It’s a gargantuan dedication to the 21-year-old Nazar contemplating his lack of NHL expertise. The 2022 No. 13 total choose lands the richest total-value contract in league historical past for somebody with 56 or fewer profession appearances, which is Nazar’s tally coming into the 2025-26 marketing campaign.
Nazar, who nonetheless has one 12 months left on his entry-level contract earlier than his extension will kick in for 2026-27, has but to spend a complete season on the NHL roster. Final 12 months was his first full run within the execs after two years on the College of Michigan, however he made his NHL debut within the ultimate three video games of 2023-24 after signing his ELC. He didn’t make the Blackhawks’ opening night time roster however, after recording 11 objectives and 24 factors in 21 video games for AHL Rockford, was recalled in mid-December shortly after Chicago’s teaching change and by no means appeared again.
He faltered out of the gate, recording just one help and a -5 score by way of his first 10 appearances whereas averaging 14:44 of ice time per sport. However below interim head coach Anders Sörenson, who had overseen his early-season success in Rockford, he was prolonged some persistence. That paid off in the long term as Nazar constructed confidence, together with a four-game level streak in January and a run of 9 factors in eight video games in April to finish the season.
All instructed, Nazar completed the season with a 12-14–26 scoring line 53 video games — ninth on the group — and averaged almost 16 minutes per sport. Whereas dimension issues (5-foot-10, 190 kilos) created some detractors about his potential to carry down his pure middle place within the NHL, he noticed a good period of time as Chicago’s second-line intermediary behind Connor Bedard. His most typical deployment (107 minutes) amid an astronomical 91 totally different line mixtures utilized by the Hawks final 12 months was at 2C between Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, though he did additionally see a while up on Bedard’s wing.
Nazar was seen as a top-10 menace within the 2022 class, however after slipping to Chicago and lacking most of his freshman 12 months at Michigan attributable to harm, there have been warranted doubts about his improvement path. He silenced them shortly with a point-per-game sophomore displaying for the Wolverines and has made about pretty much as good an adjustment to professional hockey as may be anticipated, given the dearth of high quality veteran help on the Hawks’ NHL roster.
An extended-term guess at what’s even now a conservative second-line value level in 2025 may pay unimaginable dividends for the Blackhawks if he stays a long-term top-six piece, even when it’s on the wing, because the cap will increase and so they reward the opposite items of their younger core with long-term offers. There’s additionally an unimaginable danger issue for somebody nonetheless comparatively early on their improvement monitor with lower than a full season’s price of NHL expertise.
The one latest comparable for somebody along with his expertise is Wild celebrity Kirill Kaprizov, who signed a five-year, $45M contract after his rookie season (55 GP). Kaprizov, nonetheless, had way more skilled expertise after developing by way of Russia’s KHL and was two years older than Nazar is now, making him a extra projectable participant. Kaprizov additionally took residence the Calder Trophy that 12 months and had twice the offensive output Nazar did.
As such, the Blackhawks are betting arduous on Nazar being a long-term answer, both as a wingman for Bedard or as a second-line middle behind him. There’s definitely purpose for optimism – he’s developed properly and is coming off a spectacular World Championship displaying with the USA that earned him a spot at their Olympic orientation camp. He’ll be below contract by way of the 2032-33 season and might stroll to unrestricted free company upon expiry.
Getting Nazar’s extension out of the way in which now isn’t nearly him, although. Chicago has two different big-ticket RFAs subsequent summer season — Bedard and new No. 1 goalie Spencer Knight — who will take severe assets to increase. They nonetheless have barely over $40M in allotted cap hits for 2026-27, although, leaving them with just about limitless spending energy below a projected $104M cap.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first reported the Blackhawks had been signing Nazar to a seven-year extension. Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported a extra correct cap hit within the $6.6M vary.
