Who the Chicago Blackhawks should call up if Frank Nazar's injury becomes long-term

The Blackhawks were short Andre Burakovsky, Jason Dickinson, and most importantly, Frank Nazar. Dickinson practiced the morning before the game against the Devils; Burakovsky and Nazar did not. Therefore, the Blackhawks need to call up another forward from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.

The loss of Nazar and Burakovsky in the top six is significant. Nazar is 20 years old and was off to a hot start, having 11 points in 15 games. All you can hope is that this injury doesn't hinder anything he had going for him. With Burakovsky, he was Bedard's winger, and that alone is a huge loss by itself, not even mentioning the fact that he had 14 points in 15 games.

Nazar is the most problematic, though. With this injury, you've lost your 2C. You've lost the young blood that was bringing the top six together. You've lost the guy who brings valuable power play time and point production. You're not going to fill that gap, and they have to hope this injury is not long-term and he can come back soon.

So, for the hopefully short time being, who can they call up to the NHL?

With his recent play in the AHL, Nick Lardis seems like the frontrunner to get the call up to the big leagues.

Lardis, 20 years old, coming off a 71-goal season in the OHL with the Brantford Bulldogs in 2024-25, came into this preseason with high hopes. However, he didn't necessarily live up to the potential and had a rough preseason, which led him to being sent down to the minors.

Lardis has picked his play up quickly, though, as he has five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 13 games with the Icehogs, currently steaming through the season at a point-per-game pace. He still continues to show off.

Oliver Moore was playing great in Rockford, earned the call up, and got it; why not Lardis? He's shown he can play professional hockey; why not see how it goes for a few games while Chicago can make it happen?