Blackhawks’ Frank Nazar leaves game vs. Senators, will miss ‘approximately four weeks’

Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar will miss approximately the next four weeks after leaving Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators with an upper-body injury, according to Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill.

Late in the first period of Saturday’s game at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, Nazar took a puck off the face after a heavy shot by Senators defenseman Jordan Spence caromed up off Tyler Bertuzzi’s stick.

Nazar, 21, left the game and did not return, with the Blackhawks announcing during the first intermission that he would not return. After the game, Blashill indicated that Nazar will “miss time for sure — approximately four weeks, probably.”

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Frank Nazar takes a puck to the face and heads to the dressing room.

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8:20 PM · Dec 20, 2025

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With Nazar now joining Connor Bedard on their injured list, the Blackhawks are without their two most skilled young forwards for the immediate future. Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, sustained a shoulder injury earlier this month and will be out at least into the New Year.

Nazar, who the Blachkawks drafted at No. 12 overall in 2022, has six goals and 21 points through 33 games this season. The 5’10”, 190-pound forward recorded 12 goals and 26 points in 53 games with Chicago in 2024-25, prompting the club to sign him to a seven-year contract extension carrying a $6.59-million cap hit.

Playing with a severely depleted lineup, the Blackhawks fell to the Senators by a 6-4 score on Saturday afternoon. Ilya Mikheyev tallied twice and Nick Lardis scored his first NHL goal in the losing effort, which saw Chicago fall to 13-16-6 on the year — tied with the Calgary Flames for the fourth-worst record in the league.

Without Bedard and now Nazar, the Blackhawks will look to get back into the win column when they return to action on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center in Chicago.