With the NHL draft approaching in a few days, all set to take place in the Los Angeles Peacock Theatre, analysts are trying to figure out which players will get taken right off the bat and how the beginning of next season might look with all the fresh faces. What seems to be an obvious assumption at this point is that the defenseman with maturity beyond his years, Matthew Schaefer, will be the first overall pick by the New York Islanders, who got the luck of the draw. It is then highly speculated that Michael Misa of the Saginaw Spirit will get picked by the San Jose Sharks, and it was thought that Porter Martone of the Brampton Steelheads would go to the Chicago Blackhawks. However, it seems now that that round 3 pick might have changed; enter Anton Frondell.

Frondell, a Swedish center from Djurgårdens IF isn’t exactly the fastest player on the ice, though he as has immense defending and goalscoring potential, having bagged 11 goals and 14 assists in 29 games for Djurgårdens IF. He also averaged a total of 0.86 points per game in his time with the Swedish side, which is the best average for a 17-year-old in league history, putting him in front of the likes of William Nylander and David Pastrnak.

So as things start to get real with the draft picks, it seems like Frondell might not make it past the 3rd spot pick, and the Penguins, who’d been keen on this player earlier, might just lose out.At least, this is what can be speculated based on an X post made by Cam Robinson, wherein he says, “Nothing is guaranteed on draft day, but word is Anton Frondell won’t make it past the third pick. If that holds, the top three are locked, and Utah gets to shape how the rest of the top 10 unfolds.”

If this is in fact true, it could be that the Chicago Blackhawks have their eyes on Frondell, unless the Sharks have changed their mind about Michael Misa! If Frondell does indeed leapfrog Martone, then it may be the Brampton Steelheads captain who gets snapped up by Utah. But what would they miss out on?

What exactly are the Pittsburgh Penguins missing out on if Anton Frondell gets picked in the first three rounds?

Unfortunately for the Penguins, they’d had their eyes on Anton Frondell for a while, even before he was hot and on the top of his league, but they drew the eleventh pick for the mock draft, and so now that Frondell has gotten back into shape, Kyle Dubas and Co. look set miss out on the potential they had seen when filming those draft prospect videos.

But why has Frondell’s potential been uncovered seemingly late? Well, Frondell started the season on a sour note. Due to a knee injury that he had to get surgery for, he missed the first few months of the season, and by the time he returned he hadn’t yet found his feet again, so he ended up underperforming at the Under 18 World Championships. However, talk about making a comeback; Frondell then excelled in the Allsvenskan playoffs and ended up scoring 21 points in 12 league games.

If Anton Frondell is able to get ahead of his physicality and consistency, then he will indeed be a huge asset to whatever team gets to pick him in the draw, but either way, it doesn’t look like he’s going to make it all the way to the 11th pick, not after that Allsvenskan performance, sorry Penguins!