A high-rising player in the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft, Anton Frondell features an all-around game that projects well at the NHL level. With the NHL’s decentralized draft making its way to Los Angeles, Frondell is expected to be selected high in the first round. Still, hockey fans should not expect to see the teenager playing in the NHL next season as he signed a one-year contract extension in March with his childhood hockey club, Djurgardens IF.
Frondell helped Djurgardens IF secure promotion to the top-tier Swedish Hockey League (SHL) next season, which will allow him to test his hockey skills against Sweden’s best competition in 2025-26. Djurgardens IF will seek a return to the pinnacle of the SHL next season, a league they dominated in the 1950s, including eight titles in ten years between 1954 and 1965. They are the most successful Swedish team of all time, capturing 16 Swedish championships since the team was formed in 1922.
“Anton is a very mature person who has a very good reasoning with himself and those he speaks to; therefore, I am not at all surprised he made this decision,” said Djurgardens’ sports director Niklas Wikegard on Frondell returning to Djurgardens IF. “For us, this means that we get the opportunity to continue working with one of the most talented players that Sweden has produced in years.”
Neutral Zone’s scouting report highlights Frondell as a “dual-threat forward who combines physicality, intelligence, and skill to impact the game in all situations. His raw talent and hockey IQ position him as a potential top-5 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Frondell projects as a versatile top-six forward at the NHL level.”
Let’s look at how this six-foot, left-handed center from Trangsund, Sweden, has captured the attention of hockey scouts worldwide since bursting on the hockey scene in late 2021.
At 14 years old and still a few years away from the pro club, Frondell joined Djurgardens IF U16 team for the 2021-22 season. The center dominated the U16 Div. 1 scene with 43 points in 23 games, including 25 goals. Frondell’s play continued into Sweden’s national playoff tournament, the U16 SM, with 13 points in eight contests. His stellar performance for Sweden’s under-16 squad earned him a call-up to Djurgarden’s J18 team, where he amassed four points in his only appearance in the J18 Region in 2021-22.
As most clubs do with budding prospects, Frondell returned to Djurgardens IF U16 team to start the 2022-23 season. The Swedish center proved he was too talented for the U16 Div. 1 level again by scoring six goals and recording 10 points over the first three games. The 15-year-old also held his own in Sweden’s U-18 scene when he joined the J18 squad, tallying 32 points in 20 games against older competition, good for 1.6 points per game (PPG). Frondell was also selected for Sweden’s U16 squad, where he scored seven points in 10 games in his inaugural international experience.
Last season, Frondell was returned to the J18 Region for the start of the campaign, dominating his older competition with 10 points in the first four games. The 16-year-old forward was quickly recalled to the J20 Nationell squad, and his scoring didn’t slow down much against the competition with full beards. Frondell posted 39 points in 29 games and earned a call-up to the Djurgardens IF roster for nine games where it seemed he had finally met his match, posting only one point during his time in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier competition.
Internationally, Frondell pulled double duty for Sweden’s U17 and U18 teams during the 2023-24 campaign. In November 2023, he finished third on Sweden at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge team by scoring seven points in seven games at the Charlottetown and Summerside, P.E.I. based tournament. Frondell also skated in 11 contests with Sweden’s under-18 team and amassed 16 points.
This past season, Frondell struggled early on with injuries that slowed his production. The center recorded seven points in 10 games in the J20 Nationell, a league the forward torched a season ago. Still, despite lackluster early-season results, the 17-year-old center earned a permanent spot on the Djurgardens’ roster and rewarded the program’s faith. During the second half of the HockeyAllsvenskan season, once he was healthy, Frondell showcased his elite skills by totalling 25 points in 29 games. “In the past few months, I’ve been training hard and playing regularly,” Frondell told Daily Faceoff. “I’ve honestly forgotten about the injuries for a while now, and it feels like I’m settling into the game and am fully back. The injuries are behind me, and my body is 110 percent now.”
Frondell returned to Sweden’s U18 squad for 17 games this season, including his participation in the Under-18 World Junior Championship, having arrived on the team after his season with Djurgardens IF wrapped up. Up against the best competition his age group has to offer, the Swedish forward finished with three points in five games at the Texas-based tournament, helping his team capture a silver medal.
Frondell will now shift his focus to the 2025 NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y, which is set to take place during the first week of June. It will be his last opportunity to make an impression on scouts, general managers, and other team officials before the 2025 NHL Draft takes place at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 27.
By Christopher Babos
A multi-sport credentialed sports journalist, Chris is a hybrid lead writer for Philadelphia Sports Network, primarily covering the Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia Eagles. Additionally, he covers the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin’s quest for NHL history for The Hockey Writers. If Chris is not writing about hockey, he is probably watching it somewhere as a scout for the USPHL’s Hershey Cubs in the Philadelphia region.