Frank Nazar has had his moments for the Chicago Blackhawks in his first five games since being recalled from the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
There are those times when you see the tremendous speed. You can spot the defensive and offensive upsides. You understand why the Blackhawks are hopeful he’s their second-line center of the future.
It’s plays like this:
Or where he kicks it in another gear on the forecheck like this:
While Nazar has had his moments since coming up, he hasn’t been probably what he or the Blackhawks hoped he would be after spending the first few months of the season in the AHL. He hasn’t produced a point in five games. His offensive game appears out of sync. He’s not playing with the same confidence and aggressiveness he had with the IceHogs. He’s been solid defensively and hasn’t been a liability, so he’s been getting consistent ice time.
But it doesn’t sound like the Blackhawks are concerned at all either. They feel like it’s just a matter of time, hoping to get his confidence up first and everything else will follow. It does help that the Blackhawks are scoring more goals as of late and the expectation isn’t all on his shoulders.
Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen was asked about Nazar after his first four games.
“Good,” Sorensen said. “When he attacks and he takes control, really good. We want to encourage him to keep doing that. We’ve seen what he can do when he gets his feet going and he’s on the puck, so just keep encouraging.”
Let’s take a deeper dive into Nazar’s game and break down some specific areas so far.
Decision-making
Nazar was rolling in Rockford for a bit. Whether he was on the penalty kill, power play or at even-strength, he was playing with a ton of confidence. So far with the Blackhawks, he doesn’t have that same swagger.
Like a lot of young players, Nazar is simply deferring to the veterans too much. This is the best example of that:
This is the look he has at one point and doesn’t even consider shooting.
Sorensen has noticed that tendency, too. Nazar has attempted just seven shots and put three on net in the five games. He was averaging about three shots on goal with the IceHogs.
“Maybe he’s looking to pass a little bit too much at times,” Sorensen said on Friday. “We want him attacking. He can score goals. It’s a different league obviously — bigger D-men, smarter players — but I thought he’s done a pretty good job of that overall though.”
The Blackhawks need more of this from him.
To be fair, he probably deserves a few more points than he has. He gave up the puck to Taylor Hall on this one and wasn’t rewarded.
And this one where Tyler Bertuzzi doesn’t finish his feed:
Some of Nazar’s puck decisions have just seemed rushed, though. He has more time than he probably thinks.
On this play, Nazar wins the faceoff and sees Seattle closing in on him. He finds the ideal outlet in Lukas Reichel, but the pass is behind Reichel and into his skate. It leads to Nazar and the Blackhawks spending about 40 seconds in the defensive zone before getting the puck out.
There are plays like this where Nazar just seems to be a little ahead of what he should be doing.
On this one, he brings the Blackhawks offside after passing the puck.
Nazar has been mostly with Bertuzzi and Hall so far. Sorensen started shaking that up more last game and Nazar spent time with an assortment of players. He and Connor Bedard were together at times. Nazar is expected to be alongside Nick Foligno and Ryan Donato against the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
Away from the puck
Nazar hasn’t been impressive so far with the puck, but he’s been doing largely what they’re seeking without it. He’s been aggressive on the forecheck. He knows where to support his teammates. He understands what Sorensen is looking for in his centers to be an additional layer to scoop up pucks.
His overall five-on-five expected goals percentage hasn’t been terrific at 38.34, but that seems to be more about not creating enough offensively than being terrible defensively. Nazar has been on the ice for two goals against in five-on-five play in the last five games.
In this play from the Kraken game, Nazar waits to see whether he’s better off being in front of the net or hunting the puck. When it appears Bertuzzi can use his assistance, Nazar heads for the puck. He loses it behind the net, but he fights to get it back.
On this next play, he’s the low forward in the offensive zone and sprints back to be a factor defensively.
Nazar helps win the puck off the boards on this next one. He takes off, hoping for the puck, but Bertuzzi doesn’t chance it.
Faceoffs
The Blackhawks were one of the league’s worst faceoff teams before Nazar’s arrival and he hasn’t helped matters. He’s taken 35 faceoffs and won nine of them for 25.7 percent. The Blackhawks can live with a losing percentage, but it has to be higher than that. In the last game against the Calgary Flames, it was notable he only took three faceoffs. As a team, the Blackhawks are 31st in the NHL with a 43.4 percentage.
Penalties
On the plus side, Nazar has drawn three penalties over his first five games. That’s tied for the team lead. On the negative side, he also leads the Blackhawks with four penalties taken during that stretch. Penalties weren’t an issue for Nazar in Rockford, where he had only eight penalty minutes in 21 games.
Below is a clip of a few different categories. Nazar loses the faceoff, passes up a chance in the right circle, chases down a loose puck and then draws a penalty.
Here’s another combination clip with Nazar using his speed as he forechecks, gains the puck in a promising area and then draws a penalty.
Penalty kill
Nazar was one of the IceHogs’ best penalty killers. He and Landon Slaggert could create a short-handed chance whenever they stepped on the ice together. But with the Blackhawks excelling on the penalty kill and going on their recent streak, Sorensen stuck with the veterans. The streak finally ended on Saturday, which meant Nazar got a couple of short-handed shifts and you could see his skill again. That might be an area for him to gain some confidence.
