Blackhawks’ perfect move in 2025 NHL offseason

Frondell was one of the highest-rated young prospects coming into the Draft, and there are numerous teams that are now disappointed that they weren’t afforded the chance to call his name when it came time to make their own respective selections.

Having already participated in the club’s development camp, Frondell already can’t wait to make an impact for his club at the NHL level.

“My dream is to play in the NHL,” he said via NHL.com. “I want to do it as soon as possible. So, if I get a chance to be at (training) camp … and fight for a spot on the team, that’s my dream. That’s what I’ll do.”

Last season while playing for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League, Frondell scored 11 goals with 14 assists in 29 games played. As an impressive 16-year-old, Frondell participated for Sweden in the 2024 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament and helped defeat the United States for first place in the tournament.

Frondell is now officially a member of the Blackhawks, having signed a three-year entry-level contract.

Blackhawks have made several additions and subtractions

The selection of Frondell was only one of the moves that was made by the Blackhawks so far during the offseason. They conducted an interesting trade with the Seattle Kraken, acquiring forward Andre Burakovsky in exchange for former Detroit Red Wings first round pick Joe Veleno, who had been previously acquired in March for goaltender Petr Mrazek.

Considering Veleno’s underwhelming offensive performances with the Red Wings in recent seasons, he didn’t fit into the long term plans of the Blackhawks and was therefore deemed expendable.

Additionally, the Blackhawks welcomed Sam Lafferty back into the fold yet again; he was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres. They also acquired Ryan Mast from the Boston Bruins in exchange for the rights to defenseman Victor Soderstrom, while re-signing goaltender Arvid Soderblom to a new two-year extension.

Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson stated recently via NHL.com that he feels that there is a good mix of young and veteran talent on Chicago’s roster heading into the new season.

“As we sit here now, I feel pretty happy about the veterans we’ve got, but also just the opportunity for competition amongst our young players that we’ll have if things were to stay the same,” Davidson said.

“Of course, we’re going to continue to explore options out there. In terms of the NHL team, it’s probably more so trade options. I don’t know how much will be available to us, but it’s always something we’re exploring and looking into. But it feels like we’re in a pretty good spot.”

That being said, it’s still going to be a long shot for the Blackhawks to make a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs next spring, which would be the first time since 2020. Long gone are the days of savvy, championship veterans like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, all of whom contributed in numerous ways during Chicago’s glory years.

The good news for the Blackhawks moving forward is that their management team is clearly confident the young core that is slowly being built around Bedard, Levshunov, and now Frondell, will eventually be the springboard to catapult them back into title contention.

While it’s certainly going to take some more patience from Blackhawks faithful, this could very well be the similar darkness before the dawn they experienced before their last franchise renaissance in the late 2000s.