Despite losing out in the lottery, the Chicago Blackhawks still walked away from the NHL Draft with Anton Frondell, a promising 18-year-old prospect. This marks another in a string of selections meant to turn the Blackhawks back into contenders, joining Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, among others, as potential franchise cornerstones. He addressed his arrival with the Blackhawks after the “best” night of his life.
Anton Frondell talks joining Chicago Blackhawks
After both Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa went off the board to the New York Islanders and San Jose Sharks, respectively, the Chicago Blackhawks were left with their pick of Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers, Brady Martin, Porter Martone, and James Hagens, among several other prospects.
They went with Frondell, who said he probably didn’t quite grasp how huge this was for him. “It’s been a hectic few days, from the draft till now. I don’t really understand what’s happening,” he admitted to NHL.com.
Frondell scored 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 29 regular-season games with Djurgården IF in HockeyAllsvenskan during the 2024-25 season. It earned him Rookie of the Year honors. After being picked, he said he was always hopeful that Chicago, the team he’s most familiar with, would pick him.
“I didn’t know for sure [that getting drafted by the Blackhawks] was coming,” Frondell noted. “Since the combine, I haven’t talked so much with teams, so I didn’t really know…For sure I hoped Chicago. It was the team with the best feeling in the room at the combine, so the best team that could’ve picked me, picked me.”
Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson made him the latest lottery pick for the rebuild, and he called Frondell a “smart” hockey player. “I think he uses his body very effectively, especially in battles along the wall. He just has a really projectable game to the NHL, and I think he plays the game the way that it’s played, not only in North America on the small rink,” the GM added.
Davidson said that Frondell’s natural style is very similar to “playoff hockey,” so he envisions Frondell being someone the Hawks can rely on in the summer when the games matter most.
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