The Blackhawks are gambling on Frank Nazar, much like the Wild did with Kirill Kaprizov

The Chicago Blackhawks gave Frank Nazar a massive contract extension despite him playing just 56 NHL games.

The seven-year, $46.13 million deal will keep the 21-year-old promising center in a Blackhawks sweater through the 2032-33 season. This is either making a safe bet or jumping the gun, depending on how you look at it.

He closed out the 2024-25 season strong with five goals and four assists in April. He finished the season with a three-game goal-scoring streak. He is also a former first-round pick with tremendous potential.

At the same time, he has just 27 career points and is an undersized center. Time will tell if the Hawks took a smart or foolish risk.

The Blackhawks are not the first team to take such a massive risk. A division rival handed out a similar deal in 2021 to a player with limited experience.

The Wild took a similar gamble that has paid off

Minnesota signed Kirill Kaprizov to a five-year, $45 million deal after the Russian played 55 games during the 2020-21 season.

Kaprizov went on to make three All-Star teams and registered three 40-goal seasons. There are two key differences between the gamble the Wild took and the Blackhawks just made.

Kaprizov won the Calder Trophy in 2021. He also scored 27 goals along with 24 assists. He proved he could at least be a 50-point scorer in the NHL.

The Hawks are gambling that Nazar can double triple the 12 goals and 14 assists he had last season. The Wild had more evidence that Kaprizov was going to reach his ceiling. The Hawks should still be concerned that Nazar will only get to his floor by being a 25 to 30-point player.

Chicago does, at least, have the mitigating factor of the salary cap increasing. A $6 million per year investment like this in 2021 would have been crazy with a smaller cap. Now, $6 million does not seem like a cap-clogging deal if it backfires. Also, if the gamble does pay off like it did for the Wild, then the Hawks have an All-Star talent on a team-friendly deal.

Plus, the Hawks got Nazar to agree to a seven-year extension, which lowered his cap figure. The Wild could only get Kaprizov to agree to a five-year extension, and that made his AAV $9 million.

The Wild are having trouble signing Kaprizov to another extension as he is set to be a free agent after this upcoming season.

The Hawks just need to hope Nazar can produce similar numbers to Kaprizov. If he does, then the Hawks made a brilliant decision.