Two players in the National Hockey League will be out for the foreseeable future with injuries. They are Seattle Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour of Ohsweken, Ontario, and Chicago Blackhawks center Frank Nazar of Mount Clemens, Michigan.
What are the injuries?
Nazar suffered a severe facial injury when he got hit in the face from a Jordan Spence shot on Saturday in a 6-4 Ottawa Senators win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The puck had also deflected off of Tyler Bertuzzi’s skate.
Montour injured his hand a week ago in a 5-3 Seattle Kraken loss to the Colorado Avalanche. He never returned to the game after a fight with Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns of Barrie, Ontario. Montour had successful hand surgery. Both Montour and Nazar are expected to be out a month.
With Team Canada and Team United States announcing their Olympic roster in the coming weeks, it is unlikely that Montour and Nazar will be chosen. Nazar was a surprise selection to the American Olympic Orientation camp this past summer.
Nazar in 2025-26
Nazar has six goals and 15 assists for 21 points in 33 games. He is a -7 with 20 penalty minutes, six power-play points, one shorthanded point, one game-winning goal, 66 shots on goal, 178 faceoff wins, 25 blocked shots, 20 hits, 11 takeaways, and 36 giveaways.
The game-winning goal and shorthanded point were both in the month of October. The game-winning goal came in a dominant 8-3 Blackhawks win over the St. Louis Blues on October 15 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Nazar scored from Tyler Bertuzzi of Sudbury, Ontario, and defenseman Wyatt Kaiser of Andover, Minnesota at 4:32 of the second period. At the time, the Blackhawks went up 4-1. The shorthanded point was a shorthanded goal and came in an impressive 7-3 Blackhawks win over the Ottawa Senators on October 28. Nazar scored from left winger Nick Foligno of Buffalo, New York into an empty net with seven minutes and 16 seconds left in the game to close out the scoring.
Montour in 2025-26
Montour has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 27 games. He is a -4 with 21 penalty minutes, four power-play points, one game-winning goal, 68 shots on goal, 35 blocked shots, 34 hits, 14 takeaways, and 37 giveaways.
Montour’s overtime winner came in a 3-2 Kraken win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 22. On an all-Canadian goal, Montour scored from Frederick Gaudreau of Bromont, Quebec and defenseman Ryker Evans of Calgary, Alberta with 50 seconds left in the extra period.
