The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Mark Lazerus

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Jeff is joined by Mark Lazerus of The Athletic to discuss Chicago’s red-hot start, Frank Nazar’s show-stopping celly, and how Connor Bedard and Nazar are shaping the future of the #Blackhawks. They dig into Jeff Blashill’s impact behind the bench, Spencer Knight’s emergence, and how Chicago’s rebuild has quietly turned into must-watch hockey.SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Bauer: https://www.bauer.com/👍🏼Shark Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system/FN101CGY.html?utm_source=Better+Collective&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=H2+Air+Fryer&utm_content=EN👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/ca👍🏼Prime Video: https://primevideo-row.pxf.io/c/5560083/3303015/20020Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey there, it's Jeff Merrick here. You know, my wife and I both have countless memories from spending time discovering Canada. Well, I always come back to the summer of 2005. We were staying at a cottage on Lake Joseph here in Muscoca, watching the Live 8 music festival in Barry on television. My buddy Jeremy Taggart, former drummer from Our Lady Peace, dropped by after his band's set and stayed the rest of the weekend at the cottage after the band's set and told some incredible backstage stories about some amazing Canadian music icons.

I will never forget that. And fast forward to today, I'm a hockey parent, and I feel like I'm always on the road with my family, whether that means traveling across southern Ontario hockey ranks during the week or overnight at tournaments on select weekends. But what makes our hockey experience even more special is booking a place on Airbnb when we're on the road for overnight tournaments. All of this traveling got me to thinking, my home's just sitting empty when I could be hosting it on Airbnb instead. I'd simply put up my house on Airbnb, pre-select dates that I want to host, bam, it's practical, easy to manage, and it enables people like me to make some money while they're not at home.

Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. at medcan we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health from the big milestones to the quiet winds that's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer the healthier you means more moments to cherish take control of your well-being and book an assessment today Medcan, live well for life. Visit Medcan.com

slash moments to get started. You read him in the athletic, you can hear him on the athletic podcast where he does excellent work. He is Mark Lazarus, and he joins me now. Let's just get the first one out of the way here, Lazz. The solo Selly yesterday by Frank Nazar. First of all, he's been, as you've documented,

fantastic this season. There's going to come a point where the conversation, station, and maybe it already has, changes from that's way too much money for someone who hasn't played enough NHL games to, man, that's one of the best value contracts this side of Karel Marchenko

and Alexi Protas. This kid is flat out fantastic and we saw it again last night, but what did you make of the solo Selly after the goal? That whole goal was just a pure hit of Frank Nazar, right? You got the blinding speed coming down, the icy blows by two defenders.

You've got them the skill to take off that shot. That's not an easy shot to get off. You got the recklessness of him crashing into Joel Hofer. And then he got the pure comedy of Frank Naser where he just gets up out of the scrum and just starts kind of dancing around by himself and taunting the fans. I mean, we're always, we do this too much in Chicago and I'm as guilty of it as anybody. We're always looking for analogs to the cup years. But Frank Nazar has that Patrick Kane gene in him where he's a performer, right? He's got this inherent confidence. He's got a little bit of irreverence. He's not too big for the moment. The moment's not too big for him.

excuse me, and he just seems to revel in that stardum. Connor Bedard is going to be the face of this team for the next 10, 15 years. But Frank Nazar is going to be the guy who's the most fun to watch and the guy who's having the most fun out there. Is that going to be the, uh, so he's going to be the, uh, the cane to Bedard's taves, or am I really stretching things here? Because there is a serious tone to Connor Bedard. I'm not saying that he's Jonathan Taves.

Actually, I'm going to compare anyone of the Jonathan Taves in the NHL is probably Macklin Celebrini. But as far as like temperament. and spirit go. Is that kind of what we're looking at? I think so. I mean, I mean, it's, you can understand why Connor Bedard is a little more guarded, maybe, than most players. He's been interviewed every day since he was like 14 years old. The hype he faced. Frank Nazar didn't face that. Frank Nazar is just a guy who went to college and now he's in the NHL and he's kind of more of a, you know, quote unquote, normal person

because he hasn't lived under that microscope the way that Bedard is. Baddard's got a big personality. You can see it when like the cameras aren't on. Every now and then, you know, you can draw a good quote out of him. I like when he gets combative when he takes like an issue with your question. He's not afraid to like kind of dispute you. There's plenty of personality there, but he is a very serious young player who has been under a serious

microscope for a long time. So that it is. It's the cane and tase of it all. And there's more guys coming. We don't know who Anton Frundell is going to be. We don't know who Roman Canceroff is going to be. I mean, there's more and more coming. But right now it's Bedard and Nazar 1-2 in your lineup. And you kind of like that if you're a Hawks fan. You know, the thing about

Padard that's fascinating to me is, you know, A lot of players, you know, going through junior, you know, in a lot of ways, when it comes to media interviews or being grilled, a lot of them get a free pass, right? It's like, ah, they're kids. But I remember Bardard specifically, and it was that last year when he played with the last year with the Regina Pats. And, you know, there's always a speculation, oh, he's going to, he's going to want to get traded to a Memorial Cup contender, a team that can win the Western Hockey League championship. How can they get them to Camloops? And he kept saying, and no one would believe him. And John Paddock, who was, you know, running the team would always say, look, he does not want to go and I don't want to trade him.

But everywhere Bedard went, he was asked about leaving Regina. And coming out of all of it, even though, you know, his team never got anywhere close to the Western Hockey League championships, the one thing that I kept saying to myself, Mark, was that's got to toughen his skin a little bit, and that's going to be good for the next level. And because he's going to be going to it, we didn't know where he's going to end up. he's going to be going to a bottom feeding team that's rebuilding. And as you well know, if you're going to be on one of those teams, you need thick skin. You need crocodile skin if you're going to survive.

And I can only think that even though it was horrible for like a 16, 17 year old to go through that at the time, it kind of toughened him up a little bit. Like when he arrived, did he seem like a little bit like, okay, I've already got scars from how of what happened in the Western League. I'm ready for what you guys can throw at me here in the media in Chicago. A little bit. He was a little defensive early on, I felt, and I can understand that. But, you know, it's funny because, like, his rookie year, as an 18-year-old is one of the youngest, I think it was the 13th youngest player in NHL history because he's a July birthday.

He talked almost every single day. After every practice, every morning skate, every game that he, you know, played a big role in. He talked, remember Austin Matthews was 19, and the Maple Leafs really sheltered him that front year. That's how it normally goes. But, Conor Bernard was. That was Lou. Hunter Bernard was, yeah. That was 100% Lou Lamarillo.

There wasn't a Lou Lamarillo there in Chicago. And no one in the media is like, oh God, Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette, who would refuse to talk to rookies. That was his rule. The only rookie he spoke to was Patrick Waugh in 86. But that was it. Like Red's like, you're a rookie. I'm not talking to you.

Nobody gets that grace anymore last. Sorry, continue your story. No, the Hawks put him right out there. Like from day one, he was the focus of every Twitter post and every Instagram post and every interview, every jersey they sold, it's been bedard from day one. They have not sheltered him at all. And he is more than capable of handling that.

I think that's clear by now. Okay, so I love this power rankings that you and Scotty put together. And number one, Frank Nagasar. And what a perfect time for this to come out, as you mentioned in the piece as well. For those that don't know him, well, first of all, like last year of the World Championships,

if you don't watch the World Championships, I highly encourage people to always have a peak. He was a star. was it 12 points I think Nazar had like it's just spectacular right I remember team hockey Canada took jonathan taves you know before he debuted with chicago to the world championships as well to sort of acclimatize them uh in that sort of competitive environment but for those that don't know frank nazar and are just learning about him for the first time fans from outside of chicago because people in chicago know about him what should they know about

him because it's a big night well he's the guy the he's the guy the black hawks traded kirby dock for, a former number three overall pick. They traded to Montreal on draft day during tank mode to take him 13th overall the same year they took Kortinski and Sam Renzel in the first round. So he's been a big piece of this project for a long time now. He came into the league for the first time at the very end of two years ago. He played about 40, 50 games last year. You know, he came up around December and he instantly was an impact player, but he couldn't score, couldn't finish. He was all speed and, you know, all feet, no hands, which we You've seen guys like that come through the Black Hawk system before.

You're Victor Stalbergs, your Vinnie Hinnishtrozes. But then at the end of the year, all of a sudden, the puck started going in. He had this run of like nine straight games with breakaways where he didn't score on them. And he was like losing his mind over it. And then all of a sudden, the puck started going in. The last like three or four weeks of the season, he looked like a star, absolute star, the best player on the team. And then he goes and follows that up with the worlds, where his team USA's leading

score on route to a championship, which just does wonders for his confidence. And he's just this guy who's got this easy, easy confidence about him. He's always just been like, I know I belong. I'll be fine. It's not arrogant. He's just very comfortable in his own skin. He's very comfortable in an NHL locker room. He's comfortable with the start.

If you saw the TNT broadcast last night, the interview both he and Bedard at the same time, and Nazar was sitting in front, Bedard was in the back. And Nazar is out there, you know, dropping quips and curses and stuff. Just he's so comfortable in that role. He's 21 years old. This is all pretty new to him. but he's really good at just the being a star aspect of hockey. You know, I'm so glad that you mentioned, you know,

the idea of speed and no finish. And red line to red line, great players, super fast, but can't get the puck over the red line. There's another play on the Chicago Blackhawks that always had that reputation. And I used to always make the joke that, you know, Makeev is Russian for Grabner. You remember Michael Grabner, who was like the fastest guy,

but like get their little round black thing over the red line. Holy smokes. but all of a sudden now Ily McKeyev is a, dare we say, significant piece of this Chicago Blackhawks team, Mark? He was the best player on the team last year. I mean, without question to my mind, he was the most reliable, consistent two-way player on the team last year. And it's funny because Vancouver has become like this,

like an AHL team for the Blackhawks. They just take on their cap-dums and turn them into great players. Jason Dickinson was getting Selke votes two years ago. He was a cap-dum from Vancouver. And now, you're right, he is a core piece of this team now. Like, they're not going to let this guy go. He's a great skater. He's a fabulous defensive player.

He's so good in his own end. And last year, the puck started going in for me. He had 20 goals last year. He's got three goals in the last two games. He plays on the third line. He never complains. He kills penalties. Every now and then when they need a bump,

they put him on Bidar's line and they work well together. It doesn't matter where you slot him in the lineup. He's been incredibly effective. And it's just always amazing to be when guys struggle so much in one place and then just show up somewhere else on a worst team with worse structure and all kinds of chaos going on. and they just thrive. Fall is here and everybody's getting back from vacation,

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Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Hey there, it's Jeff Merrick here. You know, my wife and I both have countless memories from spending time discovering Canada. Well, I always come back to the summer of 2005. We were staying at a cottage on Lake Joseph. here in Muscoca watching the Live 8 music festival in Barry on television. My buddy Jeremy Taggart, former drummer from Our Lady Peace, dropped by after his band's set

and stayed the rest of the weekend at the cottage after the band set and told some incredible backstage stories about some amazing Canadian music icons. I will never forget that. And fast forward to today, I'm a hockey parent, and I feel like I'm always on the road with my family. Whether that means traveling, across southern Ontario hockey rinks during the week or overnight at tournaments on select weekends.

But what makes our hockey experience even more special is booking a place on Airbnb when we're on the road for overnight tournaments. All of this traveling got me to thinking, my home's just sitting empty when I could be hosting it on Airbnb instead. I'd simply put up my house on Airbnb, pre-select dates that I want to host, bam. It's practical, easy to manage, and it's enables people like me to make some money while they're not at home. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. You know, one of the things that I've always,

I want to sort of dovetail this into Spencer Knight, one of the things you always sort of wonder about to, If they didn't make that trade, would we still be talking about the Chicago Blackhawks this way? Obviously, they'd still have Seth Jones. Not that they need another giant on the back end. I mean, everyone on this team on the blue line, 6 foot 6 or 6 foot 7, 6 foot 8 massive back there. But the team wouldn't have Spencer Knight. If that deal, and there were a lot of people that you can't trade, Seth Jones.

I don't care what Dallas is offering. They're not going to be able to take the cap hit in Florida, et cetera. If they didn't make that deal, would we still be talking about the Hawks the same way right now? Or was that crucial for this part of the rebuild? It was crucial. I mean, first of all, Seth Jones was good for the Blackhawks. People seem to forget that he was overpaid, but he was good. Like he was a reliable, solid player for them.

But if Seth Jones is on this team taking 24 minutes a night, then Sam Renzel's not getting 24 minutes a night. And everyone gets knocked down a bunch and the rebuild is kind of stalled a little bit. But yeah, if you don't have Spencer Knight, you probably have Arbor. Soderbloom and maybe like another maybe peter morazick's back maybe drew commesso's getting a chance but what spencer night is done is he's really come in and stabilize things he's he doesn't have bad nights right he doesn't give up soft goals there's there's nights where they're going to lose five to two because the defense is just atrocious they have four or five guys 23 or younger on the blue line every night it's going to happen but spencer night doesn't really screw up out there he's

just reliable and that's you know i talked to paul maurice about this when i was in florida at the beginning of the year and he just put it perfectly where when you have spencer night it makes the gap that much closer, right? Like the talent gap, he kind of draws it in a little bit more. A close game becomes a win. A blowout becomes a close loss. And that's something the Blackhawks haven't had since, really, since Cory Crawford and Robin Lennar were the duo.

Mark Andre Fleury didn't even bring that. They've been kind of just cycling through guys, and Peter Morazek did yeoman's work here behind an awful, awful team that was actively trying to lose in the front office. But what Spencer Knight is bringing, it's been four or five years since they've had here in Chicago. Okay, let me throw a, here with you. I had this conversation at the combine with an agent. We're trying to figure

out where this is going to land. Now, it may just all be different this year based on performance, but stop me when you think I'm at the right number for Connor Bedard and his second contract. 10 million, 10 and a half, 11. Yeah, I think 10 and a half. I feel like I should start yodeling now. I'm on the price is right. 11 and 11 and a half. A little guy going up to hell, yeah. I feel it's going to wind up. Like, if I'm, if I'm Connor Bedard, I'm not saying he's going to do this.

Yeah. I want to take like a bridge deal. I want to go old school bridge deal and take like a three-year deal. Really? Get that 10. I'm just saying what I would do. I mean, I think all these guys should be doing that. He should take 10 and 10 and a half million.

And then by the time that contract runs out, he's going to be a, I have no doubt that Connor Bardard is going to be a superstar in this league. He is shown it time and time again. I know everyone that there's, there's a rejection. of him. People had him shoved down their throats at a young age. They want to see him fail and they want to elevate Celebrini. They're both great. They're both going to be superstars. And if I'm Bardard, I want to be getting that $20 million contract three or four years from now. But look, they will pay him whatever he wants. He is the franchise. He is the

marketable face of this franchise. He is the most talented player on the team. But it's going to be at least eight figures. But the way the cap is going, why would you ever take an eight-year deal? why would you Nathan McKinnon yourself? There were years there where Nathan McKinnon was the best player on the planet. He was making $6 million a year because it took four or five years for him to become a superstar. If that's the path that Bedard is on and that's entirely plausible, then why would you take an eight-year deal now? That's just me. He probably will because he's a hockey player, but I wouldn't do that.

You'd take a three-year deal and then you get the big cash in a few years. I'll go back to the loyalty thing with Badard. Like, that's always been him going back to like the first time I talked to anyone in his camp playing in the Western hockey. The one thing about Bedard is as highly skilled as he is, he's equally loyal. Like, that's the guy that wouldn't leave the Regina paths. Like, he's like, do you want to go to Camloops or host of the Memorial Cup? No, I'm going to get there in Regina. And it was that kind of loyalty that we all said is going to serve him very well on a rebuilding team

because he'll be a lot of painful nights. So here, let me get ahead of myself again. Up to gut right now. Badd, Nazar, when Anton Frundel shows up. Who goes to the wing here? Because I don't think one of these two are going to be third line. Thank you very much. I actually, I asked Frank Nazar that direct question last week.

I said, you know, you know that there's more, it's not just Frondell, there's Sasha Boisvare, there's Merrick Finacker. I mean, they've got, they had 11 first round picks in the last four years. That's what I hate tanking. I think it was gross what the Blackhawks did, but this is why you do it, right? And I asked Nazar, I'm like, would you rather be like on Connor Bedard's wing or driving your own line when these guys come in? He's like, I see myself as a center.

He's like, I can play anywhere. I pride myself in my ability to do that. But he sees himself as a center. The Hawks see him as a center. I think Frondell goes to Bedard's wing at the end of this year. When he signs after the Swedish league season ends, I'm sure he'll come out here for a few games. I think they put him on Bedard's wing and see what happens.

Because the badard could be the center, but Frondel can still do the two-way play. I mean, we've seen that before where the center isn't really the center. It could be one of those kinds of situations. And we're all going towards positionless hockey anyway. So all of it's probably moved. But the interesting point there, and you just mentioned this on your last pod, too. It's like Frankie Nazar just took Connor Bardard's wingers from last season.

Thanks. I'll take those. Tyler Bertuzi and Tevo, Terravindan were signed. When Kyle Davidson couldn't land Jake Gensel, he quote unquote settled for Bertuzi and Tara Vinen, kind of overpaid a little bit for each of them, maybe give me one more year than normal. Those are supposed to be Connor Bradar's linemates. Those guys are locked in the Nazar's wing right. That is the second line.

and that's not changing anytime soon. Real quick, I've got like 30 seconds left with you, and we haven't even touched the back end, although we've mentioned you know Renzel, who's been fantastic. Who's impressed you the most on that back end? Everybody's a giant, where everyone's a massive. It's the giantest of them all.

It's Louis Cravia. He was like 6 foot 8. 6.8! He was supposed to be the, he's a huge guy. He was supposed to be like the number 7 defenseman just because he's not waiver exempt anymore, and he was going to be a guy who can scratch, but they're going 117 every night

because Crevier's been really good. He's got great reach. He, you know, someone hit, Cain Gully, hit Frank Nazar and Crevier pouncing. Jeff Blaschell love that. Louis Crevier is making himself. He's covering himself out of role here. Never a bad idea to protect the young superstar investment for the team. Wise move, Louis.

Wise move. Mark, listen, the power rankings are awesome. You and Scotty with a great job, doing a great job as well. Continued success at the athletic. The reads are great and the podcast is fantastic. We'll catch up soon. Thanks, Mark. Thanks, I appreciate it.

I'm not against those methods but new It's me and myself and how this is going to be fixed in my mind I do on the bag of it I turned on the music I do want to beckers I turn on the music That's enough I don't know, I don't think you're sometimes losing

At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being. and book an assessment today. Medcan, live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started.

Hey there, it's Jeff Merrick here. You know, my wife and I both have countless memories from spending time discovering Canada. Well, I always come back to the summer of 2005. We were staying at a cottage on Lake Joseph here in Muscoca watching the Live 8 music festival in Barry on television. My buddy Jeremy Taggart, former drummer from Our Lady Pee, dropped by after his band's set

and stayed the rest of the weekend at the cottage after the band set and told some incredible backstage stories about some amazing Canadian music icons. I will never forget that. And fast forward to today, I'm a hockey parent and I feel like I'm always on the road with my family. Whether that means traveling across

Southern Ontario hockey ranks during the week or overnight at tournaments on select weekends. But what makes our hockey experience even more special, is booking a place on Airbnb when we're on the road for overnight tournament. All of this traveling got me to thinking, my home's just sitting empty when I could be hosting it on Airbnb instead. I'd simply put up my house on Airbnb, pre-select dates that I want to host, bam, it's practical, easy to manage, and it enables people like me to make some money while they're not at home. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much it

Airbnb.ca slash host.