Ben Pope's Sun-Times projection puts Frank Nazar at first-line center for Chicago's opening six weeks — with Roman Kantserov (36 KHL goals, zero NHL games) on his left wing and Patrick Kane on his right. The rebuild math gets stress-tested before Bedard comes back.

The line on Ben Pope's projected sheet reads Kantserov — Nazar — Kane. In standard LW-C-RW notation — Pope lists the center second across every projected forward group in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times forecast — that puts Frank Nazar at first-line center for the Blackhawks' opening six weeks of 2026-27. Which is a different answer to Kyle Davidson's most expensive summer question than the marketing suggested.

Connor Bedard had left-shoulder surgery in late July, per Pope's reporting, and won't return until November. Davidson signed Patrick Kane at $8 million AAV and locked Bowen Byram into a $12.5 million cap hit as accelerant pieces built to surround a healthy franchise center. For the first month and a half, the center won't be there.

Pope's projection puts Nazar — who went 11 points in 10 games last October, in the first year of his seven-year contract — at the top of the depth chart. Kane slots to his right. Roman Kantserov, the 20-year-old Russian forward who led his KHL club with 36 goals last season but has never played an NHL game, occupies the left wing. Pope raises the first-line center question directly — "a burning question the Hawks will need to figure out in camp" — and answers it with the notation. What Pope flags about the biggest unknown on that unit: "Whether Kantserov will look like a promising rookie or a fully ready-to-go star is another burning question." Davidson, per Pope, "hasn't shied away from setting high expectations for him." Those expectations run on the wing, not at center — but the audition pressure is real either way.

Kane mentioned Nazar specifically at his July 24 podium appearance; they've skated together this summer and Nazar has made an impression. That's an easier data point to read than Kantserov's KHL production, which translates to the NHL at a discount that September camp hasn't priced yet. The more relevant Nazar number: after that scorching October start, his production didn't sustain. His second full season, in the contract year that bets he's a legitimate top-line center, is when that question gets answered for real.

On defense, Pope's picture is more settled. Byram anchors the top pair alongside Alex Vlasic, likely on his off (right) side, projected to lead all Blackhawks blueliners in ice time — the role a $12.5 million cap hit is supposed to fill. Ian Cole and Artyom Levshunov close out the third pairing, Cole in the veteran-anchor role Davidson is also paying Kane $8 million to provide up front.

The October math works if Nazar runs a first line in his second full NHL season, if a KHL winger finds his footing before the NHL's speed eats him alive, and if the defense holds while the forwards figure themselves out. Bedard returns in November. Until then, this is Nazar's moment — with a lot riding on who lines up to his left.