The IIHF World Championships will begin on Friday, but Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell will be sitting out.
The Chicago Blackhawks will have seven players participate in the IIHF World Championships, which will take place in Switzerland beginning on Friday. This annual event is a great place for players to represent their countries in a highly competitive hockey tournament. Although it is not considered a best-on-best, it is a prestigious event that means a lot in terms of development and national pride.
The seven players are Wyatt Kaiser, Drew Commesso, Sam Lafferty, and Oliver Moore of the United States, Anton Frondell and Arvid Soderblom of Sweden, and Teuvo Teravainen of Finland.
Connor Bedard wanted to go play for Canada, but refused it in favor of rehabbing his injury. He made a similar choice last summer, and it paid dividends for him, so he made an unselfish choice again.
On Thursday, the eve of the games beginning, it was announced that Team Sweden will not be dressing Anton Frondell. He is one of their most skilled players in all three zones, but they are opting out of using him in their opener against Canada.
With Canada comes superstars like Macklin Celebrini, Sidney Crosby, Ryan O’Reilly, and John Tavares, amongst others. You’d think that the Swedes want a guy like Frondell in there, but evidently not.
The four Blackhawks participating with Team USA will play later in the afternoon (1:30 PM CT) against the host country, Switzerland. Team USA, which just claimed gold at the Olympic Games in February, is not bringing its deepest squad to this tournament after winning it in 2025. The Swiss have NHL star power on their team, so this won’t be an easy opening match for the Americans.
Teravainen and Finland will open the tournament with a morning matchup against Germany. He will face off against former Blackhawks first-rounder Lukas Reichel, who was a late addition to the team after signing an extension with the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Going back to Sweden, it is hard to imagine why they wouldn’t want Frondell in their lineup. In his 12 games played with the Chicago Blackhawks, he had 3 goals and 9 points, and didn’t look out of place one bit defensively. He is projected to be one of Chicago’s most impactful players in 2026-27, but Team Sweden can’t be bothered to use him over some younger and less proven skilled players.
One of the players who will be in Sweden's lineup is Ivar Stenberg, who is a draft-eligible player for 2026. If he is there for the Blackhawks at four, they might run to the podium to select him. However, that's a big ask because the three teams in front of them may all feel the same way. These World Championships will help make decisions.
There will be a lot of scouting done in Switzerland as a large number of players who are going to be waiting to hear their named called will participate.
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