Blackhawks cement Frank Nazar as core player with seven-year contract
Frank Nazar's impressive 2024-25 season showed the Blackhawks all they needed to see, convincing them he should be a central piece of their long-term plan.
The Hawks, in turn, cemented Nazar's future Thursday with a new seven-year contract.
The 21-year-old forward has one year left on his entry-level contract before this deal — which will carry a $6.59 million salary-cap hit — kicks in for 2026-27.
"Frank elevated his game last season and has proven himself to be one of the top young talents in the league," Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement.
"He drives play using his elite speed and playmaking abilities, creating problems for opponents and opportunities for teammates every night. Frank is an integral piece of our team, and we’re thrilled to have him with us for the next eight seasons."
Nazar and fellow cornerstone forward Connor Bedard both became eligible for extensions July 1, but it was thought both would probably wait until next summer before re-signing.
Bedard likely will end up waiting, in part because he'll be seeking a salary well above $6.6 million — although his repeated comments that he does intend to sign long-term have squashed any speculation about him wanting to play elsewhere. For Nazar, however, this offer was evidently persuasive enough.
He surpasses Alex Vlasic, with a $4.6 million cap hit through 2030, and Ryan Donato, with a $4 million cap hit through 2029, as the longest contract on the Hawks' books — for now.
Nazar recorded 26 points in 53 games as an NHL rookie this past season, but his play far exceeded his production. His work ethic and unflappable personality made him a perfect fit for a rebuilding team. He thrived on the penalty kill and improved on the power play.
And his production did tick up as the season progressed. He tallied nine points in eight games in April, and he created his first signature NHL moment with his shootout-deciding mystery goal April 14 in Montreal (which came at the end of an all-around amazing performance).
From March 13 on, his 53 individual scoring chances were tied for 25th in the NHL — 13 more than any other Hawks player and one behind Sharks teenager Macklin Celebrini for tops among rookies.
"It’s just [about gaining] confidence and being comfortable and understanding the league," Nazar said during exit interviews. "I’ve shown it at different levels of hockey: Once I get to a spot and start to study and learn and understand how the game is played at that level, I start to do a lot better."
He built upon his excellent finish to the NHL season with an eye-opening stretch at the world championships in May, leading Team USA with 12 points in 10 games — ahead of established stars like Utah's Clayton Keller and Buffalo's Tage Thompson — as they won gold in the tournament for the first time since 1933.
Despite these encouraging trends, the Hawks are taking a risk by committing so much to such an inexperienced and relatively unproven player. Nazar's total contract value of $46.2 million is the most ever invested in a player with only 56 career games played, barely exceeding Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov.
But if Nazar busts beyond this point, the Hawks will have bigger problems than a $6.6 million cap hit, which will account for an increasingly small percentage of their team total as the cap rises. They need him to succeed in order for their rebuild to succeed, more or less, so it's a risk worth taking.
And if Nazar explodes into a Keller-type star — a conceivable best-case scenario for him, considering their similarities (such as 5-10 height) — this contract could become a massive bargain.