The Blackhawks have been struggling recently and have recently fired Luke Richardson and promoted Anders Sorensen to be the new Blackhawks head coach. Sorensen is a good developmental coach and is someone Nazar is familiar with, so it will be more friendly for him.
A couple days ago before the game against the New York Rangers, the Hawks called up young blood and familiar face Kevin Korchinski after he earned a call up for his play in Rockford. Korchinski has played really well and sparkes some life into the team.
Chicago is looking for the same spark on offense with Frank Nazar. Nazar is 20 years old and was the 13th pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Nazar was ready for the call up a long time ago, but the team waited for him to marinate and over-ripen.
Nazar had 11 goals and 13 assists, tallying up to 24 points in 21 games down with the Icehogs. He was projected to have 81 points by the end of the season if he had stayed, which is practically unheard of in the AHL. Last year with the University of Michigan of the NCAA, he tallied 41 points in 41 games.
Nazar got his first taste of NHL play last season and scored a goal in his first game. He was up on the Blackhawks for three games.
Connor Bedard could be positively impacted by this, as he's really struggling with production from his linemates so far this season. Bedard needs someone who can really make a difference, and Nazar could be that guy.
But there's a chance Nazar won't be on the top line right away, so another person that could benefit from this is Lukas Reichel if you want to try something new for him.
Either way, this is huge news, and Blackhawks fans should be very excited on what's to come.
POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 13 | 173 ANSWERS Chicago Blackhawks Make Move Official With Top Prospect Frank Nazar Are you happy with Frank Nazar being called up? | ||
Yea | 163 | 94.2 % |
No | 10 | 5.8 % |
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