At first, Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell was named to the World Junior Summer Showcase as a representative of Team Sweden. After becoming the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Frondell is considered to be one of Sweden’s best young players.
At first, Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell was named to the World Junior Summer Showcase as a representative of Team Sweden. After becoming the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Frondell is considered to be one of Sweden’s best young players.
On Monday, however, Sweden announced that Frondell won’t be attending the summer camp. His good friend and New York Islanders first-rounder Victor Eklund is also withdrawn from the event.
Instead, Frondell is going to stay back and get ready for his training camp. As his SHL team, Djurgårdens, gears up for their season in a higher tier, Frondell is going to be a big key to their success.
Anton Frondell signed his NHL entry-level deal with the Blackhawks, but it will likely not kick in until 2026-27, the first year that he is projected to play more than 10 NHL games.
If Frondell is healthy, he will make the team when the World Junior Championships come around. Even without his participation in the summer showcase, his spot on the roster is not in jeopardy.
Frondell will be one of the top line players on a team that has a chance to win it all. Not making the trip to the summer showcase saves him another trip from Sweden to the United States and back, which he has done a lot in the last couple of months.
In his (and Eklund's) spot will be Liam Danielsson and Alexander Zetterberg. There will also be more opportunities for Sweden to evaluate players without two locks taking up spots in the summer showcase.
For the Blackhawks, they will still have three players participating in the event. Sacha Boisvert and Marek Vanacker will represent Canada, while AJ Spellacy will go for Team USA.
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Category: General Sports