Sheng Peng
Anton Frondell’s stock is on the rise.
So much so, Frondell appears to be the leading alternative for the San Jose Sharks for No. 2 pick of the 2025 Draft, if not the expected Michael Misa.
“Everybody is waiting to see what San Jose is going to do,” Chris Peters told the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast on Saturday. “They’re not convinced that it’s absolutely Misa.”
That said, not everybody in the NHL is so high on Frondell.
San Jose Hockey Now checked in with an NHL scout for a team that doesn’t have Frondell in their top-five — and another league source not so high on him too.
The scout has seen plenty of Frondell this season. In his opinion, why has the 6-foot-1 Swedish center become the apple of so many eyes, including possibly the San Jose Sharks?
“The body type and the shot,” he said.
Misa and Frondell are both 6-foot-1, but Frondell is a beefy 203 pounds versus Misa’s 183.
“Strong and stocky,” the scout said. “Everything else is a bit of a project.”
If the San Jose Sharks choose Frondell, you can see the vision. He has arguably the best shot in the Draft and his body type should help him flourish in the toughest areas of the ice.
“I think he can play goal line to goal line,” League Source #1 said of Anton Frondell. “I think you’re looking at a 200-foot center that has an elite shooting and scoring upside.”
But his hockey sense and skating have question marks.
“More of a middle-six winger projection,” the scout countered.
Even Frondell’s production as a U-18 player in men’s league Allsvenskan doesn’t sway this scout. His 25 points in 29 games is the single-season record for a U-18 player in second division Swedish hockey, seizing a record that William Nylander, Jesper Bratt, and Filip Forsberg once held.
“It’s impressive. I just don’t buy into it,” he said. “He was pretty average in J-20, at U-18 Five Nations in February, and at U-18 Worlds.”
That’s been a common criticism of Frondell, his unremarkable performance in non-Allsvenskan games this season, especially the U-18 Worlds in April.
Peters did note that Frondell flew straight from helping Djurgardens get promoted to the SHL to the Worlds in Texas, landing two hours before his first game.
League Source #1, a big fan of Frondell’s, even admitted, “You could just go watch [some prospects] over and over and over and over and be like yup. Whereas Frondell, I feel like you got to pick the games you want to use, and there’s a projection off that.”
So Frondell’s body of work this season was definitely up-and-down.
Speaking of body, the scout also thinks Frondell’s Allsvenskan production was inflated by his early maturation.
“Way too hot and cold,” League Source #2 said. “I would never take him over Misa.”
“I feel like that would be a pretty big mistake if they did that,” the scout agreed.
It seems like everybody sees the same things about Frondell, but eye of the beholder, they see him in a different way.