The Chicago Blackhawks have a high-end prospect in Anton Frondell. He showed the goods in the first game of the World Junior Championships.
Sweden entered the 2025-26 World Junior Championships as one of the favorites to win the entire tournament. With all the high-end talent on their roster, they can compete with anyone.
One of the players who makes Sweden so strong is Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell. Chicago selected Frondell with the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft back in June.
After a scoreless first period, Sweden took a 1-0 lead in the second on a goal scored by Frondell. After seeing the puck passed around quickly on the power play, Frondell blasted one into the net with a one-timer shot. His ability to shoot the puck was on full display with this play.
Later in the middle frame, Frondell made another play that led to a 2-0 lead for Sweden. After receiving another pass on the power play, he shot-passed one to the front of the net, where Viktor Eklund put it home. In addition to a goal post and multiple nice shots that were saved, Frondell had one goal and one assist going into the third period.
Slovakia did score two unanswered goals to get it tied, but 2026 NHL Draft prospect Ivar Stenberg regained the lead for Sweden with a beautiful goal of his own. Stenberg is going to be one of the prospects that the Blackhawks have their eyes on if they have yet another bottom-three finish.
The 3-2 score would go final, and Sweden avoided a first-game disaster against this feisty Slovakian team. They earned the win without overtime, which is important when you're playing in the IIHF standings system that gives three points for a regulation win.
After the game was over, Anton Frondell was named the best player for Team Sweden. For all of the plays he made, whether they led to goals or not, impacted the game. Sweden had a lot of offensive momentum throughout the game because of Frondell's shot and his playmaking ability. He's also very good in his own end, which made things hard for Slovakia when he was on the ice.
"It's always a nice feeling to score," Frondell said after the win. "I tried the one-timer a couple of times and it worked so keep shooting it and hopefully get some more goals."
Team Sweden certainly had some nerves throughout the game, but they found a way to get the job done. There are going to be some bigger matches for them down the road, so their good defensive structure must stay intact while also finding ways to score more goals.
"Hopefully the nerves are releasing now, and we just play our game next game," Frondell said on managing the nerves that come with playing in such a noteworthy hockey event.
Next up for Team Sweden is a Sunday afternoon match against Team Switzerland. That will be Frondell's next chance to impress. So far, it looks like Chicago made a brilliant selection at number three.
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