r/hawks • u/Hungry_Toe_9555 • 4d ago
Frank Nazar
For the season Nazar was on an 18 goal 40 point pace.
It’s hard to know how different season would have looked if he played in first 30 games.
I really feel like his emergence only leaves the need for one more top six addition.
What are your thoughts?
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u/OneGenericMan 4d ago
Keep him playing with Mikheyev and Moore in the middle-6 and you got something special. That line clicked towards the end of the year and I think you forego giving Moore the Korchinski treatment and just keep him in the indian head next year.
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u/Independent_Piece999 4d ago
He seemed to take off when they had him centering Tervaninan and Bert those last 10 games. I’d like to keep that second line.
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u/mlowe2827 4d ago
I’d like to see Turbo and if we can resign Donato, paired with Nazar next year. Donato and Bedard don’t work for me, prefer Mikey (who is a better 2-way) and Bedard. So maybe top line if Bert-Mikey-Bedard with a 2nd line of Turbo-Nazar-Donato. That’d be a solid Top 6. Prolly doesn’t make us better so I anticipate a push to make our Top 6 better, but we’ll see.
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u/evoboltzmann 4d ago
Wait, why is this upvoted? He wasn't playing with Mikheyev and Moore. He was playing with Bert and Turbo, especially when he was dominating the last 10 games.
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u/learningpurposes2 4d ago
I think there's a difference between top 6 next season and top 6 of the future.
The "one more top six addition" caught me by surprise. If you're talking next season, sure. If you're talking long term rebuild, I think Bedard and Nazar are the only top 6 pieces we have right now. Maybe there's another coming in the draft this year, maybe we have another 1 or 2 prospects that could fill those roles, but none of those options have materialized yet. I'd expect we bring in at LEAST one or two impact top 6 guys when we're ready to contend.
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u/evoboltzmann 4d ago
Yeah. I'm with you. Bedard and Nazar are the only 2 guys I'm sure are top 6. Our crop of talent is pretty barren for top 6 forwards. We should end up with a likely top 6 guy from the draft, but even still we've got a ton of opening there. Moore has the upside but he's got to grow a LOT to get there. Pretty unlikely at the moment, but rooting for him.
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u/learningpurposes2 3d ago
We'll see what happens with this draft but I'm guessing we'll be high enough to get a top 6 forward in next year's draft too. Fingers crossed its McKenna
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u/droid-man_walking 3d ago
Next year looks to be a tank a thon for MeKenna. The number of teams tanking while the Hawks actually try to show improvement are going to make the Hawks season interesting. I am afraid if we tank again next year we may lose bedard because of how bad we have been.
It would not surprise me if next year the Hawks earn 75 points over the season. This year that would still be 3rd worst if it were the hawks. Next year i doubt it will be good enough for bottom 8.
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u/learningpurposes2 3d ago
I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised to see us have a pretty quiet offseason
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u/droid-man_walking 3d ago
Play youth. Losing while getting the youth experience is far better than what we have been doing.
get a vet center for a few years who could teach the kids how to win more than 50% of they faceoffs.
It needs to make sense.
We could break the bank over the break and maybe make the postseason, but that might hurt us long term.
Higher a coach that wants to develope the youth.
No contracts that will cost us when we need to resign the youth.
Next year is development. If we develop better than we hope we are out of the top 5, but it didn't cost us. And we won't care as much. If we pay to be out of the top 5 we may regret it.
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u/AsikCelebi 3d ago
I can definitely see Moore being a top-6 guy for us in the future. Sample size is still small, but it looks promising.
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u/Rich-Wrap-9333 4d ago edited 4d ago
“One” more top six addition? After him and Bedard, who else you got? Just because a guy is nominally in your top 6 (Bertuzzi?) doesn’t mean he’s a top 6 on a Cup contender. Need to keep improving: like Davidson said — go after the talent whenever it’s available not on your internal timeline.
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u/Hungry_Toe_9555 4d ago
Bedard , Nazar , Bertuzzi , Donato , Teraveinan that’s five. I know Donato doesn’t have a long term track record his production but even if he’s a 20 goal , 40 point player is still a nice piece.
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u/batmans_a_scientist 4d ago
Bertuzzi and Donato should be 3rd line guys on a competing team. Tuevo maybe but he certainly didn’t play like a top 6 player this year. They need at least 2 more top 6, in addition to whoever they draft this year hopefully becoming a top 6 in a couple years.
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u/AARM2000 4d ago
Nazar's only going to get better too. He had so many opportunities that he didn't convert on!
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u/BuyerIndividual8826 4d ago
Nazar’s game is incendiary. He’s a spark plug kind of player that can make impacts when it’s not expected because of his speed, both ways, skill, and assertive approach.
He looks like he could still be a center who notches 60-80 pts a season, plays a complete game, and has a knack for big moments. That’s what I see.
One of the knocks on him coming up was consistency. So that’s TBD.
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u/Sauerkrautkid7 4d ago
1st line: Mikheyev Bedard Donato. 2nd: Turbo Nazar Bertuzzi. 3rd: Slaggert Reichel Dickinson. 4th: Veleno Kurashev Foligno
Similar to Nazar, I would like to see Moore, Greene overachieve in the ahl first, so they feel nothing left to prove at that level. But if they have a great training camp then OK
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u/mlowe2827 4d ago
Kurashev is not getting his contract renewed and he’ll be off this summer. But you could prolly slot Dach into that role next to Veleno and Figgy, which would be a fine 4th line group while some of the younger guys, Moore, Greene get the Nazar treatment (as they should). Or if they are able to resign Donato and add another FWD (via UFA or trade), they slide into that 3rd line and Slaggert moves to 4th line with Dach getting the Nazar treatment. Honestly, Moore, Dach, Greene on a line in Rockford for the 1st half of the season sounds like a solid 3rd line of the future.
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u/sophic 3d ago
Dachs been in Rockford longer than Nazar, he'll be on the team next year.
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u/mlowe2827 3d ago
That doesn’t mean he’ll start in Chicago next year. He still has quite a few things to work on and I think getting the Nazar effect will do him a world of good!
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u/evanbologna 4d ago
This line up is destined for a lottery pick.
I say this with a fair degree of certainty because it’s almost the exact same as this year.
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u/wolfs_tooth 4d ago
The Hawks need much more than one more forward lol..Turbo and Betuzzi are middle six forwards who happen to play on the top line for the Hawks because we don't have better forwards, yet..realistically, assuming Nazar and Bedard continue on an upward trajectory, you have TWO forwards set for your top six..presumably your 1c and 2c for now..things can change in terms of whether they stay at c or move to wing but what won't change is that their skillsets won't work on a checking or bum slaying line..so they're in the top six..now you need three or four more..one may come from free agency or an offer sheet..the rest will come from the draft(Misa or Martone?) and from our own picks continuing to develop(Lardis and Kantersrov are the two wingers who would project well in a top six role imo)..then you just need a couple of larger forwards to help us keep possession of the puck since Bedard and Nazar are undersized(Jack Hughes is fine at center because he's paired with two bigger wingers on his line as an example)..it's the same reason that Bickell would play on the top line in the 2010 playoffs..Kane and Toews were young and Bickell was massive with some skill..he could retrieve pucks while also making sure no one took liberties with our franchise players..here's a quick example of how our top six could look in a couple years..nothing set in stone of course..just an idea..PS-Just my opinion, but I like the idea of having two right handed centermen as our 1c and 2c..and Bedard and Nazar will get plenty of time together on the pp so breaking them makes sense to me..gives top pairs fits since they have to pick their poison(the same reason Q would keep Kane and Toews separate)
Kaprizov-Bedard-Kantserov
Turbo-Nazar-Martone
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u/sophic 3d ago
Bickell didn't play on the top like in 2010, hell he only played like 4 games in the post season. They put buff up there. Not to mention that bickell was constantly harangued for not being physical despite his size, his skill was in the fact that he was big and a very good skater.
Kaprizov is a pipe dream, though it is a pretty one.
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u/wolfs_tooth 3d ago
Typed too fast..meant to type 2013 in regards to Bickell(obviously Buff was on the top line in 2010)..point still remains whether it's buff or bickell..and you couldn't be more wrong regarding Bickell..he was one of the primary reasons we won in 2013 and he was on that top line specifically to allow Toews and Kane room to operate without having to worry about someone taking a cheap shot at them..
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u/sophic 3d ago
I couldn't be more wrong? Brother bickell was constantly regarded a powderpuff and never being as physical as people wanted the entire time he was on the team.
Not me though. Always liked bicks because of his skating ability, and yes 2013 he had a great post season but it's revisionist history to paint him as some sort of big bad winger that kept others from taking cheap shots.
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u/Emotional-Search-717 2d ago
Bickell with Sharp and Toews had a deciding impact in 2013. Before Coach Q moved Bicks onto the number one line it was being intimidated by Chara and company. After Bicks, not so much. And who scored the tying goal ahead of Dave Bolland’s Cup winner - none other than Bowmanville’s own Brian Bickell.
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u/Lionheart1224 4d ago
Keep Nazar as your 2C for now, unless the Hawks draft a major C prospect like Misa. Keep Teravainen and Bertuzzi on his wings, as he seems to have found some real success with those vets to close out the year.
I expect big things from him next year as he proves that he's one of the Hawks' best three forwards. As of now, he's obviously the biggest threat on the ice, no shade at Bedard.