Frank Nazar's return to NHL makes Blackhawks' future feel more tangible

NEWARK, N.J. — The Blackhawks’ top forward prospect, their top goalie prospect, one of their top two defenseman prospects and their best prospect-developing coach have all joined the big-league club in just over a week.

In a season that was initially billed as a sort of bridge year between the tear-down portion of the rebuild and the youth movement to come, the Hawks’ promising future quickly has become more tangible.

Frank Nazar’s call-up brought the biggest jolt of excitement yet Friday. The 20-year-old forward will make his NHL season debut Saturday against the Devils, followed Sunday by his second career regular-season appearance at the United Center against the Islanders.

Goalie Drew Commesso, 22, should make his first NHL start in one of those games. Skating in front of him will be a lineup that features forwards Nazar, Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel and defensemen Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser and Nolan Allan.

This Hawks roster still includes a lot of veteran placeholders, but interim coach Anders Sorensen’s arsenal of young players is nonetheless expanding rapidly.

For Nazar, the call he’d been waiting months for finally came Thursday night from IceHogs general manager Mark Bernard, who told him to hop on a flight to Newark.

“It was a really exciting moment,” Nazar said. “I was shocked. [When] you get a random call at night from the GM, you can kind of expect what he’s gonna say, but you never know. When I heard the good news, it was a lot of joy.”

Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson’s decision to send Nazar to the AHL at the end of training camp has proven to be the right move. The Michigan product dominated in Rockford, racking up 24 points in 21 games — tops among rookies and sixth overall in the AHL — while building tremendous confidence.

Nazar spoke Friday about how “growing up, the only thing you think of is just scoring goals.” With the IceHogs, he got to do that over and over while also making dazzling plays that didn’t lead to points.

His defensive reliability is another strength and sets him apart from most rookies, including Bedard last year. Nazar uses a mental checklist to remind himself to keep his feet moving and think on the fly. His challenge now is to transfer his confidence and playmaking skill to the NHL, where he had one point in three solid outings at the end of last season.

How he fares could determine whether he stays with the Hawks for good or returns to Rockford. If it’s the latter, it shouldn’t be interpreted as a step back. A scout recently noted that returning to the AHL could be best for Nazar’s long-term development.

“It’s an adjustment to come up midseason and mid-road trip with a team that’s trying to work through a lot of stuff, but it’s our job to help him through that,” forward Taylor Hall said. “The biggest things we [will] look for from him are energy, compete and enthusiasm. That’s what, as a young player, you’re required to show.”

Nazar immediately slides in as the second-line center between Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi (who finally found his rhythm this week) and as part of the top power-play unit. Sorensen, a key catalyst in Nazar’s development in Rockford, advised him to trust his instincts as he jumps in head-first.

“The numbers he’s put up in the AHL, those are really good,” Hall said. “Hopefully he can contribute and play well and help us win, because we’re in need of wins. Obviously he has a relationship with Anders, and Anders is comfortable enough to put him in that spot, so we’re excited.”