How the Blackhawks are preparing to utilize a Moore, Frondell and Nazar line

The Chicago Blackhawks have been messing with their lines all season.

Some have worked. Like the fourth line of Ryan Greene, Jordan Greenway, and Cole Smith, and a second line of Teuvo Teräväinen, Anton Frondell, and Tyler Bertuzzi jived for a bit.

But they are still looking for their lines to click through the lineup.

As they prepare to face the best team in the NHL, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Nov. 7, head coach Jeff Blashill is making a bold decision with the second line.

Blackhawks preparing a Moore, Frondell and Nazar line

A big storyline this season has been about Frondell's usage, because many have wondered about the second-line combos. In the last two games, he started with Smith,
Teräväinen, and Andrew Mangiapane. The Blackhawks are struggling on offense (2.18 goals per game), and Frondell is one of their most talented scorers.

But Blashill has been hesitent to move Frondell or Nazar out of the center position in the lineup. But according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, at morning skate, Nazar was a wing on Frondell's line, with Oliver Moore playing left wing.

Because Frondell and Nazar have been centering their own lines, a Frondell and Nazar pairing has barely been tried. According to Natural Stat Trick, they have only played together for 57 seconds this season on a line with Bertuzzi. They had a Corsi for and against of 1-1, and shots for and against of 1-0.

It's way too small of a sample size, but one worth looking into.

It is understandable for Blashill to want to spread out the depth in the lineup, but with them being 4-12-1, desperate times call for desperate measures, and they need to try something.

Blashill said pregame on Nov. 7 the decision behind the line, "I just think that's obviously three skilled players. Gives some speed to Anton, too. A little different look that way for him. With Kaner out of the lineup, our kind of forward group is a little bit different, and so we just see if we can, you know, give us a little bit of spark. With that said, Frankie's line created offense last game, so it's not necessarily a knock on that. I just think this might give that group a little bit of spark. So, we'll see."

Based on time on ice this season, the Moore, Nazar, and Ryan Donato line have spent the fourth-most time together. With Moore and Nazar's familiarity and skill, and Frondell's instincts, it's hard not to believe this trio can create something.

Blashill also said pregame on the decision to put Nazar on Frondell's wing and not the other way around,

"At the end of the day, to be honest with you, on the left side, Frondell's going to take faceoffs; on the right side, Frankie's going to take faceoffs, and whichever guy's low is gonna play low. So it's not really one guy's a center, one guy's a wing. We listed Frank as the wing, but could have done it either way. I mean, I coached Pavel (Datsyuk) and (Henrik) Zetterberg, and they were both centers, and whichever guy's low plays low."

If this line can find the back of the net...

Against a team like the Hurricanes, who have the third-best offense in the NHL (3.83 goals per game), the Blackhawks need to find the back of the net.

Connor Bedard and Roman Kantserov have found good chemistry on the top line, with Bedard having 12 points in nine games and Kantserov on a seven-game point streak (7 points in that span). If they can get this new second line to produce together, that would be great for them.

It is tough for the Blackhawks without Patrick Kane in the lineup, who is one of the best playmakers. But Frondell (0.62), Nazar (1.14), and Moore (0.62) are three of the top five Blackhawks in goals per 60 minutes, per Money Puck.

It's worth a try. It could be their best bet.

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