Anton Frondell’s week in the NHL’s European Player Media Tour has put the Blackhawks prospect front and center, and Chicago even gave fans a peek behind the curtain as he made the rounds overseas.
The Blackhawks also marked Aug. 25 with their birthday roll call, highlighting former goaltender Mike Veisor.
Elsewhere in the league, Leon Draisaitl opened up about Edmonton’s new head coach, Mike Babcock, during the European Players Media Tour. In a conversation with The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, Draisaitl said the Oilers asked the difficult questions and got direct answers in return.
"We asked all of the hard questions that media would probably ask him, too,” Draisaitl said. “He had some very honest feedback on us, too.
It was a very honest, productive meeting, and it was very on the table. There was no beating around the bush.
He faced it great. It’s not easy sometimes talking about all of these things."
On the prospect front, Kings draftee Liam Lefebvre has changed course and committed to Boston University after initially pledging to the University of Vermont. Lefebvre, the 46th overall pick in last June’s NHL Entry Draft, put up 32 goals and 59 points in 59 QMJHL games between Rimouski Océanic and Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
And former Blackhawks forward Mike Hardman is headed to Sweden. Expressen reported that he has verbally agreed to a deal with HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League. Hardman spent the last two seasons in the New Jersey Devils organization after leaving Chicago, appearing in all but two games in the AHL.
In Other News...
Blackhawks Fans Are Revisiting One Big Kevin Hayes What If
Kevin Hayes career has become one of those familiar Chicago what-ifs, the kind that gets revisited every time a former draft pick finds a new chapter somewhere else. The Blackhawks took Hayes 24th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft, but his path away from the organization opened the door to a long NHL run elsewhere, with stops in New York, Winnipeg, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Pittsburgh.
Now there is another twist to track. Hayes has signed with AK Bars Kazan in the KHL, adding an overseas move to a rsum that has already taken plenty of turns, and it is not clear whether an NHL return is still part of the story. For Blackhawks fans, it is a reminder of how one missed connection can linger for years, especially when a player drafted by the team goes on to carve out a solid career somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]
Connor Bedard Just Entered A New Tier In Chicagos Rebuild
Connor Bedards rise has started to look a lot less like promise and a lot more like arrival. After missing the NHL Networks top-20 centers list in 2025 amid a rough stretch, the Blackhawks star forced his way back into the conversation with a strong 2025-26 season and the kind of improvement that showed up on a bigger stage. The work he put in over the summer clearly carried over, and the result was his first appearance on that list as one of the leagues most intriguing young pivots.
For Chicago, the larger picture is just as important. Bedard is now the player the rebuild is built around, and every step he takes changes how the rest of the organization is judged. That makes the latest prospect news around Nick Lardis and Sacha Boisvert harder to ignore, even if the Blackhawks long-term pipeline still has plenty of interest. The next question is how much more support Bedard gets from that group as Chicago tries to turn individual growth into something closer to a contender. [Read more 🡒]
Oliver Moore Is Giving The Blackhawks A Real Lineup Dilemma
Oliver Moores first NHL season gave the Blackhawks a little more to think about than they may have expected from a rookie still settling in. The former 19th overall pick appeared in 51 games, put up 19 points and showed he can handle more than one role, spending time at both wing and center while moving between Chicago and Rockford after a brief stint with the IceHogs.
The upside has been obvious enough that Moore and coach Jeff Blashill have already talked about what comes next, and that is where the roster puzzle really starts. Chicago needs young talent to keep growing into dependable NHL pieces, but Moores ability to fit in different spots also makes it harder to pin down exactly where he belongs when the lineup gets healthy again. [Read more 🡒]