One reason Frank Nazar has not been recalled by the Chicago Blackhawks

There was a sense that once Joey Anderson cleared waivers, the Chicago Blackhawks would recall one of their top prospects, Frank Nazar.

Well, Joey has cleared waivers and Nazar is still not on the Blackhawks' active NHL roster.

ESPN's Emily Kaplan explains there is a simple reason that one of the Hawks' five best prospects is still in Rockford.

So, Hawks fans have to wait a little longer for the arrival of possibly the perfect linemate for Connor Bedard. At least, it sounds like the wait will not be long.

General manager Kyle Davidson did shoot down the idea that Nazar would be coming with Anders Sorenson, who went from being the Rockford IceHogs head coach to Blackhawks interim head coach when Luke Richardson was fired.

Davidson is currently riding a fine line between giving Nazar enough time in the AHL to hone his game while keeping an in-house solution to the team's offensive struggles.

This season is already lost, so when Nazar returns to the NHL (he played in three games last season after signing), it should not be because the team needs help in the short term. A short term solution is why Joey Anderson is still likely on the team after clearing waivers.

Nazar matters more to the team's long-term success, so when he is called up, it should be because he is ready to help the team for the rest of his career. Making sure he can play well away from the puck and be more consistent is much more important than seeing if he can feed Bedard some passes to score goals.

Those days are coming, and sure, it would be nice if it came during this week's road trip. At least Nazar's production for the IceHogs has Davidson more willing to bring up Frank sooner rather than later.

Nazar has 11 goals and 13 assists this season for the IceHogs. He is also building a friendship with fellow top prospect Artyom Levshunov.

Nazar and Levshunov are key players in the franchise's future success. You have to give Davidson credit to resist the temptation to bring those two up before they are ready.

Defenseman Kevin Korchinski is at least back on the NHL team. Maybe some time in Rockford will help him be willing to shoot the puck more and not have so many "in over his head" moments as he displayed last season.

It would still be nice to have something to watch this season (for those who can watch the Hawks on CHSN), as the Blackhawks have been a tough view this season. The Bedard effect is starting to wear off with his lack of goals. At least something worth watching, like Nazar's NHL season debut, is not too far away.