The Chicago Blackhawks prospects were in action this weekend in the Tom Kurvers Showcase in St. Louis, taking on the prospects from the Blues and Minnesota Wild in a pre-preseason tune-up for many young players headed into NHL training camps. For one Blackhawks prospect, arguably the most important one amongst a deeply talented forwards group, the opportunity to shine amongst his peers and take a strong step forward into his first NHL training camp was there for the taking. Frank Nazar grabbed ahold of that opportunity and ran away with it over the two weekend games as he looks to earn an NHL roster spot in Chicago this season.

“Coming into something you’ve never done, you don’t know what to expect. You try to be yourself, but once you get started, there’s going be some nerves a little bit,” Nazar said of his first Tom Kurvers Showcase experience. While he’s already played three NHL games for the Blackhawks, this will be the first experience Nazar has with being in Chicago for training camp and the preseason, since NCAA players are not allowed to play in those settings and are already in school by the time camps start.

While his stock is high and his three-game stint at the end of last season started with him scoring a goal on his first NHL shot, the Blackhawks have put challenges in front of him and all of the top prospects to make the NHL roster out of training camp. Starting with Friday’s contest against the St. Louis Blues, all eyes were on Nazar to be a dominate force for the Blackhawks, much like Connor Bedard was last year in this same Showcase setting. Although expectations in general are different between the two, Nazar is seen by many people (not Corey Pronman) as the best forward prospect in the Chicago system.

The 13th pick in the 2022 NHL Draft started the scoring for the weekend by setting up Nick Lardis on the powerplay with a beautiful cross-ice feed.

But beyond the first goal and a breakaway attempt later in the game, Nazar was not the highlight machine in the first game that you would have hoped he could be. Seeing his performances at Michigan last year and in the World Junior Championships for Team USA, one would expect Nazar to be able to make plays amongst his peers nearly every shift, but it will take time and patience for both fans and Nazar himself to settle into the expectations on him.

“Yesterday came off, started pretty slow, but as I started to dip my toes in the water, I started to get better.” Nazar said of his first experience in the rookie showcase setting.

And did he ever get better.

Following the 4-3 overtime loss on Friday night to the Blues, Nazar helped power the Blackhawks to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild prospects on Saturday night. The Michigan Man played a much more prominent role in the second game of the showcase in a multi-point effort that fulfilled the fan base’s desires to see Nazar dominate.

Early in the second period, it would be Nazar opening the scoring for the Blackhawks by going five-hole after a slick cross-ice feed from Martin Mišiak.

“It was nasty. I didn’t really know how to react,” Nazar said of the feed from Mišiak. “It just landed on my tape and I was able to pop it five-hole.”

In the third period, Nazar made the age-old play in hockey that every player and coach preaches, the “take a hit to make a play” play. Nazar made a breakout pass to Ryder Rolston and took a big open-ice hit, landing hard into the board in the process. Rolston was able to score what would eventually be the game-winner at the other end of the ice and Nazar would be OK after the play. He was so OK that he got up from the hit following the goal and started to chirp the Minnesota players on the bench as part of the celebration.

“All I thought was, ‘OK, I’m going to get it, I’m going to make this play, if this guy steps up he’s just dumb and he’s giving a guy a breakaway. I don’t know what he’s thinking.’” Nazar said postgame on Saturday night.

His speed, playmaking ability, on-ice vision, and desire to play hard at both ends of the ice make Nazar one of the most intriguing and important prospects the Blackhawks have in the system right now. In the flow of a game, Nazar plays with a knack for getting into the middle of the ice offensively and isn’t afraid to play in the hard areas around the net and into the corners. But in the “game within the game” where opponents will try to get the most skilled players off their rhythms with physical play and playing beyond the whistles, Nazar is not only unfazed, but willing to mix things up.

Towards the end of Saturday night, things inevitably got feisty again between the rival prospect groups and Nazar was a target for the Wild. But, even with being one of the smaller players on the ice, Nazar was not going to be pushed around.

“I started hitting back, I was just sick of taking it myself and started to give a little bit so then they’d kind of back off.”

Confidence is not lost on Nazar. He knows he can be great. Now it’s a matter of building up those consistent moments where his skill can shine at the higher levels of hockey to the point where he can be and will be not just a regular player in the NHL, but a stud in Chicago. This weekend was a small glimpse into that future.

*All quotes from postgame media availability provided by the Chicago Blackhawks*

Other Notes from the Tom Kurvers Showcase:

• Nolan Allan served as Captain for the Blackhawks during the Showcase weekend. Ethan Del Mastro and Landon Slaggert served as Alternate Captains.
• AJ Spellacy scored a goal that highlighted his speed and skating ability on Saturday night. For one of the youngest players for the Blackhawks at the Showcase, and the one who is probably the “furthest behind” in terms of pure hockey skill, Spellacy was particularly noticeable.
• Nick Lardis looks healthy and ready to get back to his prolific goal-scoring role in the OHL with the Brantford Bulldogs again this season. His 29 goals in 37 OHL regular season games last year was a 53-goal pace over a full season and he played in one AHL game with the Rockford IceHogs to end the year.
• Paul Ludwinski setup Landon Slaggert on a beautiful short-handed goal on Saturday night. Ludwinski’s speed and forechecking abilities will be his meal-ticket to the NHL some day and it was encouraging to see him excel in that role amongst his peers this weekend.
• Colton Dach said before the Showcase that he knows the kind of player he can be in the NHL and was confident that he would once again prove he is ready to take that next step in his development. Rockford IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen said Dach needed to figure out the kind of player he needs to be and do it consistently. Over the weekend, Dach was a physical menace against the Blues and Wild, getting into a fight against St. Louis and another tussle against Minnesota. He plays hard and is not going to back down from an opponent. Having that edge will give him a leg-up as he tried to break into the NHL, now he will just need to balance that with his offensive skill to produce at the next level and the Blackhawks could have a versatile top-nine power forward on their hands.