Shortly after choosing Nestrasil, the Hawks traded with the Carolina Hurricanes to acquire another first-round pick at No. 29. They gave up two second-round picks, Nos. 34 and 62, plus a fifth-round pick in the 2027 draft. They used the No. 29 pick on Mason West.<\/p>\n
All told, the Hawks have had 11 first-round draft picks over the last four years.<\/p>\n
Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said that it hasn\u2019t happened by chance \u2014 it\u2019s intentional.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more you pick early \u2026 you\u2019re more likely to succeed,\u201d Davidson said. \u201cAnd so we\u2019ve taken that philosophy and tried to hit it with volume.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also believe that some of these players are getting to the NHL, some of them are on their path. But from our assessment, an objective assessment, we feel their development so far, we are ahead of the odds in some way \u2014 I think we are beating the odds and getting a few more players out of drafts than you know, the odds may dictate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blackhawks\u2019 2025 draft picks<\/p>\n
No. 3 (first round): Forward Anton Frondell
\nNo. 25 (first): Winger Vaclav Nestrasil
\nNo. 29 (first): Forward Mason West
\nNo. 66 (third):
\nNo. 98 (fourth):
\nNo. 107 (fourth):
\nNo. 162 (sixth):
\nNo. 194 (seventh):
\nNo. 197 (seventh):<\/p>\n
No. 3: Forward Anton Frondell
\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CTC-L-blackhawks-draft-party007_230841374.jpg\")
An image of Anton Frondell and his parents being interviewed on ESPN after Frondell was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NHL draft is cast on a screen at the team’s official draft watch party at Recess in Chicago on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
It all started with a pair of pink figure skates.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the first time I stepped on the ice,\u201d Swedish forward Anton Frondell, 18, said on Friday\u2019s ESPN broadcast of the NHL draft. \u201cDad just found some pink figure skating skates. I actually skated with them for a year until he (found) out, (and said) \u2018Oh, Anton, he loves the sport. He wants this.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he bought me my real first skates. He really wanted me to be a tennis player when I was younger. But I didn\u2019t fall for the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
NHL Central Scouting regards Frondell as a skilled player with strong legs and a quick stick.<\/p>\n
\u201c(He) has a nifty wrist shot and his release is solid and accurate. His hockey IQ shines with intelligent moves, with or without the puck. Likes to set up teammates using small moves and tricky passes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frondell said he\u2019d like to play in the NHL next season, but it\u2019s more likely he\u2019ll return to Sweden to play in the men\u2019s league. However, Davidson said he\u2019ll be able to play in the Hawks\u2019 training camp.<\/p>\n
Davidson said of Frondell, \u201cHe\u2019s a really smart hockey player. He uses his body very effectively, especially in battles along the wall. He just has a really projectable game to the NHL.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBarkov\u2019s probably a few inches taller. \u2026 I would say he\u2019s probably between a Barkov and an Anton Lundell \u2026 he\u2019s a big, detail-oriented center with a brain.\u201d\u2014Blackhawks scouting director Mike Doneghey on Anton Frondell and comparisons to Aleksander Barkov<\/p>\n
\u2014 Phil Thompson (@philthompsontrib.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-06-28T04:16:41.753Z<\/a><\/p>\n No. 25: Winger Vaclav Nestrasil<\/p>\n Winger Vaclav Nestrasil is a 6-foot-5, 187-pound native of Praha, Czechia, who produced 19 goals and 23 assists in 61 games for UHSL Muskegon en route to this year\u2019s Clark Cup championship.<\/p>\n NHL Central Scouting calls the 18-year-old \u201ca very skilled power forward. Has a nose for the net and when he uses his size, he\u2019s tough to handle. (He) possesses a hard shot and quick release, making him a scoring threat every time he enters the offensive zone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou like the physical attributes where (he\u2019s a) big, athletic guy that can really move. I think he\u2019s got some talent, and some really good hockey sense. And again, a raw package,\u201d Davidson said of Nestrasil.<\/p>\n No. 29: Forward Mason West<\/p>\n Mason West is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound rising senior at Edina (Minn.) High School. A Division I college football recruit, he has committed to play college hockey at Michigan State \u2014 but not until he finishes his final season as a high school quarterback.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s behind the curve; he\u2019s not quite dedicated himself 100% to hockey,\u201d Davidson said of West, who will turn 18 in August and is one of the youngest players eligible for the 2025 NHL draft.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at that size, that athleticism, that skating ability, that talent, the sky is the limit. \u2026 I just really wanted to get back into the first round and take what I thought was a Grand Slam hack. I was swinging for the fences and figured, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks made three first-round selections Friday in the 2025 NHL draft. The Hawks drafted the top-ranked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[584,683,521,37,96,5263,5,859,4,465,8985],"class_list":{"0":"post-97004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-2025-nhl-draft","9":"tag-anton-frondell","10":"tag-blackhawks","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","13":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-kyle-davidson","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-nhl-draft","18":"tag-vaclav-nestrasil"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114760722967322238","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97004","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=97004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}