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Blackhawks sign Frank Nazar to 7-year contract extension

Posted on by L_B_R
Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

The Chicago Blackhawks signed 21-year-old forward Frank Nazar to a seven-year, $46 million contract extension, the team announced early Thursday afternoon.

The deal, which carries an annual salary cap hit of $6.59 million, shows the Blackhawks’ confidence that Nazar is a foundational piece of the team’s long-term rebuild strategy. The extension kicks in at the start of the 2026–27 season, following the completion of Nazar’s entry-level contract.

Drafted 13th overall in 2022, Nazar spent two seasons at the University of Michigan before signing his entry-level deal in April 2024. He started this past season in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs but, after putting up 24 points (11 G, 13 A) in 21 games, he earned a call-up to Chicago in mid-December and never went back. Over 56 NHL games in the 2024–25 season, Nazar put up 27 points (13 G, 14 A) — a solid but not necessarily spectacular 0.48 point-per-game rate — but he had an impressive finish to the season with 10 points (6 G, 4 A) in the final 12 games and was arguably the Blackhawks’ best forward down the stretch.

For more on Nazar’s promising rookie campaign, please check out our season-ending deep dive here:

Looking back at Frank Nazar’s encouraging rookie season

Nazar followed up a strong finish to his NHL season with a standout performance at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship, playing a key role in helping Team USA win its first gold medal at the event since 1933. He led the team in scoring with 12 points (6 G, 6 A) in 10 games, earning Player of the Game honors twice and recognition as one of the tournament’s top three U.S. players.

It was his play at the end of the season and in the WC tournament that the Blackhawks are banking on. Nazar has fewer than 60 NHL games under his belt, and there’s no guarantee he’ll hit the first-line production levels he did in the final month consistently over a full season, but the Blackhawks believe his trajectory is upward. If he breaks out offensively, this deal could look like a steal in the near future. The seven-year pact mirrors a growing NHL trend of teams locking up promising young players before they hit their peak earning years. For the Blackhawks, it’s a worthwhile, calculated risk.

Time will tell if the contract proves to be a steal or a stretch, but one thing is clear: the Blackhawks are starting to move into the next phase of the rebuild process by locking in the players they believe will lead them out of it. Nazar joins Alex Vlasic, who signed a 6-year contract extension last summer, as a member of the hopeful long-term core of the Blackhawks.

Here are some more details on the contract, including the limited no-movement clause that shows up towards the end of the deal (very similarly structured to Vlasic’s contract):

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