The Chicago Blackhawks drafted Frank Nazar from the Rockford IceHogs on Friday. He will make his season debut on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. Nazar is the leading rookie scorer in the AHL and deserves this opportunity.
Nazar made it just in time for Friday’s practice, where he got a chance to skate with the team before Saturday’s game in Newark. The projected lines, including Nazar, look like they could be dangerous:
Kurashev-Bedard-Donato
Hal-Nazar-Bertuzzi
Foligno – Dickinson – Mikheev
Chestnut brown – Reichel – Teravainen
Nazar looks to be the second-line center with Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi on his wings. With the way Hall and Bertuzzi have been playing lately, this is great news for Nazar.
Philipp Kurashev and Ryan Donato are moved to the top to make this Nazar trade happen. Connor Bedard, who has been on fire since the coaching change, will be looking to find some chemistry with both.
Anders Sorensen, Nazar’s head coach in Rockford, knows a lot about his game and how to unlock it. Now that Sorensen is with the Blackhawks, he can help put the young prospect in the best position to succeed. The interim head coach believes Nazar centering Hall and Bertuzzi is the right move to start.
That third line from Jason Dickinson with Nick Foligno and Ilya Mikheyev should do their job very well. Foligno and Dickinson are both capable of scoring big goals, while all three are solid in their own goal. Against a fast team like the New Jersey Devils, this line will play some important minutes.
The fourth line is where things are interesting. Pat Maroon and Lukas Reichel make sense there, but Teuvo Teravainen is used there as the fourth line RW. That’s a major downgrade for the struggling Finnish winger. Still, Maroon and Reichel are both skilled enough to play him at even strength. Sorensen hopes a move like this will get Teravainen going.
Craig Smith is missing from the line-up, who is absent with a lower back injury. Nazar takes his place in the lineup, but plays much higher in the order.
For Frank Nazar, Bertuzzi is a feisty player who can score goals from all over the ice. Hall is a great playmaker who can play with a high IQ to feed his teammates for good opportunities. With Nazar’s play and ability to shoot, both guys make sense for him as linemates.
This is a great opportunity for Nazar. He wasn’t called upon to watch from the press box or play in the bottom six. Sorensen immediately gets him in the lineup with good players. This is a small step in his development.
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