The Maple Leafs Are The League’s Most Troubled Team
The headlines about the Maple Leafs over the past 12 months have been largely negative, and for good reason. The team hasn’t been good since being knocked out of last year’s playoffs in the second round, and they’ve been a circus off the ice as well.
But a team that just a few years ago had quiet, steady confidence has become a tsunami of chaos wrapped in a corporate blanket. The Maple Leafs are in trouble, not the kind that can be “fixed” in a season or two – as we’ve seen in Pittsburgh or Washington – but the kind that can lead to a decade of futility.
Before diving too deep into the rabbit hole, a quick caveat. If the right lottery balls fall and Toronto turns this boondoggle of a season into the first overall pick, Gavin McKenna, then all the points that follow could become moot.
However, if the lottery balls fall the other way and Toronto ends up with a non-top-five pick that will be sent to the Bruins, it would lead to a more disillusioned fanbase and more toxicity around an organization that has watched a once-promising rebuild completely unravel in just a few years.
Some might argue that it all came apart in the last 12 months, and there is a good case for that, given that Toronto saw its biggest year-over-year point decline in 109 years. But the truth is that the seeds of this tree of woe were planted years ago, and they’ve been soaking up water for the last couple of seasons, only to emerge as the Maple Leafs’ first playoff absence in ten years.
The issue for the Maple Leafs isn’t a single item on a checklist. It’s a systemic issue that has filtered down from the top and has culminated in this week’s news from The Athletic that Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment president Keith Pelley has become deeply involved in roster construction, something he’d never done before.
The Athletic piece (subscription required), written in partnership by Jonas Siegel, Chris Johnston and James Mirtle, delves extensively into the Maple Leafs’ past season and pulls no punches in its depiction of their fall. History is littered with empires that fell, but for the Maple Leafs, the empire they were supposed to become when they emerged from a rebuild ten years ago never materialized.
How they turn things around at this time is incredibly unclear. There is perhaps only one quick fix: the aforementioned McKenna lottery ball going their way.
Outside of that, the road back to relevancy is paved with speed bumps, and at the moment, there isn’t an obvious candidate in the organization who can lead them to the promised land. There isn’t exactly a litany of candidates outside the organization, either, who could undo all the damage that’s been done to their roster.
Lots of names will get tossed around, but there aren’t many free-agent managers available who have built perennial Stanley Cup contenders, with the exception of Stanley Cup winner Peter Chiarelli, who is probably not high on Toronto’s list of candidates due to a litany of other roster construction blemishes on his record
Some have mentioned Mark Hunter of the London Knights as a potential candidate to take over, but Hunter had a somewhat sour experience with the Maple Leafs earlier in his career as an assistant GM, passed over for promotion in favor of Kyle Dubas, and may not want to leave the stability of the OHL Knights for the chaos of the Leafs. However, money can heal a ton of wounds, and if Toronto wanted to, they could probably find enough to mend fences with Hunter.
That is what Toronto will have to try to do if it wants to turn its current luck around in a hurry and flex its financial might. There is no cap on management, scouting, and player development, and it is an area where Toronto could invest heavily again to quickly retool or rebuild its roster. However, based on the story from The Athletic, it appears that Maple Leafs ownership has plans to move in the opposite direction, though they might not have a choice given the state of their roster and prospect pool.
When Toronto’s lineup is fully healthy, it’s not exactly a group that will strike fear into many opponents. There are significant gaps throughout, and not much toughness to speak of.
The biggest hole is on defense, where the team lacks a true number one defenseman who can run the power play, kill penalties, and play a solid two-way game at five-on-five. Many fans hoped Morgan Rielly would fill that role, but his game is all offense at this point, and that offense has been drying up in recent years.
The good news for Toronto is that they have plenty of cap space this summer ($22.2MM, with just three roster players to sign, per PuckPedia). However, the bad news is that there isn’t much available in free agency, and Toronto doesn’t have many draft picks or prospects to trade.
There are a few future pieces they could deal, but would it even make sense at this point to add to a core group of players who have won exactly nothing in ten years and have now gone through several management groups with almost no variation in results? The constant during that time has been Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Rielly, who have all been on this ship while the deckchairs have shuffled around them year after year.
Is it time to move one of them? Can Toronto even move any of them, given their contracts, no-trade clauses, and last season’s struggles?
The core players have said they want to run things back in Toronto and give it another shot, which seems foolish at this point, given the track record. A new GM who comes in and tries to build around Matthews and company could be in for a fool’s errand, throwing good money after bad as they fall victim to the sunk-cost fallacy.
Make no mistake, every GM falls victim to it, throwing good assets out the window to undo previous errors. It usually doesn’t end well and can ultimately lead to a reduction in the contention window, which is exactly what happened in Toronto and elsewhere.
Many teams have done this before, burning through draft picks and prospects in pursuit of a playoff berth, only to miss and have nothing to show for it. The Penguins notoriously let Ron Hextall burn through assets in an attempt to save his job in 2023.
He traded a second-round pick for Mikael Granlund, who had the worst run of his career in Pittsburgh before the Penguins missed the playoffs. Hextall was fired shortly after the season, and Dubas came in and immediately made the same mistakes as Hextall, trading good assets for aging ones, before realizing his errors and pivoting to a retool.
Dubas then systematically moved out the Penguins’ veterans who didn’t fit the plan and moved on, recouping tons of young assets in the process. He also took on bad contracts along with draft picks to help teams that were strapped against the cap.
Some might look at the Dubas strategy and think it could work for Toronto, and who knows, maybe it could. But the issue is that it took Dubas two years to see results from those moves, and we haven’t fully seen those results yet.
Many of the draft picks Dubas acquired are in upcoming drafts. That strategy takes time, a lot of time, and time is something Toronto doesn’t have, given that Matthews has just two years left on his deal now.
Another issue for Toronto in deploying the Dubas strategy is that there simply aren’t as many teams up against the cap as there were a year or two ago, when Dubas made his moves. This means teams may be more inclined to simply bury bad contracts rather than trade them for an asset to get rid of them.
It was still painful for Pittsburgh, as they missed the playoffs for three straight years before making it this year. Retools take time; even when most of the moves work out well, there is no quick fix, only trade-offs. Toronto’s management has to decide which trade-off they are comfortable making before making management hires and pointing this team in a different direction.
Whatever direction is ultimately chosen, the road will be bumpy, but any team that finds success has to endure adversity, some more than others. And for the Maple Leafs, if they do eventually find success, they will have endured more adversity than any other team.
Snapshots: Bains, Kovalchuk, Klingsell
Vancouver Canucks forward Arshdeep Bains is entering a significant offseason, one that could determine his chances of becoming a full-time NHLer in Vancouver, writes Thomas Drance of The Athletic. According to Drance, “it’s clear” that Bains is “going to have to change his approach to take a stab at becoming a regular.” The 25-year-old entered 2025-26 on a high. He scored 24 points in 24 playoff games en route to a Calder Cup final to cap off the prior campaign, and got a real chance in the NHL to start this season. But he was unable to translate his strong track record of scoring at the AHL level to Vancouver, and finished the season with just five points in 28 games.
Bains will be an arbitration-eligible RFA at the end of next season, and will play the year on a one-way contract with a $775K salary. His qualities in Abbotsford are not really in question – he has scored as high as 55 points in the AHL – it’s his NHL future that is in question. The former WHL star has always been a player more focused on offense, but this year it became clear that Bains faces a tall task trying to translate his scoring from the AHL to the NHL. To find a way to carve out a long-term NHL role, as Drance wrote, Bains might need to redouble his efforts to provide value in other areas of the game, such as growing his defensive game or even adding some sandpaper to his style. Numerous players have found success turning themselves into valuable bottom-six defensive role players at the NHL level after being top scorers at lower levels (Dallas Stars forward Sam Steel is a great example) and it’s possible that’s the role Bains will have to take to stick at the game’s highest level.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Three-time NHL All-Star and 2004 Rocket Richard Trophy winner Ilya Kovalchuk was named president of the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons yesterday, according to a team announcement. The team also named Evgeny Artukhin as its general manager. Artukhin has spent the last three seasons as a European scout with the Vegas Golden Knights. Kovalchuk does have some prior management experience, as he served as GM of the Russian Olympic Committee men’s hockey team for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The Dragons endured a very difficult 2025-26 season, going 21-35-12 and failing to reach the postseason. The club’s playoff drought is now up to nine years, as they have qualified only once in the team’s ten-year history – their debut year in the KHL.
- Winnipeg Jets prospect Viktor Klingsell signed a two-year rookie contract with the SHL’s Skelleftea AIK, according to a team announcement. In addition, the team announced that Klingsell will spend next season on loan in Sweden’s second division, HockeyAllsvenskan, with Kalmar HC. The 19-year-old was selected in the fifth round by the Jets at the 2025 draft and proved himself ready for pro hockey in 2025-26. He scored 17 goals and 43 points in 25 games at the U20 Nationell level, and seven points in eight games on loan with Östersunds IK in HockeyAllsvenskan. That’s the level he’ll get to start the year at in the fall.
Latest On Charlie Coyle Contract Talks
As the 2025-26 season progressed, more and more pending unrestricted free agents signed contract extensions to remain with their current teams. A free agent market that was once slated to feature big names such as Connor McDavid and Kirill Kaprizov has thinned out to a considerable degree, simultaneously hurting teams with big spending plans and helping the players who remain without a contract. One of the players who appears set to benefit most is Columbus Blue Jackets pivot Charlie Coyle.
Coyle, 34, is a pending UFA coming off of an extremely strong platform season. He’s set to be one of the top players available overall, and plays a premium position (center.) While his age might give some teams pause, he’s expected to receive significant interest on July 1 if he makes it until then without a new contract.
Yesterday, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reported that the Blue Jackets are determined to not let things reach that point. According to Portzline, a potential Coyle extension “is an immensely important contract for the Blue Jackets, such that Coyle could be seen as having a blank check to set his terms.”
On one hand, it’s not too difficult to see why Columbus would be desperate to extend Coyle. For much of Columbus’ franchise history, the team has battled a talent deficiency at the center position.
The Blue Jackets have been searching for a true No. 1 center for most of their existence in the NHL, and could very well have found one in Adam Fantilli. But Fantilli is still developing into that role, and the team’s No. 2 center, Sean Monahan, played through injury this season and was limited to just 13 goals and 36 points in 78 games. That’s a steep decline from his production last season, when he scored 19 goals and 57 points in 54 games. Monahan’s down season only further underscored Coyle’s importance to Columbus’ lineup.
Keeping Coyle would ensure the center position remains an area of strength in the Blue Jackets’ lineup. Part of why it may be seen as essential to team management is the fact that Columbus is under substantial pressure to reach the playoffs. They have very narrowly missed out on playoff hockey in each of the last two seasons, doing so in dramatic fashion this year.
The Blue Jackets have not made the playoffs since 2019-20, when they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in a qualifying-round series. The club cannot afford to take a step backward or hurt their odds of competing next season, and most would argue that losing Coyle on the open market would be doing so.
With that said, on the other hand, it’s also fair to question whether investing in Coyle would be in the team’s best long-term interests. If Columbus do indeed feel backed into a corner with Coyle, as Portzline suggested, that’s not exactly an ideal position to negotiate from.
The team’s immense interest in keeping Coyle, combined with the anticipated heavy interest in his services from across the league, gives him a massive amount of leverage in talks with the Blue Jackets. Coyle spoke highly of his time in Columbus, but it still is likely to cost quite a bit to keep him from testing the open market.
Is paying top dollar for a talented veteran center the best move for the Blue Jackets to make if the goal is building a sustainable contender? That’s the question team management will have to answer over the next few months as it considers whether to extend Coyle.
Injury Notes: Oilers, Lightning, Wild
Edmonton Oilers center Jason Dickinson is questionable for game two tonight against the Anaheim Ducks as the result of an undisclosed injury, reports Jason Gregor of Sports 1440. Per Gregor, veteran Curtis Lazar will enter head coach Kris Knoblauch’s lineup if Dickinson can’t dress. Dickinson has had some trouble staying healthy in recent weeks, as he missed the final three games of Edmonton’s regular season schedule with a lower-body injury. That didn’t stop him from making a major impact in game one, as he scored two goals in Edmonton’s 4-3 victory over the Ducks.
The 30-year-old veteran was acquired by the Oilers at the trade deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks, and is a well-respected bottom-six center thanks to his defensive ability. Lazar, 31, is also a bottom-six defensive center, though he is not held in quite as high a regard as the player he may replace in the lineup. Lazar got into 45 games for Edmonton this season, averaging 8:55 time on ice per game, including 0:33 per game on the penalty kill. Dickinson has been Edmonton’s top penalty-killing forward since he was acquired, averaging a team-high 1:51 time on ice per game while short handed.
Other injury updates from around the NHL:
- Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper updated the media on the status of the team’s injured players before the team’s flight to Montreal today, telling team reporter Gabby Shirley that forward Pontus Holmberg is still out on a week-to-week basis, and “definitely” won’t be able to return within the timeframe of the team’s series against the Canadiens. He also said defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous is “progressing” in his recovery from the injury he suffered from game one, and will skate while the team is on the road. He also added that injured captain Victor Hedman is traveling with the team, but there is no firm timeline on his return.
- Minnesota Wild forwards Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin will be game-time decisions in advance of game three tonight against the Dallas Stars, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic. According to Russo, if one of the pair is unable to play, Nico Sturm will draw into the lineup in their place. Zuccarello played game one against the Stars but missed game two with an upper-body injury. He’s one of the Wild’s top offensive players when healthy, having scored 54 points in 59 games this season. Trenin is managing an upper-body injury, and could be at risk of missing a game this season for the first time.
Evening Notes: Kleven, Tippett, Ostlund
Defenseman Tyler Kleven is continuing to progress in his recovery from an upper-body injury sustained in April 2nd’s win over the Buffalo Sabres. He has now taken two practices with full contact and a face-guard and could be back in the lineup soon. Despite that, head coach Travis Green would neither confirm nor deny if Kleven was an option for Thursday’s Game 3 per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. Meanwhile, Artem Zub remains out of practice since sustaining what appeared to be a lower-body injury in Saturday’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Green did not have an update on Zub’s availability either per Sportscenter’s Claire Hanna.
It seems Ottawa will be forced to roll out the same blue-line that led them to a double-overtime loss on Monday. That will mean heavy minutes for usual stars Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot, as well as rising depth defender Jordan Spence who has taken over top-four duties in Zub’s absence. Nikolas Matinpalo should also stay up the lineup, though the Senators could rotate him with Lassi Thomson and Dennis Gilbert. Sanderson is the only Senators’ defenseman to score so far this postseason. He has two assists in as many games. So long as he can continue to elevate the blue-line, Ottawa stands a chance of hanging on against the Hurricanes.
Other notes from around the league:
- Top Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett missed the team’s Wednesday practice to nurse an injury that he has been playing through, head coach Rick Tocchet told NBCS’ Jordan Hall. He is expected to suit up for Wednesday’s Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins despite the injury. Tippett has one assist in two playoff games so far, while Philadelphia holds a 2-0 lead over the Penguins. He should continue to line up next to Tyson Foerster and Trevor Zegras, maintaining a trio that has proven explosive in the early postseason.
- Buffalo Sabres rookie center Noah Ostlund could return to the lineup in Thursday night’s Game 3 against the Boston Bruins per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. Ostlund has not played since sustaining an injury in Buffalo’s March 25th matchup – an overtime loss to the Bruins. The rookie emerged as a reliable, fourth-line center for Buffalo. He played through his first NHL season and racked up 11 goals and 27 points in 60 games, to go with 10 points in seven AHL games. He should take on a fourth-line role over one of Beck Malenstyn, Joshua Dunne, or Jordan Greenway if and when he returns to full health. The decision of who to pull out of the lineup will be a delicate one for Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, as the fourth-line has currently brought a lot of physicality to a hard-nosed matchup. Ostlund is still adjusting to NHL physicality and will be making his Stanley Cup Playoff debut when he makes it back into the lineup.
Sharks Loan Leo Sahlin Wallenius To AHL
The Sharks announced that they have loaned Leo Sahlin Wallenius to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. The move allows the Sharks prospect to continue his 2025-26 season now that his campaign in Sweden has concluded.
The Barracuda have a best-of-three first-round playoff series against the Henderson Silver Knights coming up, but it’s unclear if Sahlin Wallenius will be included in head coach John McCarthy’s lineup for game one. At the very least, the 2024 second-rounder will now be an option at his disposal.
If Sahlin Wallenius does get into McCarthy’s playoff lineup, his first game would be his North American professional debut. The 20-year-old spent all of 2025-26 at the professional level in his native Sweden, skating in 32 games for the SHL’s Växjö Lakers.
He had a successful season, scoring 13 points in the regular season and six points in 10 playoff games. He was also one of Sweden’s very best defensemen at this season’s World Junior Championships, scoring six points in seven games while regularly logging heavy minutes for the Swedes.
After a 2024-25 season that saw Sahlin Wallenius split his time between four different levels of hockey (SHL, Liiga, Allsvenskan, J20 Nationell), the level of consistency afforded to Sahlin Wallenius this season allowed him to take a real step forward in his development.
With his ELC signed last year, focus should be quickly shifting to when he might turn his attention to North America and the Sharks organization. Sahlin Wallenius’s contract status in the SHL is actually relevant for his developmental future and whether he might be able to stay in the AHL next season, in the (likely) event he doesn’t break camp on the NHL roster.
The NHL-SHL transfer agreement stipulates that any player who is under the age of 24, not drafted in the first round, and also under contract in the SHL be assigned back to Sweden rather than be sent to the AHL.
The fact that Sahlin Wallenius’ deal in the SHL is set to expire, and there has been no word about an extension, paves the way for him to be able to develop in the AHL. There are many cases of Swedish prospects doing so, such as Montreal Canadiens rearguard Adam Engstrom, who has been able to play for the AHL’s Laval Rocket in his age-21 and age-22 campaigns.
Regardless of where exactly he plays, this is a player who appears to have a bright future who is now set to dip his toes into the North American game. He was recently ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the Sharks’ system by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, who wrote that the defenseman “projects as a two-way skating third-pairing NHL D.”
As the Sharks continue to figure out who the building blocks on their blueline are, Sahlin Wallenius could be a name to watch on the Barracuda.
Ducks’ Radko Gudas Ruled Out Of Game 2
The Anaheim Ducks will be without their captain in Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers. Defenseman Radko Gudas has been ruled out with an undisclosed injury per Jason Gregor of Sports 1440. Gudas will be replaced by Drew Helleson making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut.
Gudas played under 10 minutes of ice time in Game 1. He was also held out of Anaheim’s season finale for maintenance reasons. Gudas battled a lower-body injury sustained in a win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday, March 26. He went on to miss nine of the final 10 games of Anaheim’s season. While no connection between that injury and Gudas’ current absence was made, it seems likely that he is still working his way back to 100 percent. He will move forward with a day-to-day designation, per Zach Laing of Oilers Nation.
Gudas has recorded two points and 39 penalty minutes in his last 13 games, including Game 1 of the postseason. Those stats bring him up to 13 points, 67 penalty minutes, and 164 hits in 56 games this season. He has slowed down both his scoring and aggression in his age-35 season, after reaching 18 points, 128 penalty minutes, and 232 hits in 66 games just two seasons ago. Still, Gudas will be a valuable, physical addition to Anaheim’s playoff race when he is back to full health.
Helleson will look to make up for Gudas’ physical presence from Anaheim’s third pair. The 24 year old notched 15 points, 63 hits, and 79 shot blocks in 60 gamse this season. Much of his action came in relief of Gudas’ injuries. He brings a thin amount of championship experience to the Ducks lineup, having won a Gold Medal at the 2018 World U17 Hockey Challenge and 2021 World Junior Championships. Helleson won’t bring the aggression or hitting that Gudas does but should play responsibly enough to compliment rookie defender Tyson Hinds.
Bruins Sign Billy Sweezey To One-Year, Two-Way Extension
The Boston Bruins have re-signed pending unrestricted free agent Billy Sweezey to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $850K in the NHL. Sweezey has spent the last five seasons in the AHL. He joined the Providence Bruins in 2024 and serves as an alternate captain for the club.
Sweezey has racked up 17 points, 84 penalty minutes, and a career-high plus-21 in 69 games this season. His single goal on the season gave Sweezey three consecutive seasons with only one score – a pattern he repeated in the first three seasons of his career at Yale University. Sweezey has continued to offer the chippy, defensive style that he took on way back with the USHL’s Chicago Steel in 2015.
Sweezey signed his first pro contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2020, after racking up 29 points and 159 penalty minutes in 127 games at Yale. He only reached four assists in 22 games in the AHL’s shortened 2020-21 season. He left the Penguins and signed a deal with the Cleveland Monsters in the following summer. A move to Ohio proved to bring much more action, pushing Sweezey to 11 points and 114 penalty minutes in 70 games of his first season in Cleveland.
His 2021-22 performance was such a pleasant surprise that the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Sweezey to a two-way NHL contract in March 2022. The Blue Jackets vindicated that deal roughly one year later, when Sweezey made his NHL debut on February 26, 2023. He would go on to play in nine games with Columbus marked by one assist, nine penalty minutes, and a minus three. Sweezey has since spent the last three seasons in a full-time, AHL role – though the Boston Bruins kept him on an NHL contract when they signed him out of free agency. Sweezey has already recorded 27 points and 151 penalty minutes in 133 games with the Providence Bruins and will stay on a two-way NHL deal next season.
Canucks Granted Permission From Leafs To Speak With Shane Doan
The Vancouver Canucks are continuing to seek out new names for their front office. Their latest candidate could come from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Vancouver has requested permission to speak with Toronto special advisor Shane Doan position per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It was later reported that permission was granted per John Shannon of 100% Hockey.
It is not yet clear what position Vancouver sees Doan stepping into. Doan has filled a GM advisory role in Toronto for the last three seasons, after three seasons as the Director of Hockey Administration with his alumni Arizona Coyotes.
Doan has not yet filled a GM role at the NHL or AHL level but the job is not unfamiliar. He served as Team Canada’s GM at the 2022 Winter Olympics, World Championship, and Spengler Cup. Canada won a Silver Medal at the World Championship but did not reach the podium at the other two events . Doan was also an assistant GM at the 2019 Spengler Cup, 2021 World Championship, and 2023 World Championship. Canada won the Spengler Cup and two Golds at the World Championship in those tournaments.
Doan is much more known for his accomplishments as a player. He was originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets and played his NHL rookie season in the team’s final season before moving to Phoenix. Doan became a star in the desert, routinely rivaling 50 points and 50 penalty minutes each season. He was quickly one of the team’s most reliable forwards and took on a top-line role next to hockey legends Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk in his early career. He did not leave that role through the final 20 years of his career, all spent with the Coyotes franchise. Doan was awarded the Coyotes’ captaincy in 2003 and carried it until he retired in 2017. He called his career to a close with the most games (1,540), goals (402), assists (570), and points (972) in Coyotes history. Doan’s son, Josh Doan, was drafted by Arizona in 2021 – but has since been traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Doan’s wife, Andrea Doan, was named to the Phoenix Hockey Exploratory Committee – a group geared towards returning NHL hockey to Phoenix – in September.
How the Vancouver Canucks see Doan fitting in is not clear but there is no doubt about his rich experience in NHL and international hockey. He has now served six seasons in NHL front offices and could fit in a variety of assistant, advisory, or development roles. Before they can brainstorm around a job title, Vancouver will first need to get permission from the Maple Leafs, who may see Doan as a helpful support to their own search for a new GM.
Blackhawks’ Anton Frondell Among Six Prospects Named To Team Sweden
Top Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell is set to head back overseas after joining Chicago for the final 12 games of the regular season. He will join Team Sweden at the 2026 World Championships set to take place in Switzerland per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Frondell is one of six players named to Sweden’s roster who also played for the country in the 2026 World Junior Championship.
Also named to the Swedish roster are top draft prospects Ivar Stenberg and Viggo Bjorck, Philadelphia Flyers prospect Jack Berglund, St. Louis Blues prospect Love Harenstam, and Winnipeg Jets prospect Sascha Boumedienne.
Frondell could be a star addition to the Swedish roster. He scored 20 goals and 28 points through 43 games in Sweden’s SHL this season. It was a standout performance that led Djugardens IF in goals just one year after Frondell formed a dynamic duo with New York Islanders prospect Victor Eklund to help Djugardens earn a promotion from Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan. Frondell continued to prove his worth as a high-end scorer in his move to the NHL. He finished Chicago’s season with three goals and nine points. That is the highest per-game scoring in the NHL of any player on Sweden’s roster this season – though the Tre Kronor roster is younger than usual.
Usual batterymate, Eklund, may not be able to join Sweden in time to make the roster. He is set to play in the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs with the Bridgeport Islanders, where he has already racked up 10 points in nine games. Bridgeport faces a perennial Calder Cup threat in the first round – the Hershey Bears. That will make for a competitive series that could lead Eklund to the World Championships with an early exit – though the Islanders are a formidable lineup of their own with the additions of Eklund, Cole Eiserman, and Calum Ritchie
Frondell will likely line up on Sweden’s top-line alongside two of Stenberg, Bjorck, Jakob Silfverberg, Nils Hoglander, or Linus Karlsson. The latter two spent their seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and scored five and 35 points respectively. Canucks defense prospect Tom Willander was also invited to join Sweden’s roster but declined to focus on his off-season training per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. Willander broke into a routine NHL role this season and finished the year with 21 points in 70 games.
Even with a young roster and rejections from some potential difference-makers, the Swedes will still enter the 2026 World Championship as favorites to earn a medal. Their top competition will be Team USA, Canada, Finland, and Czechia – as has become the case in recent years.