Blackhawks vs Islanders Preview, Projected Lines

Tonight the Blackhawks (26-31-13) are in town to face the New York Islanders (40-36-15) to kick off their 4 game Eastern road trip. But perhaps the biggest headline is that 2025 3rd Overall pick Anton Frondell will be making his NHL debut.

Photo by: Ben Pope via X

To everyone’s surprise, Frondell took part in morning skate with the Blackhawks and was then announced as in the lineup for the game tonight, despite him arriving in North America on Monday. He was wearing #15 in morning skate. 2024 1st round pick Sacha Boisvert is also looking to get some ice time on this road trip, Boisvert’s work visa cleared and he was practicing with the team as well. Skating as the extra forward, and wearing #12. According to Head Coach Jeff Blashill, he will play later on the roadtrip.

Arvid Soderblom will start tonight. Soderblom is 6-11-3 on the year with 1 shutout, a 3.72 goals against per game, and a .879 save percentage. On the other end of the ice, David Rittich is starting for the New York Islanders. Rittch has a much better win-loss record, but also has a below .900 save percentage (.897). The Islanders currently hold the 2nd wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference and look to hold onto that spot against the 30th ranked Blackhawks. Leading the charge for the Islanders is 18-year-old defensemen, Calder favourite, Matthew Schaefer, who has 22 goals and 51 points in 71 NHL games this season.

Projected Lines with Frondell and Boisvert

Greene - Bedard - Frondell

Bertuzzi - Nazar - Lardis

Burakovsky - Donato - Mikheyev

Teravainen - Lafferty - Slaggert

Boisvert

Vlasic - Levshunov

Kaiser - Rinzel

Del Mastro - Crevier

Soderblom

The top 6 for the Chicago Blackhawks now has an average age of 22-years-old. The future is now, Blackhawks fans.

Frondell is also slotted in on powerplay unit 1 (Levshunov at point, Bedard and Frondell on the wings, Bertuzzi net front, Nazar in the bumper) this is no surprise given his offensive capabilities and lethal shot. Frondell will have his Mother, Father and Sister in attendance tonight. He should come out with a lot of jump and energy tonight, despite the fact that he was “very nervous” when stepping on the ice this morning.

As a team, the Blackhawks have been better since the Olympic break (3-2-2 in their last 7) and they look to keep the momentum going in the final 12 games of the season. Ending the season on a high note is imperative for the young core.

Artyom Levshunov in particular has impressed since the Olympic Break. Levshunov has been used as a #1 defensemen, averaging about 23 minutes of ice time in his last 4 games, including top pwerplay and penalty kill time. Levshunov has looked comfortable with the new responsibilities, a great sign for the 2024 2nd Overall pick.

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