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It has been a big year so far for Frank Nazar.
He won a gold medal with the United States national team at the IIHF World Junior Championship in January and helped the Michigan Wolverines reach the Frozen Four last week.
Also in January, he had a milestone birthday — at least a milestone in his mind.
“It’s a weird one, turning 20. Getting out of the teens,” Nazar told the Tribune back then. He added that he felt “not too great. Getting old. It means another step toward my future.”
Well, his future has arrived.
After signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the Hawks on Saturday (with a $950,000 annual salary cap hit), Nazar made his NHL debut Sunday during the Hawks’ home finale against the Carolina Hurricanes.
After Nazar took his rookie lap to cheers, he was in the starting lineup for puck drop and won the faceoff against Jordan Staal.
Frank Nazar, going bucket-less and wearing No. 91, takes his rookie lap at the United Center before the Blackhawks’ home finale Sunday. pic.twitter.com/7zkwIWPSfr
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) April 14, 2024
Coach Luke Richardson announced before the game that Nazar would dress and Colin Blackwell would be scratched.
“We have no problem putting him at this level,” Richardson said of Nazar. “It’s going to be a lot of information for him today.
“Really for him (it’s) keeping it simple. We don’t need for him to do anything extra special, let it happen and when he gets into a position where it’s wide open, he’ll see it because he’s a good player.”
The Hawks drafted the 5-foot-10, 181-pound forward with the No. 13 pick in 2022, six spots behind soon-to-be teammate Kevin Korchinski.
Richardson saw some of Nazar’s play in the college playoffs and World Juniors and was impressed.
“He looked great,” he said.”Complete kind of player, looks very intelligent out there and positional, (and) has the ability to make big plays.
“You saw that one goal in the playoffs in Michigan making a between-the-legs sauce pass for a goal. It wasn’t really risky. It was just the right move and he can make those big plays at the right time. We’re hoping to see what kind of transition he can bring here to the NHL.”
Nazar will center a line with Jason Dickinson (left) and Joey Anderson (right), with a plan to possibly mix lines later in the game.
Nazar also could see time on the power play and penalty kill.
“If he doesn’t, it means the first until might score early,” Richardson said. “He killed penalties in college as well. … He’s an intelligent guy with a strong stick, so we’ll try to use him a little bit on the PK too.”
Nazar expressed how important those other aspects of the game are to him. He felt critics had knocked him for his defense while with Michigan.
But he got the chance to prove himself in Sweden.
“Just being able to play on the PK and playing those positions where if we need to keep the puck out of our net, just the coach’s trust in my linemates and myself to go out there and be able to get the job done,” he said.
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