The Chicago Blackhawks have two prospects facing off for a Gold Medal on Monday night.
The Chicago Blackhawks sent three prospects to the World Junior Championships. Team USA, with AJ Spellacy on the team, failed in its quest to three-peat as Gold Medal winners. However, both Anton Frondell (Sweden) and Vaclav Nestrasil (Czechia) will play for Gold on Monday night.
Frondell won it for Sweden with a goal in a shootout that went to sudden-death frames. They defeated their heated rival in Finland 4-3 in the shootout decision. During regulation time, Frondell had one assist.
Throughout the entire tournament, Frondell was one of the top forwards. Only four players had more points than him. Whether it was scoring big goals, setting up teammates, defending well, or pushing his team through to the Gold Medal Game with his shootout winner, he’s been incredible.
At the end of the game, Frondell was named one of Team Sweden’s three best players in the tournament. Every team has three players honored before the medal round begins.
Nestrasil wasn’t quite as productive as Frondell, but he was still a point per game player in Czechia’s journey. He has two goals and four assists for six points in five games played.
One of those assists came in Czechia’s 6-4 win over Team Canada on Sunday night. Of course, despite Czechia beating Canada for the third year in a row, it is the biggest upset of the tournament. Canada has all of these high draft pick-type players, and they once again failed to even make it to the Gold Medal Game.
On Monday, Canada will battle Finland for the Bronze Medal at 3:30 PM. At 7:30 PM, the big Gold Medal Game between Sweden and Czechia will take place. One Blackhawks prospect will go home with Gold and one will with Silver.
World Juniors 2026: Czechia And Sweden Will Battle For Gold, Canada And Finland Play For Bronze
Sweden and Czechia are guaranteed medals, while Canada and Finland will battle for bronze after wild back-and-forth semifinals on Sunday. Here's the full medal day preview.
'Every Game Against Canada Is Dramatic': Czechia Eliminate Canadians From World Juniors Yet Again
Czechia played smart, and Canada "got some stupid penalties" in the renewal of one of the world juniors' thrilling new rivalries.
2026 NHL Draft
During the Gold and Bronze Medal games, there is some scouting to do as well. Plenty of players who are going to be selected in the early stages of the 2026 NHL Draft are going to be playing on Monday.
For example, Gavin McKenna (Canada), Keaton Verhoeff (Canada), and Ivar Stenberg (Sweden) are likely going to be the top three picks. One of them could be the Blackhawks, depending on where they finish in the lottery. This tournament often plays a role in their selection process.
Sweden's Stenberg Shows Why He Is A Top NHL Draft Prospect In Shootout Win Vs. Finland In World Junior Semifinal
The prospect who has started to top some NHL draft rankings and has been "like a leader" for Sweden had a goal and an assist to advance to the gold medal game.
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