The league seems to be going in a bleak direction due to the increasing salary cap and the rise of young players to stardom. This trend is mainly circulating around developing teams in small and big markets but presenting an emphasis specifically around teams that are undergoing a prolonged rebuild. With the Chicago Blackhawks tossing and turning between taking that next step towards contention, extending a forward that has had one semi-full year in the NHL seems to be perplexing to say the least.
Who is Frank Nazar?
Drafted 13th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2022 after taking part in a semi-three-way trade, Nazar is now being slated as the Blackhawks' next second-line center. After showcasing a promising stint in juniors, two full years at the University of Michigan, winning gold at the 2025 World Championships with Team USA, and now more than half of a year in the NHL, Chicago elected to present him with a massive extension that kicks in 2026-2027.
Frank Nazar is being heralded as the next generation of centers and is poised to play as Connor Bedard’s understudy for the next eight years now. While Nazar had a great preseason and has been exemplary outside the NHL, he has been quite average from his first year in the NHL and now in his second. In his first season in the league, Nazar has posted 12 goals and 14 assists for 26 points in 53 games.
While this had him at a 19-goal and 22-assist pace if he played the full 82 games, Blackhawk fans will have a critical question hanging over their head for the next few years of Nazar’s new contract: What if he isn’t worth that money? Now, maybe this can be seen as just a statement born out of overthinking, but it is a necessary question to ask for a young player who has not only played one season in the NHL and has been presented with generational wealth plus expectations, but whose destiny is also intertwined with a rebuilding team that may have no sense of direction.
Tale of Two Extensions
Nazar is a skilled two-way center that has shown exemplary potential to become a force in this league. But let's compare him to another top-six center who also received a lucrative contract, but with the Minnesota Wild taking the rational decision of a bridge deal. Marco Rossi has something that Frank Nazar currently doesn’t have: Experience. Sure, Rossi has two more years notched on his belt than Nazar, but his level of consistency, especially considering the detrimental circumstances of the seasons he has produced in, has earned him a level of faith regarding his numbers.
Rossi, in his three years in the NHL, has jumped from a third-line center to Joel Erikson-Eks' shadow on the second line (and likely first-line center of the future for the Wild). After a small yet lackluster sample size in his first year, only producing 1 assist in 19 games, the Austrian forward exploded in the 2023-2024 season by scoring 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points in 82 games. He followed up that stellar performance with a career year with 24 goals and 36 assists for 60 points in 82 games.
Rossi should be commended for his level of consistency that has displayed why he has earned the contract that the Wild have granted him. With him being entrusted with another year on Minnesota’s top-six, it should make Blackhawk fans wonder why their second-line center, who has only had one total year in the NHL, is making more than Minnesota’s futre top centerman, who has produced at a relatively elite level for two full (82-game) seasons.
Is the Windy City Ready to Contend?
Now it’s time to examine Chicago’s current situation. The Blackhawks, as they are looking at a prolonged rebuild, are simply likely not competing anytime soon. Their flagship piece in Connor Bedard has been ill-equipped in General Manager Kyle Davidson’s attempt at providing a stable development environment for his prospects.
Ranging from veterans such as current Los Angeles King Corey Perry and current captain Nick Foligno to middle-six players like Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen, to say that Bedard has struggled in this system is becoming an understatement. In fact, there have been rumblings amongst the NHL community about whether Bedard is really as generational as he was hyped up to be. While these rumors can be easily discarded and swept away, it does pose some questions about the team's treatment of their franchise center.
But it's time to face the music; it's not Bedard that should be receiving the flak, it is the management and the coaching, who have instead resorted to bestowing their younger players with cash to entice them to weather the storm while they continue to attempt to use their cap space to attract talent. But with Nazar and now Spencer Knight being signed to exuberant contracts, that cap space and patience from amongst the players and fans, is starting to run out.