Morning Chirps: Anton Frondell Update, Kraken ‘Compelled’ to Trade Top Scorer

We are still two and a half months away from training camp, but a report from overseas says we won’t see the Chicago Blackhawks’ top pick there. A division rival is still pondering what to do with a budding star, and a Western Conference foe might become a team the Blackhawks can pass in the standings. Here are your Sunday Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• Last week, we pondered if Anton Frondell would get a shot to make the NHL roster out of training camp. If a report out of Sweden on Sunday holds true, we will not see the third-overall pick in Chicago next fall. According to Gunnar Nordstrom of Expressen, Frondell is expected to sign his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks soon. However, he is returning home to Sweden to spend the season with Djurgården. Nordstrom adds that he won’t be at the Blackhawks’ training camp since the SHL season begins on September 13. That timeline also means Frondell will miss the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase. We’ll see how this shakes out.
• On this date in 1950, the Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings completed a nine-player deal with Pete Babando, Harry Lumley, Jack Stewart, Al Dewsbury, and Don Morrison coming to Chicago in return for Jim Henry, Bob Goldham, Gaye Stewart, and Metro Prystai. Three months earlier, Babando scored in double-overtime of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers.
• In 2005, the lockout that cost the NHL the entire 2004-05 season ended. The most significant addition to the new six-year collective bargaining agreement was the establishment of a salary cap for the first time in league history, something the Blackhawks would soon learn to hate in a few short years.
• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, July 13: Ken Mosdell and Jean-Francois Berbube.

NHL Chirps

• Jeff Marek and Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff had some early projects for Canada’s Olympic roster. To the surprise of nobody, neither had any Blackhawks on their roster.
• The 2024-25 Florida Panthers have been immortalized in the Stanley Cup! George Richards of Florida Hockey Now looked for the differences between this year’s engraving and last year’s.

• The Seattle Kraken appear to be heading into the Gavin McKenna derby. TSN’s Chris Johnston reported this week that they “might be compelled” to trade Jared McCann. The 29-year-old forward is Seattle’s leader with 118 goals and 243 points during the franchise’s short four-season history. He has two years left on his contract with a reasonable $5 million salary cap hit.
• Things have been quiet on the Marco Rossi/Minnesota Wild front lately. Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune suggests that the Wild still have the upper hand in negotiations. A trade looks less likely to happen, and they have enough cap space to match any potential offer sheet.
• Anaheim Ducks’ first-round pick, Roger McQueen, told Global News’ Scott Roblin that if he doesn’t make the NHL roster out of training camp, he will return to the Brandon Wheat Kings and play in the Western Hockey League.
• NHL Birthday Roll Call, July 13: Punch Broadbent, Bill Collins, Bobby Carpenter, Andreas Lilja, Sheldon Souray, and Mike Reilly.