The Chicago Blackhawks called up Frank Nazar from the Rockford IceHogs on Friday. He will make his season debut on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. Nazar is the top rookie scorer in the AHL and deserves this opportunity.
Nazar arrived just in time for Friday’s practice, where he got a chance to skate with the team before Saturday’s game in Newark. Predicted lines including Nazar look like they could be dangerous:
Kurashev – Bedard – Donato
Hall – Nazar – Bertuzzi
Foligno – Dickinson – Micheev
Maroon – Reichel – Teravainen
Nazar looks to be a second-line center with Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi on the wings. Given the way Hall and Bertuzzi have been playing lately, this is great news for Nazar.
Philipp Kurashev and Ryan Donato are promoted to the top line to accommodate this Nazar transaction. Connor Bedard, who has been on fire since the coaching change, will look to get some chemistry with the two.
Anders Sorensen, who was 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 feels centering Hall and Bertuzzi from Nazar is the right move to start.
Jason Dickinson’s third line with Nick Foligno and Ilya Mikheev should do the job very well. Foligno and Dickinson are capable of scoring big goals, with all three solid in their own game. Against a fast team like the New Jersey Devils, this line will play some important minutes.
The fourth row is where things get interesting. Pat Maroon and Lukas Reichel make sense there, but Teuvo Teravainen is slotted in there as a fourth line RW. That’s a big disadvantage for the struggling Finnish winger. Still, Maroon and Reichel are both skilled enough to play him at even strength. Sorensen hopes such a move will get Teravainen moving.
Craig Smith will be missing from the squad, who is out with a lower back injury. Nazar takes up a spot in the lineup but plays much higher up the order.
For Frank Nazar, Bertuzzi is a wild player who can score goals from all over the ice. Hall is a great playmaker who can make high-IQ plays to feed his teammates off good chances. With Nazar’s playmaking and shooting ability, both of these guys make sense for him as teammates.
This is a great opportunity for Nazar. He was not called upon to watch from the press box or play in the bottom six. Sorensen immediately gets him into a lineup with good players. This is a small step in its development.
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