Anton Frondell's first NHL stint has everyone excited

Heading into the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, there was a lot of debate on whether the Chicago Blackhawks would be better off with Michael Misa or Anton Frondell. The San Jose Sharks settled that debate by taking Misa second overall, leaving Frondell for the Blackhawks at No. 3. After a small sample size at the NHL level, I don’t think there are many fans disappointed with the outcome.

Season Review

Frondell had himself quite a season, which may not be over just yet. He started it with Djurgardens IF in the Swedish Hockey League, where he was mentored by former Blackhawk Marcus Kruger. He became only the fourth teenager in SHL history to have a 20-goal season.

During the middle of his SHL season, he represented Sweden at the IIHF U20 World Junior Championship. He had five goals and eight points in seven games, leading Sweden to its first gold medal since 2012. That team was loaded with future NHLers like Filip Forsberg, Willian Karlsson, Mika Zibanejad, and Rickard Rakell. Frondell was named the tournament’s best forward to go along with his shiny new neckwear.

He finally made his NHL debut on March 24, picking up his first career point with an assist versus the New York Islanders. He had four assists in his first four games before making his home debut, when he scored his first NHL goal against the Winnipeg Jets.

Although he started his stint playing on Connor Bedard’s wing, Frondell finished out the run at center. He played well there and even got head coach Jeff Blashill to make a comparison that should excite Blackhawks fans.

“If you get to a point where you have a guy in Anton who looks like a player who could be similar to what you had here with Jonathan Toews, go out and play against the other team's best,” he said. “Which then frees up Bedard and (Frank) Nazar to not have to do that, then also produce points, that's a great asset to have as an organization.

Frondell never looked out of place during his 12 games. He might have tapered off a bit towards the end, but that’s understandable. He will make the Blackhawks a better team just by being here all of next season.

“It felt like the game, overall, was so fast,” Frodnell said of his first NHL experience. “For me, that was a wake-up call – knowing how good people are. This year, I was competing with some of the best players in Sweden, and now I’m playing against the best players in the whole world. It was cool to see the high level some players have, and that I’m still far away from being my best.”

Analyses & Final Grade

Season Stats

Games played: 12
Goals: 3
Assists: 6
Power-play points: 2 (2 A)
Plus/minus: -1
Shots on goal: 36
Shot attempts: 70
Shooting percentage: 8.3
Average time on ice: 17:2
Penalty minutes: 4
Penalties drawn: 1
Blocked shots: 13
Individual scoring chances: 34
Individual high-danger chances: 11
Corsi for percentage (CF%): 52.06
Scoring chance percentage (SCF%): 49.21
High-danger chance percentage (HDCF%): 47.17

Frondell showed a lot for an 18-year-old who jumped right into an NHL lineup with very little practice time. He was strong on the puck, was not afraid to shoot, and seemed to always be in the right spots on the ice at the right time. He’s smart, big, fast, and skilled. If you pace out his numbers over 82 games, he would have had 21 goals, 41 assists, 62 points, 246 shots on goal, 233 scoring chances, and 75 high-danger scoring chances. On last year’s team, those numbers would have had him third in goals, second in assists, second in points, first in shots, first in scoring chances, and fourth in high-danger chances. Expectations were high for the third overall pick, and he met them, if not exceeded them. Frondell gets an A.

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