When you're born and raised in
Hockeytown, your first NHL game at Little Caesars Arena should be a
cherished memory. But by the time Frank Nazar checked that box in
January 2025 with a 5-3 Chicago Blackhawks loss to the Detroit Red
Wings, he was already a grizzled vet at that barn. “I played a
pre-season game, a few college games – actually scored my first college
goal at Little Caesars,” he said. “Every time I play there, it’s a
blast. I always have, like, 100 family members, so that makes it a lot
of fun. It’s great.”
Until he turned pro with the Blackhawks in
April of 2024, Nazar had always stuck to his home state. He played with
Detroit’s famed Honeybaked youth program, then developed in Plymouth
with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program before shifting to
Ann Arbor for two seasons at NCAA Michigan.
But
it was a positional shift that may have had the biggest impact on
Nazar’s development. Young players often move from center to the wing as
they reach higher levels. Naturally speedy and somewhat undersized,
Nazar went the other way – pining to play in the middle before finally
getting his chance in his age-17 season. “I had asked my coaches my
whole life, ‘Put me at center,’ and they always told me ‘No, you’re
wing,” he said. “Finally, my first year at the NTDP, I started off as a
wing, and I was not doing well at all. Actually, I was pretty horrible,
I’m not going to lie. Then we had a bunch of guys get sick with COVID,
and we needed a center. I told the coach, ‘Hey, put me at center.’ I was
joking with him, and he’s like, ‘All right, we’ll see.’ He put me at
center, and I had an amazing game and never looked back from there.”
"I think it was really, really good for my development."
- Frank Nazar on his AHL time with coach Anders Sorensen
It’s
not how you start; it’s how you finish. By the end of 2020-21, Nazar
was the leading scorer on a U-17 squad that also included talents such
as Logan Cooley, Cutter Gauthier and Lane Hutson. He finished third on
the U-18 squad in 2021-22, and that June, the Blackhawks picked him 13th
overall.
Though Nazar missed the first four months of his
freshman NCAA season due to injury, his Wolverines reached the Frozen
Four in both of his college years. He, along with many of his NTDP
mates, won his first international gold medal at the 2024 world juniors.
Then, in April, he scored his first NHL goal in his pro debut against
the Carolina Hurricanes.
Last fall, Nazar was assigned to AHL
Rockford to learn the pro game. Playing big minutes in a first-line
center role, he thrived under longtime IceHogs coach Anders Sorensen.
“He allowed me to just go out there and play my game, playing all types
of situations,” Nazar said. “He let me be free, as well, in creating
plays and making plays and having fun out there. He let me be free in
that regard, and I think it was really, really good for my development.”
When
Sorensen was summoned to Chicago to replace Luke Richardson Dec. 5,
Nazar followed a week later, and he never looked back. “I texted him
congratulations, and he texted me right after: ‘It was a great time in
Rockford’ – stuff like that – and ‘we’ll see you soon,’” Nazar said. “It
was really cool to see him say something like that, and I know that he
knows what I bring to the table.”
Though he managed just one point
in his first 10 games after his call-up, Nazar picked up the pace from
there. From Jan. 5 to the end of the season, he logged 25 points in 43
games, including five goals and nine points in Chicago’s last nine
games, while playing second-line center behind Connor Bedard.
"I had an amazing game and never looked back from there."
- Frank Nazar on getting a chance to play center
Brimming
with confidence and looking to play more hockey, he accepted the
invitation to play at the men’s worlds for the first time, and he shone.
He was named one of the United States’ top three players and tied his
NTDP running mate Cooley for the team lead with 12 points in 10 games as
the Americans snapped a gold-medal drought that stretched all the way
back to 1933.
And while the Blackhawks may have struggled to put
wins together last season, Nazar is a glass-half-full guy. He
appreciates the historic moments that were part of his rookie season:
the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, Alex Ovechkin’s record-tying goal
against the Blackhawks in April and the final NHL games for newly
retired teammates Pat Maroon and Alec Martinez.
With Jeff Blashill
now installed behind the Chicago bench, next season is a clean slate
for the team. “I know that every player,” Nazar said, “is going into the
summer with a point to prove.”
This article
appeared in our 2025 Champions issue. Our cover story focuses on
the 2025 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, specifically the elite
play of defenseman Seth Jones, along with a recap of each game of the
Cup final. We
also include features on Sharks center Will Smith and Kraken defenseman
Ryker Evans. In
addition, we give our list of the top 10 moments from the 2024-25 NHL
season.
You can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.
