Blackhawks sign Anton Frondell to three-year, entry-level contract
The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to terms with 2025 first-round pick Anton Frondell on a three-year, entry-level contract, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.
Frondell, 18, collected 11 goals and 25 points in 29 games with Swedish club Djurgårdens IF in the second-tier Allsvenskan league in the 2024-25 regular season. The 6’1″ center added seven points in 16 games during the qualification stage to help promote Djurgårdens back into the top-tier Swedish Hockey League for the 2025-26 season.
The Blackhawks selected Frondell with the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Frondell is also under contract with Djurgårdens for the 2025-26 season and could still be assigned back to Sweden via a European assignment clause in his ELC if he fails to stick with the Blackhawks out of training camp.
According to the Blackhawks, Frondell’s entry-level deal carries a $975,000 NHL cap hit.
a Swede signing‼️✍️
📰 ➡︎ https://t.co/RcGvmeK8J4 pic.twitter.com/dyCOul93xc
A longtime teammate of fellow 2025 first-round pick Victor Eklund in the Djurgårdens system, Frondell was widely regarded as one of the best pure centers available in the most recent draft and ended up being the next forward picked after Michael Misa, who went to the San Jose Sharks at No. 2 overall.
Here’s what Daily Faceoff prospects guru Steven Ellis had to say about Frondell in his final 2025 draft rankings, in which he slotted the Swedish center at No. 5:
“Frondell had quite the campaign. He finished with one of the most productive seasons by a U-18 player in Allsvenskan history – the second-tier Swedish league – despite missing time with injuries. Frondell has experience down the middle and on the wing, which makes him intriguing. Frondell has a fantastic shot release and he’s getting even better at attacking pucks, too. I wish he’d dominate shifts more consistently, but he’s still one of the best players every time he hits the ice. I’m not too worried about that moving forward, though – he had to make up for lost time by prioritizing scoring lanes. There’s a reason his teammates and peers consider him to be one of the most difficult players to play against, too: he’s got that dog in him. Frondell is as good of a power forward as you’ll find in this class, and he has so many translatable skills.”
Steven Ellis, June 2025
Frondell is now one of the crown jewels of a young Blackhawks core that also includes Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Alex Vlasic, Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, and Spencer Knight. He is the first member of the Hawks’ 2025 draft class to sign his entry-level contract with the team.
The Blackhawks made eight selections in the 2025 draft, including three (Frondell, Vaclav Nestrasil, and Mason West) in the first round.