EDMONTON \u2014 Anton Frondell speaks excellent English, but as an 18-year-old Swede who\u2019s been in North America for all of a week and a half, he\u2019ll still fumble for a word every now and then or politely ask to have a question repeated.<\/p>\n
Or, in this case, loudly blurt out a name in disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cToews?!\u201d he said. Well, exclaimed is probably a better word for it.<\/p>\n
Yes, Frondell heard that correctly. Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill already has summoned the name of one of the greatest two-way centers in modern hockey history \u2014 and a franchise icon, no less \u2014 when discussing the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Since moving Frondell to center before Sunday\u2019s game in New Jersey, Blashill has equated his game to that of Jonathan Toews. Not once, but twice.<\/p>\n
Frondell isn\u2019t reading his news clippings, so he took a second to process that when it was relayed to him Thursday morning, before the Blackhawks\u2019 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know he said that,\u201d Frondell said. \u201cI mean, Toews is one of the best players in Chicago. I\u2019m far away from there. I\u2019m still young, still have a lot to learn, (need to) keep growing my game on the ice. But cool comparison, even though it\u2019s far away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blashill, of course, isn\u2019t making any kind of lofty prediction with the comparison. He\u2019s not saying Frondell is destined to be a three-time Stanley Cup champion, a point-per-game player, a Selke Trophy winner. But he\u2019s not not saying that, either. Through six games \u2014 the last three at center \u2014 Blashill has seen the same kind of skill, the same kind of defensive acumen, the same kind of strength on the puck that made Toews such an elite player for so long.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s heady stuff for the second-youngest player in the NHL. Especially one who barely played any center in Sweden this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, I think he\u2019s got a chance to be a really good player,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t mean to put unneeded expectations on him when I mention guys like Jonathan Toews. Jonathan Toews, he\u2019s a Chicago legend, and he should be because of the type of winning player that he was. I just think (Frondell) has got a lot of attributes to be a similar type of player. Now, he\u2019s got to prove that over and over again. But he\u2019s got a lot of similar attributes, and that\u2019s why I have him at center.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s Toews mentions three and four, for those counting (though, to be fair, these were prompted by the questioner). But Blashill\u2019s not shying away from it. Frondell, meanwhile, took the comparison in the encouraging nature it was intended, without any of the pressure that could accompany it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, it\u2019s cool, but I don\u2019t want to fly away,\u201d he said. \u201cKeep standing on the earth and being humble, you know what I mean? I think that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n
That Frondell has been impressive immediately isn\u2019t a huge shock. Top-three picks are expected to do well, even at such a young age. Connor Bedard scored 22 goals and posted 61 points in 68 games as an 18-year-old. And that Toews fella \u2014 like Frondell, a No. 3 pick \u2014 had 24 goals and 54 points in 64 games as a 19-year-old. Frondell arrived in the NHL right on schedule after his season with Djug\u00e5rden, and he has posted a goal and four assists in his first six games.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s more than just the points. The way he has handled the move to center already seems to have changed Blashill\u2019s long-term calculus. Frondell figured to be the long-awaited winger Bedard has been waiting for, a player who could keep up with him physically and mentally on the ice. But as a center, Frondell lengthens the lineup. Suddenly, the Blackhawks have three dangerous lines: one anchored by Bedard, one by Frank Nazar (the No 13 pick in 2022) and one by Frondell.<\/p>\n
With Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Lardis, Ryan Greene, Ilya Mikheyev and perhaps another draftee or free-agent signing \u2014 or maybe, just maybe, a big trade acquisition (Kyle Davidson certainly has the draft and prospect capital to make a play at the Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 Matthew Knies, Dallas Stars\u2019 Jason Robertson or St. Louis Blues\u2019 Robert Thomas) \u2014 to scatter among the wings, it\u2019s not hard to imagine a dynamic top nine in Chicago. Throw in Sacha Boisvert, who was the fourth-line center in Edmonton, and the Blackhawks had four players age 18, 20, 20 and 22 down the middle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to get too far ahead of myself,\u201d Blashill said. \u201c(But) if you have three centers like that, you\u2019re going to have three really good lines. And most of the really good teams have three lines that are super threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frondell said he doesn\u2019t have a preference \u2014 or, in his words, \u201ca problem\u201d \u2014 with either position. He likes being freed up offensively on the wing, but he also likes playing in the middle of the ice and getting low to help his defensemen as a center.<\/p>\n
Though he has looked good at both spots, he has been far from perfect. In the second period in Edmonton, his bad pass in the neutral zone led directly to an Oilers goal (which was overturned after the Blackhawks successfully challenged that Connor McDavid was offside in setting up the play). But in the third period, when Louis Crevier made an aggressive pinch, Frondell hung back and essentially played defense, maintaining an impressively tight gap on an on-rushing McDavid and smoothly knocking the puck off his stick.<\/p>\n
Against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, Frondell scored his first NHL goal and was on the ice for two others. He was also on the ice for two Jets goals: one when he lost Josh Morrissey, and the overtime winner, when he got out of position on Kyle Connor. He acknowledged he\u2019s still a little in awe of the speed of the NHL game and there\u2019s still so much to take in: better opponents, better linemates, a smaller rink, new arenas, new systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I\u2019m lost,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel a little bit lost sometimes, positioning and stuff. You could see that last game, (in the) two goals when I was on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
But his ability to shake off a mistake without losing confidence is another rare trait only the truly elite players have, especially at this age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s important to have in sports \u2014 in all sports,\u201d Frondell said. \u201cIf you lose a game or have a bad shift, you need to bounce back. All you can focus on is the next battle. I\u2019m trying to have that in the back of my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watching Frondell play or listening to him speak, it\u2019s easy to forget how young he is. He doesn\u2019t turn 19 until next month, and only New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer, picked two spots before Frondell, is younger than he is in the NHL. It certainly helped he spent the season playing against grown men in the Swedish Hockey League rather than toying with overmatched teenagers in the North American junior leagues. He had to be smarter on the ice, stronger on the puck. Bedard marveled at Frondell\u2019s strength for his age.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s still just a big kid, trying to take it all in. Asked how life in the NHL differs from the SHL, he cited all the \u201cluxury\u201d in his new world. The five-star hotels and chartered jets sure beat the modest digs and bus rides in Sweden. Everywhere he goes, good food is available. Seemingly moments after a game ends, they\u2019re already on the bus, riding straight to the tarmac to board their plane.<\/p>\n
Even the little things are wildly different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t even lifted my bag in or out of the locker room,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201c(In Sweden), everyone takes their own bag and all the extra stuff. We spend at least 10 minutes just carrying bags and stuff into the bus. Everyone takes their own, but then (all the young guys) take all the extra bags, the stick bags and stuff. I kind of miss that. Here, it\u2019s pretty nice. I feel lazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being lazy off the ice is fine; it\u2019s a perk of the job. On the ice, it\u2019s a different story. If Frondell wants those Toews comparisons to continue, he knows he\u2019ll have to work for them. As Blashill has pointed out (repeatedly now), all the pieces are there. He just has to put them all together.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still 18,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cI just really feel like his package of size, strength on the puck, skill (and) smarts is a pretty good package. I\u2019ve played him at center now for two games, and how he\u2019s done at center against really, really good players at that age is pretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nick Lardis scored his fourth goal in seven games since being elevated into the top six, but he left the game after taking a puck to the left hand late in the third period. Blashill didn\u2019t have an update on him after the game, saying he\u2019d know more Friday. The loss formally eliminated the Blackhawks from playoff contention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 Anton Frondell speaks excellent English, but as an 18-year-old Swede who\u2019s been in North America for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37,96,5263,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-538465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-blackhawks","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","11":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116341054144866455","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}