Last week, the Chicago Blackhawks and Frank Nazar agreed to terms of a contract extension. On top of the final year of his rookie deal, he has seven additional years locked up with a cap hit of $6.59 million.
That’s a lot of money for a player who’s only played 56 career NHL games. According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on his podcast “32 Thoughts”, this could be the new way of life for the Chicago Blackhawks.
“It just shows if teams really believe in these guys, they'll make their bets. And it's very clear Chicago is going to make their bets.” Friedman said about the Blackhawks giving out this kind of contract.
Friedman also made it clear that the Blackhawks might not be done with deals like this. Obviously, Connor Bedard is going to get paid, but it feels like he’s proven a lot more than Nazar, despite not even reaching his true ceiling yet, either.
It is goaltender Spencer Knight, whom the Blackhawks acquired in the Seth Jones trade, that Friedman thinks folks should keep an eye on in terms of a similar contract extension.
“I don't believe there's anything going on with Connor Bedard right now, who is eligible for an extension. But I do believe Chicago is considering some other business.” Friedman said after the conversation got back to talking about the Blackhawks. “And one of the things I do wonder about is Spencer Knight. Like, he's up after this year. And the surest predictor of future behavior is past behavior. And I wonder if they're going to take a run at Knight.”
It seems like Chicago’s plan is to give Spencer Knight every chance to become a star number-one goalie in the NHL. A contract like the one handed to Nazar would show a deep level of commitment. With Arvid Soderblom and Drew Commesso as potential backup options, the Blackhawks could have great depth at the position.
Elliotte Friedman doesn’t throw opinions like that out there without there being some kind of truth to what he’s saying. There is definitely something in the works when it comes to the Blackhawks extending Knight. The question is what the deal will look like in terms of cash and terms.
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