Chicago, IL (AP) – Anton Frondell, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 draft, is expected make his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks this week.
Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said before Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Nashville that Frondell was headed for Chicago from his native Sweden “we hope as soon as possible.”
And while Blashill stopped short of saying that Frondell would skate with third-year star center Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, the coach said the 6-foot-2, 200-pound forward would “be with a good player, for sure.”
The Blackhawks signed Frondell to a three-year, entry-level contract last summer, then lent him to Djurgardens of the Swedish Hockey League, the country’s top league.
In 43 games as an SHL rookie, Frondell became the fourth 18-year-old to score 20 goals in the league and the first since Daniel Sedin in 1998-99. After helping Sweden win the goal medal at the world junior championships in January, Frondell finished strong with Djurgardens, scoring in 10 of 18 regular-season games before his team was eliminated Saturday in a first-round playoff series.
The Blackhawks play at the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils on a four-game trip that opens Tuesday.
Blashill said he’d know more about Frondell’s exact debut date on Monday.
“We’re just working through flights, stuff like that,” Blashill said. “I know he wants to get here. We want to get him here.”
Once Frondell arrives, he should get ample ice time for rebuilding, last-place Chicago, which is 26-31-13 and in 30th place overall in the 32-team NHL.
“Probably in his situation, based on the level of play he’s had all year, how well he’s played the last part of the year … I’m a ‘gonna throw him into the fire’ kind of coach,” Blashill said.
Forward Sacha Boisvert, one of Chicago’s three first-round picks in 2024, also is expected to join the team shortly, after signing a three-year contract last week. The 20-year-old from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, is awaiting immigration clearance after concluding his season with Boston University.
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