{"id":227224,"date":"2025-10-20T10:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T10:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/227224\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T10:27:07","slug":"blackhawks-frank-nazar-spencer-knight-proving-to-be-worth-every-cent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/227224\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackhawks\u2019 Frank Nazar, Spencer Knight proving to be worth every cent"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 The dollar signs could have been adding up in Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

With every Frank Nazar goal and Spencer Knight save, which there have been a lot of early this season, that could have equated to increasingly larger salaries for both players in the future.<\/p>\n

Instead, Davidson can sit back, watch both players take that next step in their development and feel fortunate he has already taken care of the contracts they would have been due this offseason. With Knight at $5,833,333 for the next three seasons and Nazar at $6.6 million for seven years, the Blackhawks have to feel good about the possibility of having two very team-friendly deals for years to come.<\/p>\n

Sunday, Nazar and Knight continued to build on their promising starts to the 2025-26 season. Nazar scored the Blackhawks\u2019 lone regulation goal and carried some of the two-way responsibility left behind by an injured Jason Dickinson, and Knight was again nearly unbeatable in net, stopping 38 of 39 shots. That, plus a Ryan Donato overtime game-winning goal, lifted the Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks and Joel Quenneville, who made his first trip to the United Center since being reinstated by the NHL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After holding the Ducks goal-less through two periods despite being outshot 23-16, the Blackhawks emerged a different team in the third period. The Blackhawks got off on the right foot and began pushing hard the other way. Nazar factored into that, especially on the play leading up to his goal. He had possession of the puck near the blue line, was checked by a Ducks player, fell to his knees and still kept the puck. He stood up and passed the puck to Donato to re-enter the zone. Nazar skated back into the play, got the puck back from Donato and fed Wyatt Kaiser as he emerged into the play on the right flank. Kaiser\u2019s shot hit the crossbar, and Nazar was in perfect position to knock the puck into the net from the left side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really remember the full play right now,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cI got to relax a little bit. Dono made a great play getting it at the blue line, taking a hit to make a play. Kaiser joined up on the rush, had a good shot. Really just stopping at the net for those greasy goals. We knew it was going to be a hard one to get and something that was going to be greasy right there. Just how it went.\u201d<\/p>\n

NAZAR ON THE REBOUND <\/p>\n

HAWKS TAKE A 1-0 LEAD \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/RCHfbEpiR2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) October 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The goal was Nazar\u2019s third of the season. Overall, he has three goals and four assists in seven games this season. You add up what Nazar did to end last season, which is why Davidson felt comfortable playing him despite playing just 53 NHL games, and\u00a0Nazar has produced eight goals and eight assists in his last 15 NHL games.<\/p>\n

The offense is what the Blackhawks expect out of Nazar. But Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill also leaned on him Sunday to take more faceoffs and start more in the defensive zone with Dickinson out. Blashill has used Dickinson in a unique way this season, with Dickinson starting just 11 percent of the time in the offensive zone, which is the fifth-lowest percentage in the league, and having him take most of the team\u2019s defensive faceoffs. Nazar was given that role Sunday, getting a team-high nine defensive zone faceoff starts and taking a team-high 17 faceoffs, of which he won 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was decisions as the game went along,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cFrankie was doing well in the circle, especially, so then they ended up out there in a lot of those situations. Dickinson\u2019s line\u2019s been really good from a chance-for percentage. They\u2019ve been really good line on a consistent basis, won momentum, things like that. So when he\u2019s out, guys gotta step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nazar was happy to step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happened last year, Dicky\u2019s injury, and he was out for a little bit, and I\u2019m just doing my best to make up for the times he\u2019s not out there, the times that we need him, and try to fill in that role,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cReally, I want to do anything I can to help the team to win. If that\u2019s part, I\u2019m going to do my best to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dickinson\u2019s absence could still be felt. There were times when the Ducks continually put pressure on the Blackhawks and had them stuck in their own zone. But that\u2019s where Knight came in.<\/p>\n

For the fifth time this season, Knight went beyond just giving the Blackhawks a chance. He put them in a position to win. For the season, he\u2019s made 148 saves on 158 shots. With Sunday\u2019s performance, he raised his save percentage to .937 for the season.<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s always been believed Knight has had this type of potential going back to being a first-round pick in 2019, he had yet to show it completely as a No. 1 starter. Now he\u2019s getting his chance, and now he seems ready for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when Kyle made the trade for Spencer last year, he envisioned the opportunity that he\u2019d have to be a No. 1 goalie in this league,\u201d said Blashill, whose team improved to 3-2-2. \u201cMy background on Spencer, I felt he could be a No. 1 goalie in this league, and we\u2019re giving him that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knight\u2019s consistency and stability are being felt throughout the Blackhawks.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time he\u2019s in net, you just know he\u2019s going to be good, like something you can count on,\u201d Nazar said. \u201cHe\u2019s a brickhouse. He saves everything. It lets us feel more confident to play up ice. We still got to do a lot better job of helping him out and being there for him because he does a lot for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the record, Connor Bedard is never going to turn around and say, \u201cNah, I\u2019m good,\u201d when a coach smacks him on the back to send him over the boards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do whatever,\u201d he said after playing a career-high 25 minutes, 1 second in Friday\u2019s shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks.<\/p>\n

As Patrick Kane before him, Bedard wants as much ice time as he can get. That said, he and Blashill know 25:01 is overdoing it a bit, even in an overtime game.<\/p>\n

\u201cConnor played too much the other night,\u201d Blashill said Sunday morning. \u201cThat\u2019s on me. Specifically in the first. Sometimes you get in overtime games and that happens, but in the first, he had too many minutes. That\u2019s on me to manage, and I need to do a better job of that when I am playing 11\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the trick about running 11 forwards and seven defensemen. It allows a coach to double-shift his best players, but it can get out of hand. Sunday against Anaheim, Bedard was down a bit at 24:37. And Blashill surely was tempted to lean on him even harder, given how many chances he was creating early on. He delivered a sweet no-look backhand pass to Andr\u00e9 Burakovsky in the first period, hit the post shortly after that and finished with nine shots on goal.<\/p>\n

But somewhere in the 20- to 21-minute neighborhood is likely the sweet spot for Bedard.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to see where I\u2019m playing my best, what number,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cBut I\u2019m good to go however many (minutes), or whatever the game calls for.\u201d<\/p>\n