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The Chicago Blackhawks have locked up a key piece of their future. With multiple players on the Blackhawks primed for a breakout, they have taken care of one of those future stars. The front office signed Frank Nazar to a seven-year contract extension worth just under $6.6 million AAV, per hockey insider Frank Seravalli.
The Hawks are loaded with young talent at the forward position. This starts with Connor Bedard, who just turned 20 years old. They also have Landon Slaggert, a 23-year-old, and Colton Dach, who is 22. The trio joins Nazar, who will turn 22 during the regular season. Still, Bedard, Dach, and Nazar were set to be restricted free agents in the summer of 2026.
GM Kyle Davidson has taken care of one part of the trio. It a is a historic contract, set to be the largest of its kind for a player with his NHL experience, which is just 56 games. It breaks the current record held by Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov.
Frank Nazar should be a future star for Blackhawks
The American was the No. 13 overall selection of the franchise in the 2022 NHL Draft. He would spend time with the U.S. National Development Team and the University of Michigan before joining the Hawks organization. He has shown dominance in his young career. With the U.S. National Development Team, he averaged .69 points per game. He increased that total to one point per game in his final season at Michigan.
Then, in just 21 AHL games in 2024-25, he tallied 24 points. The forward played in 53 games at the NHL in 2024-25, bringing his career total to 56. In that time, he has lit the lamp 13 times while adding 14 assists. His improvement as a player and hope for continued growth were enough to warrant a seven-year deal, which will keep him in the Windy City for the foreseeable future.
As the salary cap increases in the coming years, the deal could become much more valuable — especially if Nazar remains on a breakout trajectory. With this first future restricted free agent taken care of, Davidson and the front office can now turn the attention to Bedard and Dach.
