Anton Frondell
Frondell is Chicago's second-line center as a 19-year-old rookie. He has a real two-way role and a second-unit power-play slot, and his early production is modest but steady.
Role
The Oct. 25 projected lines from NHL.com and Inside the Rink, and Lazerus's warmup report on Game Day Lines, have him centering the second line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Jordan Greenway, behind Connor Bedard's first line. Earlier in October he skated with Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen on his wings. Teravainen has since moved to the third line, and Greenway took his place. Inside the Rink's Oct. 25 preview, and the ESPN line page (indexed about 5 days ago), put him on the second power-play unit, not the first. That first unit is Bertuzzi, Kantserov, Kane, Bedard and Teravainen. His second-unit group in Inside the Rink's version is Donato, Nazar, Frondell, Mangiapane and Rinzel. He is not on either penalty-kill unit listed there. Blackhawk Up (about 11 days old) says he took faceoffs against Crosby's line, ranks first among rookies in faceoffs won and second among Chicago forwards in ice time behind Kantserov. His entry-level data on PuckPedia shows 3:14 of power-play time per game in a 12-game sample, but it is undated and I can't tie it to this season. Frank Nazar, who centers the third line, is the nearest competitor for center work. Daily Faceoff's page fetched today returned only a January 2026 timestamp and no readable lines, so I am not citing it. Chicago is 3-7-0 going into the Oct. 25 game against Florida, per NHL.com.
He is a top-three pick who has held a top-six center job since the start of the season. The coaches trust him with defensive matchups against Crosby, Scheifele and Johnston. Blackhawk Up and a Calder-race piece both have him leading or near the lead among rookies in points and assists early on, with 1 goal and 5 assists after seven games. He sits on a power-play unit and plays behind Bedard, so his ice time looks secure. Scouting reports before the draft projected a 30-goal scorer.
Most of his usage is defensive and he isn't on the first power-play unit, which Bedard, Kane, Kantserov, Bertuzzi and Teravainen hold. His wingers, Bertuzzi and Greenway, are not a high-end scoring pair. Chicago is losing, and he put up a minus-4 in last season's 11 games. A suaragarut.id piece says he is unlikely to keep a point-per-game pace, which is a plausible view, but the site is a secondary source. His production so far comes from a small sample of games.
Where analysts split
Broad agreement on his role. The one open question I found is whether his offensive production stays at the early pace while he mostly plays defensive assignments on the second line and second power-play unit. I found no beat-writer or Athletic piece arguing that he should move up to the first power-play unit or down the lineup.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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