The Chicago Blackhawks are looking to have a strong ending to their 2025-26 season. Frank Nazar has a main key that can help.
The Chicago Blackhawks have 25 games remaining in the post-Olympic portion of their schedule. They are not likely to be a playoff team, but they are looking to be an improved team from a year ago.
Part of their improvement has been inserting young talent into their lineup to play daily. A lot of them have had good seasons with eyes on being stars in the coming years.
One of those talents is Frank Nazar. The Blackhawks selected him in the first round (13th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft. Since then, he has become one of their top players and faces of the franchise. He's not Connor Bedard, but they put a lot of emphasis on marketing him, too.
Nazar has a lot of development left to go before he's a true star. Even now, though, he is one of the top playmaking forwards on the team. With Bedard in the mix, they have the potential to be a 1-2 punch for the ages.
After being a driving force on Team USA's World Championships Gold Medal-winning team last summer, he has come into this year with a drive to win. In 41 games played so far, he has seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points.
Those aren't jaw-dropping numbers, but there is evidence in his two-way game that suggests a star-level player is waiting to break out. Finishing strong is a key to his success next year and beyond.
"We're ready to go," Frank Nazar said of his team as they are ready to get back into the swing of things. "[We're] Working on a lot of details and smaller stuff as a team. [We're] ready to put that into play."
The Blackhawks are not near a postseason berth, so there is clearly a lot to work on down the stretch. One of those things is closing out games that they should win without letting it slip away late. Nazar had emphasized this with his messaging.
"I think closing games," Nazar said of what they're looking to improve. "I think we had a lot of times going into the third [tied] or up a goal, [we need to improve] shutting teams down and putting the game away."
If Nazar's wishes come true and the Blackhawks are better at closing out close games that they are tied and have a lead in late, the end of the season will show much more promise. This mindset is a chance for them to dream about the playoffs coming into the 2026-27 season following a respectable ending to 2025-26.
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