ROCKFORD — Things are desolate at the NHL level for the Blackhawks this season, but success stories exist elsewhere in the organization.
Top forward prospect Frank Nazar, who was exactly a point-per-game player in 41 games in college at Michigan last season, has been a 1.25-points-per-game player in the AHL, tallying 15 points in his first 12 appearances for Rockford.
That’s not the way it normally goes, but the 2022 first-round pick never has been a normal prospect. The small sample size might be a factor, but he looked every bit like a 1.25-points-per-game player Tuesday at least, scoring twice in the IceHogs’ 5-2 win over Texas.
“He’s a threat when he’s on the ice with the puck,” Rockford coach Anders Sorensen said. “[We asked him to improve] his play and engagement off the puck. We want him to have the puck, and the fastest way to get the puck is to be in good support positions and come back harder. And he has done all those things.”
Nazar, 20, entered Wednesday tied for 13th in the AHL in scoring and tied for second among rookie forwards, and he’s playing like he knows it. He exudes not only confidence but also a sense he’s intent on proving he’s the best player on the ice at any given time.
There was one outrageous moment Tuesday when he had his back turned to two Texas players and still dangled between them — in the opposite direction of the goal, just to enter open space and burn more time on a penalty kill.
On the power play, he roams like a sheepdog in a pasture, and he doesn’t hesitate to shoot whenever a lane opens. That’s how he scored his first goal Tuesday; the second came when fellow forward Landon Slaggert set him up on a rush.
There’s almost a video-game feeling to Nazar’s dominance. When describing Nazar’s ability to control the puck, Sorensen couldn’t help but compare him to Martin St. Louis, now the Canadiens’ coach, who was certainly a fun video-game character during his prime.
“I really like [Nazar’s] willingness to play in traffic and in contact,” Sorensen said. “He’s not the biggest guy, but he leverages his size, strength and lower body to come out of those situations really well.”
At Hawks training camp — during which Nazar’s middling performance convinced management he would be best served developing in the AHL this fall — a key talking point was his shift-to-shift inconsistency. He would excel one shift, then fade the next. That no longer seems to be the case. Sorensen said the gap between Nazar’s best and worst shifts has “narrowed.”
“It’s more of a mental thing, recognizing when it’s time to go up on offense or track back on defense,” Sorensen said. “His engagement in those 50/50 situations where it could go either way has been a lot better.”
In light of the Hawks’ offensive problems — as well as their gaping hole at second-line center — it’s understandable why many fans are clamoring for Nazar to be called up pronto. Hawks coach Luke Richardson threw cold water on that idea Wednesday.
The future still matters more than the present for this franchise, and Nazar’s play is providing a much-needed reminder of how bright that future is. General manager Kyle Davidson suggested earlier this month that a call-up likely won’t be considered until the second half of the season.
“He’s a No. 1 center down there, and he’s on both special-teams units. That’s probably not what he would get here,” Richardson said. “We want to make sure he keeps growing and he feels confident [that] he is that guy when he gets here ... instead of taking a step back at this level.”
The IceHogs' win Tuesday improved them to a still-disappointing 5-8-0 this season, but Sorensen said their internal analytics paint a more favorable picture of their performance.
They're one of the AHL's best teams in terms of rush offense, although the forecheck needs some improvement. On defense, teenagers Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov are works-in-progress, as expected, while Ethan Del Mastro has adjusted to a more stay-at-home role to complement them better.
Rockford's goaltending has been its biggest weakness. Notable goalie prospect Drew Commesso has posted an ugly .854 save percentage through six starts, down from a respectable .906 last season.
"I pride myself on skating and being set, and one thing I found was I just wasn't getting set quickly enough," Commesso said. "Sometimes you need a few games like that to find your roots. Every goalie in the world goes through it."
On the offensive side, three other forwards (besides Nazar) whom the Hawks took in the first three rounds of the 2022 draft — Samuel Savoie, Gavin Hayes and Paul Ludwinski — are all adjusting to the AHL together. They formed a line together Tuesday.
Of the three, sneaky and feisty Savoie has stood out most. That's true both statistically — Savoie has tallied five points compared to Hayes' three and Ludwinski's one — and visually.
"A lot of [Savoie's] attributes as a player transfer well to this level, and even the next level," Sorensen said. "His energy on the ice is infectious, and he gets into people's faces and he's talking. He's learning the pro game and what you can and can't do, but when he moves his feet and uses his speed, he's fun to watch."
Meanwhile, Slaggert's three assists Tuesday elevated him to fourth on the team in scoring (behind Nazar, Colton Dach and Cole Guttman) with eight points in 13 games.
Before that breakout, Slaggert — another guy who finished last season on the NHL roster but wound up in the AHL this fall after a forgettable training camp — had excelled more defensively than offensively.
"He can play up and down your lineup, and that's why I think he's going to have a really good career," Sorensen said. "He's like a dog on a bone on the puck. He wins a lot of battles, and he puts his teammates in really good situations all the time. He's one of those guys that people love to play with because he does a lot of the work."
