is wanting to be the ones to step up in the absence of the veteran trio.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I) tried to do that even when they were here, lead by example, work my tail off and go out there and try to be the best player I can be,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be more of a challenge now without them here because then you\u2019ve got to try to do your best, show up every night and not make as many mistakes, but I love challenges and (I\u2019ll) just try to be myself and go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injury updates<\/p>\n

Spencer Knight (illness) returned to practice Wednesday, and Blashill said the goaltender should be ready to play Thursday in Salt Lake City. Goaltender Drew Commesso was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs in a corresponding move.<\/p>\n

Blashill didn\u2019t offer an update on Oliver Moore\u2019s condition following a lower-body injury suffered Sunday in Dallas, other than it won\u2019t affect the forward\u2019s status for next season. Blashill said Monday that Moore will miss \u201csignificant time,\u201d and given the Hawks have only 18 games remaining, Moore\u2019s season could be over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frank Nazar\u2019s season started with a bang. Fresh off signing a seven-year, $43.16 million extension in August, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37,96,5263,800,5,3140,4,857,488,4445,9793],"class_list":{"0":"post-501833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-blackhawks","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","11":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","12":"tag-frank-nazar","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-jeff-blashill","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-oliver-moore","17":"tag-spencer-knight","18":"tag-teuvo-teravainen","19":"tag-tyler-bertuzzi"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116223920762010269","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}