The Chicago Blackhawks are reportedly open to trading the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
“The Chicago Blackhawks are open for business over the next 10 days. It’s gonna be a fascinating lead-up to Round 1 in Los Angeles on June 27.
“But to get to that point, I think everyone has just assumed, ‘Hey, Blackhawks, young, building team, of course, you’re gonna want to take that No. 3 overall pick. Whatever player you select there, and stack him up with some of the other young prospects that you have in your pipeline.’
“And that may be the case, but they are open and are willing to be aggressive to go out and pursue more immediate help.
“This No. 3 overall pick might not be impacting your team for two to three years. It’s not that the Hawks aren’t willing to be patient. Patience has been Kyle Davidson’s middle name as general manager, but at some point, you’re also ready and willing to consider alternatives to make your team better in the here and now, to help guys like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar get going in the right direction.”
Chicago hasn’t won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup to end the 2014-15 season. The Blackhawks haven’t made the playoffs (or had more regulation wins than regulation losses) since 2020.
In addition, Chicago has finished last in the eight-team Central division each of the past three years, never winning more than 26 games or finishing with more than 61 points.
In other words, it makes sense that the Blackhawks could be looking to improve a bit more in the near term to at least get out of the basement and perhaps accelerate the timeline a bit. Chicago certainly has talent to build around in the aforementioned Bedard and Nazar, for starters, but the team could use more help.
The NHL mock draft consensus from NHL.com, The Athletic and Sports Illustrated has Chicago selecting center Anton Frondell from Djurgårdens IF (Sweden).
“Based on Byron Bader’s NHL equivalency model on Hockey Prospecting, Frondell has the highest probability of any player in the 2025 draft class to become a star player,” Scott Powers of The Athletic wrote about Frondell in part on June 12.
“Realistically, the wing is probably where Frondell would project right now with the Blackhawks. His skill set would be ideal on Bedard’s or Nazar’s line. He’d give the Blackhawks more size, an elite shot and an ability to create off the rush.
“Frondell will likely play next season in the SHL. He could be ready for the NHL by the 2026-27 season.”
So that’s perhaps the decision Chicago has to make right now. Do they want to take a potential star in Frondell and wait some time for him to develop, or do they want to make a move now in hopes of more improvement in the immediate future?
We’ll find out soon enough with the draft looming on June 27.
