The Chicago Blackhawks called up Frank Nazar from the Rockford IceHogs on Friday. He is set to make his season debut against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Nazar is the leading rookie scorer in the AHL and deserves this opportunity.
Nazar made it just in time for practice on Friday where he was given 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
Hall – Nazar – Bertuzzi
Foligno – Dickinson – Mikheyev
Maroon – Reichel – Teravainen
Nazar looks to be the second-line center with Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi on his wings. With the way that Hall and Bertuzzi have been playing lately, this is great news for Nazar.
Philipp Kurashev and Ryan Donato are being bumped up to the top line to accommodate this Nazar transaction. Connor Bedard, who has been on fire since the coaching change, will be looking to gain some chemistry with both of them.
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 the young prospect be in the best position to succeed. The interim head coach feels that Nazar centering Hall and Bertuzzi is the right move to start.
That third line of 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 of them are solid in their own end. Against a fast team like the New Jersey Devils, this line will play some big important minutes.
The fourth line is where things are interesting. Pat Maroon and Lukas Reichel make sense there but Teuvo Teravainen is slotted in to be the fourth line RW there. That’s a big downgrade for the struggling Finnish winger. Still, Maroon and Reichel are both skilled enough to make plays with him at even strength. Sorensen is hoping that a move like this gets Teravainen going.
Missing from the lineup will be Craig Smith who is out with a lower back injury. Nazar is taking his lineup spot but playing way 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 make high-IQ plays to feed his teammates for good chances. With Nazar’s playmaking and ability to shoot, both of these guys make sense for him as linemates.
This is a great opportunity for Nazar. He wasn’t called up to watch from the press box or play in the bottom six. Sorensen is getting him in the lineup with good players right away. This is a bit step in his development.
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