x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

A recap from a week of draft comments and development camp

Looking back at a week full of prospect-heavy news and notes.

Posted on by L_B_R
Source: Blackhawks Twitter

It was the busiest part of the NHL offseason over the last week, starting with the 2025 draft over the prior weekend.

Blackhawks Director of Amateur Scouting Mike Doneghey spoke with media multiple times over draft weekend, offering insight into the team’s evolving approach. Under GM Kyle Davidson, the Blackhawks have emphasized selecting high-effort, hard-working players and weren’t afraid to take project players as long as their toolbox was strong.

In the past, skating ability was really the most most prioritized tool for the Blackhawks but, this year, there was a shift in focus: size took center stage. Chicago’s front office clearly placed a premium on adding bigger bodies, operating on the belief that increased physical presence brings a level of “toughness” that makes prospects more difficult to play against.

Those traits were likely a big reason why the Blackhawks chose Anton Frondell with the No. 3 overall pick. Doneghey said Frondell was “big in the right spots” and further described him as “a big, detail-oriented center with a brain.”

As for where Frondell will be playing next season, it’s up to how he performs at Blackhawks camp: the young Swede was direct about wanting to make the Blackhawks this season but, if not, he’d be going back to Sweden to play in the SHL.

Davidson chimed in that there was plenty of time to figure out where Frondell plays that is best for his development, though they do have to work out his contract situation in Sweden. In March, Frondell signed a contract extension with Djurgårdens IF for another season.

Doneghey and Davidson also discussed the player profiles for some of the other Blackhawks 2025 draft selections.

The Blackhawks have been tracking forward Vaclav Nestrasil closely for several years and, after adding 15 pounds to his frame, the young prospect took a noticeable step forward, drawing praise from Chicago’s scouting and development staff. Doneghey acknowledged the 6-foot-5 winger still needs to continue building strength, but sees a solid foundation in place.

“He’s got the height and the frame to add more muscle as he matures. There’s still work to do, but the progress he’s made is very encouraging.”

Nestrasil touched on the types of NHL players he models his game after:

The Blackhawks traded back into the first round to select forward Mason West, parting with multiple picks to make the jump. While Davidson admitted the trade involved gave up some draft value, he made it clear the organization saw West as worth the gamble.

Doneghey described West as a “hell of an athlete” and “just big” who can bring the quarterback mentality to hockey:

Even new head coach of the Rockford IceHogs Jared Nightingale was excited about working with an athlete like West during camp:

As expected, AJ Spellacy and West have already started bonding over their shared past of playing football:

Nathan Behm was selected in third round by the Blackhawks, and Doneghey was happy that he fell to them, calling out Behm’s strong skating and scoring ability as key elements to his game:

Behm wants to lean into the power forward aspects of his game more as he develops: “[I’m] being more dominant every shift and using my size a little bit more. Being a power forward and being skilled, I’m just trying to blend into all roles.”

With their first pick in the fourth round, the Blackhawks took overager Julius Sumpf, who spoke about his experience watching the draft “on the side”:

Although Sumpf is older — he turned 20 in January — he’s still a bit away from playing professional hockey. He is making a move from the Canadian junior leagues to NCAA, though, and will be playing at Providence College this upcoming season with fellow Blackhawks prospect John Mustard.

The players that likely align with the “tough” philosophy the Blackhawks had this draft were their last two skater selections: defenseman Ashton Cumby and forward Parker Holmes, both more known for fighting than anything else in their respective leagues.

As mentioned above, the Blackhawks asked the CHL prospect who the toughest kids in their leagues were, and Cumby was apparently the most common name mentioned by those in the WHL.

Doneghey on Cumby:

“He plays hard, but he has holes. His skating’s got to get a little bit better. … [But] we felt again, at that time, we could add a little toughness. [We] took a chance on it.”

The Blackhawks saw lot of Holmes while watching Nick Lardis and Marek Vanacker with the Brantford Bulldogs. Vanacker apparently told the Blackhawks that Holmes is “not fake tough” and is always willing to stand up for his teammates:

You can read more from Doneghey about the Blackhawks second-day draft selections below:

The Blackhawks also held their development camp this past week, with several members of the 2025 draft class in attendance. Players that attended are listed below:

Just like the last two years, the Blackhawks eschewed on-ice drills in favor of off-ice activities that spotlight team chemistry over hockey mechanics. They did have some non-ice related drills related to puck handling and battling, but placed a premium on building camaraderie, highlighted by creative team-building exercises. One such activity was having to build Legos in separate rooms via walkie-talkies.

When asked about what they’re looking forward to at camp, Spellacy jokingly mentioned the highlight will be a beach volleyball tournament. John Mustard had a more serious answer: he noted that with fewer attendees, the camp felt like it had more specific focus on individual player needs.

All of this is part of the Blackhawks’ evolving development philosophy, one that values the mental, social, and lifestyle readiness of future NHLers just as much as their skating stride or slap shot.

Some other player updates and news came out of development camp as well.

2024 first-round prospect Sacha Boisvert confirmed that the firing of Brad Berry as North Dakota’s head coach influenced his decision to transfer away from the school and to Boston University for his upcoming sophomore season:

Jack Pridham confirmed he has decommitted from Boston University this fall. Instead, the 19-year-old forward says it’s NHL or OHL: if he doesn’t crack an NHL roster out of training camp, he’ll return to the Kitchener Rangers.

Nick Lardis, one of the Blackhawks’ top forward prospects, confirmed this week that he’s fully recovered from the knee injury that sidelined him during the OHL playoffs. While the rehab process led to some weight loss, the 19-year-old had a silver lining to celebrate at camp: he officially measured in at 6-feet tall.

Lardis is expected to make the jump to the pro ranks this season, both the winger and Blackhawks director of player development Mark Eaton stated, though whether that’s in Chicago or Rockford remains to be seen. Still, regaining full conditioning following his knee rehab, Lardis could start the year in Rockford as he ramps up to NHL speed.

NHL Free Agency opened as well this week, and the Blackhawks were expectedly quiet. Davidson told the media that both the free agent and trade markets felt “stagnant” with little to no options or movements.

This makes sense: this was one of the weakest free agency classes in a while, especially since several of the big name potential options, either re-signed with their current teams (for example: Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett) or were part of sign-and-trades (like Mitch Marner). There were also very few optimal trade options so far, though Davidson said the Blackhawks were interested in trying to find depth options, focused on defensemen.

Davidson noted that the lack of action isn’t really a bad thing for the Blackhawks, considering the organization sees this season as an opportunity for young players to really make an impact with the team:

“But as we sit here now I feel pretty happy about the veterans we’ve got, but also just the opportunity for competition amongst our young players that we’ll have if things were to stay the same… We’re heading into a new stage where we’re starting to see and we’re leaving open spots in the NHL for some of these young players that we have drafted and have developed to enter the NHL and start making up a larger or large, depending on the point of the year, portion of the roster.”

Finally, Davidson said that discussions have begun with the upcoming RFAs — Connor Bedard, Frank nazar, and Spencer Knight — but that nothing was imminent due to the “new world” created by the rising salary cap.

“I think the new salary cap marketplace I think is going to stall some of that. It’s going to make some of these a little more drawn out than maybe they would’ve been in the past at a more flat cap. But yeah, we’ve started and we will see if something gets done.”

Specifically in relation to Bedard, Davidson didn’t want to give too much away, just stated that the two sides are talking and that Bedard is committed to Chicago long-term.

“I think he made his thoughts very clear at the end of the season and then subsequently in interviews about he’s committed to Chicago and wants to be here long term and we obviously want him here. So there’s mutual agreement there obviously, and so we’ll see.”

LOGIN SIGN UP

Talking Points