The Blackhawks have officially announced a seven-year extension for pending RFA forward Frank Nazar. The deal will pay him an AAV and cap hit of $6.59MM for a total value of $46.13MM. The deal is paid entirely in base salary and is as follows, per PuckPedia:
2026-27: $9.1MM
2027-28: $8.66MM
2028-29: $6.6MM
2029-30: $5.46MM
2030-31: $5.46MM
2031-32: $5.46MM + 20-team no-trade clause
2032-33: $5.46MM + 20-team no-trade clause
It’s a gargantuan commitment to the 21-year-old Nazar considering his lack of NHL experience. The 2022 No. 13 overall pick lands the richest total-value contract in league history for someone with 56 or fewer career appearances, which is Nazar’s tally entering the 2025-26 campaign.
Nazar, who still has one year left on his entry-level contract before his extension will kick in for 2026-27, has yet to spend an entire season on the NHL roster. Last year was his first full run in the pros after two years at the University of Michigan, although he made his NHL debut in the final three games of 2023-24 after signing his ELC. He did not make the Blackhawks’ opening night roster but, after recording 11 goals and 24 points in 21 games for AHL Rockford, was recalled in mid-December shortly after Chicago’s coaching change and never looked back.
He faltered out of the gate, recording only one assist and a -5 rating through his first 10 appearances while averaging 14:44 of ice time per game. But under interim head coach Anders Sörenson, who had overseen his early-season success in Rockford, he was extended some patience. That paid off in the long run as Nazar built confidence, including a four-game point streak in January and a run of nine points in eight games in April to end the season.
All told, Nazar finished the season with a 12-14–26 scoring line 53 games – ninth on the team – and averaged nearly 16 minutes per game. While size concerns (5’10”, 190 lbs) created some detractors about his ability to hold down his natural center position in the NHL, he saw a fair amount of time as Chicago’s second-line middleman behind Connor Bedard. His most common deployment (107 minutes) amid an astronomical 91 different line combinations used by the Hawks last year was at 2C between Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, although he did also see some time up on Bedard’s wing.
Nazar was seen as a top-10 threat in the 2022 class, but after slipping to Chicago and missing most of his freshman year at Michigan due to injury, there were warranted doubts about his development path. He silenced them quickly with a point-per-game sophomore showing for the Wolverines and has made about as good an adjustment to pro hockey as can be expected, given the lack of quality veteran support on the Hawks’ NHL roster.
A long-term bet at what’s even now a conservative second-line price point in 2025 could pay incredible dividends for the Blackhawks if he remains a long-term top-six piece, even if it’s on the wing, as the cap increases and they reward the other pieces of their young core with long-term deals. There’s also an incredible risk factor for someone still relatively early on their development track with less than a full season’s worth of NHL experience.
The only recent comparable for someone with his experience is Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who signed a five-year, $45MM contract after his rookie season (55 GP). Kaprizov, however, had far more professional experience after coming up through Russia’s KHL and was two years older than Nazar is now, making him a more projectable player. Kaprizov also took home the Calder Trophy that year and had twice the offensive output Nazar did.
As such, the Blackhawks are betting hard on Nazar being a long-term solution, either as a wingman for Bedard or as a second-line center behind him. There’s certainly reason for optimism – he’s developed well and is coming off a spectacular World Championship showing with the United States that earned him a spot at their Olympic orientation camp. He’ll be under contract through the 2032-33 season and can walk to unrestricted free agency upon expiry.
Getting Nazar’s extension out of the way now isn’t just about him, though. Chicago has two other big-ticket RFAs next summer – Bedard and new No. 1 goalie Spencer Knight – who will take serious resources to extend. They still have barely over $40MM in allocated cap hits for 2026-27, though, leaving them with virtually unlimited spending power under a projected $104MM cap.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first reported the Blackhawks were signing Nazar to a seven-year extension. Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported a more accurate cap hit in the $6.6MM range.
Premature, And ill advised.
Okay wormtongue
Is that what your last date said about you?
0 risk signing they have plenty of cap space and 0 big contracts years down the line. If he doesn’t work out it’s a under 26 buy out
Still a gamble! And Millions of dollars is not zero risk!
Tons of risk. Could use those dollars on some top FAs next year.
They have projected 63 million next offseason in AVAILABLE cap space after this signing. They could sign Eichel, McD and Makar to identical 15+ million dollar contracts and still have plenty to play with.
63million with 10 spots to fill. Hopefully the McKenna ELC is not one of them.
If they signed 2 guys to 20 million dollar contracts they’d still have 23 million between 8 spots say 1 of those is a ELC and another being league min so 6 spots with 21 million split evenly that’s 3.5 million per that’s plenty of room plus they could get rid of a few of those contracts that are on the books for 26 like Burakovsky, Teravainen and Soderblom. Mind you they would also have to sign Bedard and Knight but there’s 82 games to play between now and then. Plenty of time for guys to change there current stock. Maybe this time next year the roster is completely different guys like Bert and Vlasic might go from being overpays to good deals or albatrosses we don’t know. Guys gotta want to sign in order to fill that cap space anyways
This looks to be becoming the new norm. It’s smart in some respects as I do think Nazar becomes a very good if not star player in the NHL. But if he busts it just looks awful. This is like gambling for NHL teams. If he hits his ceiling what a bargain they have.
Just wow. Really like him and he did show marked improvement in 2nd half of last year but this does still seem early and that’s as a Hawks fan and a fan of Nazar. Also a really interesting structure in terms of front loading and also no bonuses. If he does continue to develop it could end up being a great deal with both him and Vlasic locked up at reasonable amounts for top 6 / top 4 players. Will be interesting to see how this one turns out.
Too much too soon. Kids are getting paid based on GMs and owners fears of them being worth much more in a couple of years instead of getting paid based on their performance.
Athletes have been getting paid for their potential for years. Whether it’s right or wrong that’s the way it is. I thought you couldn’t front load contracts like that( Otherwise known as the Marian Hossa rule) because it circumvents the Cap. For better or worse Davidson is starting to identify the main pieces he wants to play the game with( Nazar, Bedard, Knight, Vlasic, Arty, and Rinzel) should follow in some order. At least it’s a plan, Whether it’s a good plan????? Stay tuned.
Can still front load but they limit the amount you can. Believe it’s by a percentage but don’t recall the exact details. Nazar’s decreases but it’s not that drastic. Think Hossa got $1mm / year for his age 40-44 seasons which was obviously a joke.
Well admittedly Hossa’s deal was a joke but then again so was the NHL top Cap number for years. I don’t really see what everyone is so excited about as I see this as no worse than the 10 million a year deals Toews and Kane got that crashed their Cap for years( Thanks Stan) When they thought the new TV contract was going to make the Cap rise significantly. At least the Cap HAS gone up so this is obviously a better deal for the Hawks. The only fear would be the risk of injury because the talent level is certainly there. He’s regularly invited to play on the World stage so it’s not just me. I’m sure the Hawks have been working with him on building muscle to keep him healthy so I have no problem with it. Do they go by the AAV on these contracts now? If so the amount is still like 7 million a year for Cap purposes.
Agreed. Whether we like it or not these kids are gonna get paid for potential. Some of these contracts will crash and burn and some will be bargains. Some of the young guys may not opt for this either betting on themselves that they will easily outperform the number offered. Blake and Nazar I think both will look like bargain basement prices by the end of those contracts. But if they bust it’s a lot to pay a fourth liner!
It’s MoneyBall with Hockey… Will it work.. NO idea.. Hope so as a fan of the team and player. I just don’t know how his size plays with the grind of a full NHL seasons.
It’s certainly a gamble but there is a lot of talent there so I don’t think it’s crazy – just a bit earlier than I might have liked but maybe he didn’t want to negotiate during the season as well. Similar one that comes to mind was Guenther. Was a lot of commitment for a guy with not much NHL experience but could certainly see how it could work out. First year on that one has looked quite good so hoping for similar for Nazar.
The one flaw in building a team by starting over with draft picks and making a bunch of them is that they all have to get paid at the same time. So identifying the right ones is going to be crucial. I kind of both envy and don’t envy Davidson at the same time because that’s what he’s going to be judged on from now on.
You parents with infants, get them on skates now!!!$$$
Hard to put kids into physical sports these days.
I’ve played hockey since I was 4 years old and have had significant injuries to go with it.
If I had kids I’d suggest tennis, baseball, golf, soccer and basketball or even swimming. No boxing, football, or hockey. My love of the game would see if they can skate early on though :P
It’s a bit of a gamble but I get why it’s done. I don’t think he’s a bust so most likely he’s somewhere between a 40 pt guy and say 80. If he becomes a 60 pt guy then the contract is fair leaning towards good signing. 6.5 in a few years will be like 4.5 or so is now. So if he is a productive 2nd liner, it’s a win.
It’s a fine deal. They have tons of space and need to establish a core. Avoids a Rossi-type situation if the player performs well. Because of his age and pedigree, it shouldn’t be hard to find someone to take him off their hands without giving up assets if he’s not meeting standard halfway through that deal.
This could turn into a real Bargain, Nazar is very similar to Barzal in play style which Barzal has yet to come close to that 1 80 point season, i do feel Nazar will be a great player and will only get better as he grows especially with better linemates in the near future, Vlasic hasn’t disappointed on his extension which surprised me as well and he looks worth every penny
Jesus Christ, have they slipped loose from their moorings? Yeah, yeah, if he becomes a durable superstar it’s a team-friendly deal. Right now the guy has a single season of third-line production, and I don’t care how much cap space the team has to play with — are they guaranteed to have that cap space around three years from now? Six years from now? This is demented.
This kid could out shine #98 or be very close too.
LOL
Even with a good season this year they could’ve practically gave him the same money next offseason.
Surely his performance at the Worlds has something to do with this. I’d guess Davidson is looking at hockey precedent in that tournament (as well as the performance of other players this year that Nazar out-played (quite a few of whom make more money than Davidson just signed him with)), and thinking to himself “niiiiice.”
Rossi just got more expensive…
Apparently not.
Nha Trang
Jesus Christ, have they slipped loose from their moorings? Yeah, yeah, if he becomes a durable superstar it’s a team-friendly deal. Right now the guy has a single season of third-line production, and I don’t care how much cap space the team has to play with — are they guaranteed to have that cap space around three years from now? Six years from now? This is demented.
Nha, this is when you are at your best and most entertaining! Tossing fits and tantrums over a contract while being angry and bitter over a young guy getting paid. You and Wilf continue to be absolute gems.