Welcome to Chicago, Anton Frondell. It’s his first time with the team, but he’s playing like he’s been here for a while.
The rookie arrived with the Hawks on March 24 for morning skate before a 4-3 win at the Islanders. The nerves were there, but so was the excitement.
Playing on a line with Connor Bedard will do that, too.
“It’s cool to be on the ice with all those players and next to Bedard and all the other guys,” Frondell said last week. “I’ll try to enjoy it as much as I can.”
He collected two assists in three games skating with Bedard and Ryan Greene. Despite the success, Hawks coach Jeff Blashill made a change.
“I want to try Anton at center, so that dictated moving the lines around a little bit,” Blashill said before the Hawks’ 5-3 loss to the Devils in Newark, N.J. “He’s played center a lot in his life, and I think he’s got traits to be a really good 200-foot winning center, and I’d like to get a look at it this year rather than at the beginning of next year, so that if that’s the way we go, we can hit the ground running with whatever might be.
“It’s going to put a lot on his shoulders, and it might affect his game a little bit until he gets real comfortable, but I want to look at it anyway.”
Chicago Blackhawks’ Ilya Mikheyev celebrates with teammates Sam Rinzel, Anton Frondell, Connor Bedard and Wyatt Kaiser after scoring a goal during the first period of a game Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
In the last two games, he’s centered a line with Tyler Bertuzzi and Ilya Mikheyev. The production from the 18-year-old didn’t cease.
He assisted Mikheyev’s goal on Sunday and scored his first NHL goal against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. That’s now five points in his first five games, the first Hawks rookie to do that since 2015-16 Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin.
The Hawks selected the Sweden native No. 3 in last year’s NHL draft. He’s spent a good chunk of the NHL season playing for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League, scoring 28 points (20 goals, eight assists).
He’s one of four 18-year-olds in SHL history to score 20 goals in a single season, and the first since 1998-99. He joined Tomas Sandström, Markus Näslund and Daniel Sedin.
He scored at the United Center against the Jets, but the Hawks lost that game in overtime. It was Jonathan Toews’ second game in Chicago this season.
Toews is a surefire Hall of Famer and a bona fide winner who can play with the best of the best. That’s why Blashill will likely keep Frondell at center for the rest of the season, in hopes of the youngster becoming the next winning figure for the Hawks.
“If you get to a point where you have a guy in Anton who looks like a player who could, similar what you had here with Jonathan Toews, go out and play against the other team’s best and that frees up Connor (Bedard) and (Frank Nazar) to not have to do that, then also produce points, that’s a great asset to have as an organization,” Blashill said. “Will we play with different things as we go? Maybe, but right now we’re going to leave him at center, let him continue to get those reps in the middle and go from there.”
The Hawks still have prospects like Marek Vanacker and Roman Kantserov. That’s a lot of talent to move around the roster, so it’ll be nice to have the center position figured out prior to the new arrivals.
“If we can get to a point organizationally of Connor, Frondell (and Nazar) up the middle, you’re in an unbelievable spot,” Blashill said.
Injury news
Andrew Mangiapane won’t play in Edmonton on Thursday, but Blashill hopes that he’ll play during the road trip. He’s been out since March 19 with an upper-body injury but skated in a non-contact sweater on Wednesday.
Blashill said that if Oliver Moore were to return, it would be “at the very end” of the season. He was injured in Dallas on March 8 after crashing into the boards. He was seen at practice on Wednesday but wasn’t dressed for ice time.
Roster news
The Hawks signed goaltender prospect Adam Gajan to a two-year, entry-level contract ($1,050,000 salary cap hit). He posted career highs in wins (19), save percentage (.908), goals-against-average (2.25) and shutouts (two) at the University of Minnesota-Duluth this season.
Sacha Boisvert will play against the Oilers on Thursday after being a healthy scratch on Tuesday versus the Jets.