Flyers draft: Could Anton Frondell, who many rate as the top goal scorer in the class, be their Aleksander Barkov?

BUFFALO, N.Y. — In September, after undergoing a minor knee surgery, Anton Frondell said he woke up, and the first person who was there to greet him was former Flyer Mikael Renberg.

“I was like, aren’t you …” Frondell said with a laugh.

The former “Legion of Doom” winger, who still holds the franchise’s rookie point record with 82, is now a physical therapist in Sweden and helped his countryman rehab after the procedure. But while there is now a direct thread to the Flyers through Renberg, could there be another on June 27?

The 18-year-old is one of several centers who could be available to the Orange and Black when they select with the No. 6 overall pick.

» READ MORE: Flyers draft: Here’s what potential targets James Hagens, Jake O’Brien, and Anton Frondell said at the combine

“His best games were probably among the best of this class,” FloHockey draft analyst Chris Peters told The Inquirer in Western New York. “When you saw him play at his best, he was dominant. He was driving play. He was playing on both sides of the puck. He was being physical. And he can score.

“He does have a missile shot, as Victor [Eklund] said. He is a tank. And the thing is, I think teams were curious here [at the scouting combine] about his fitness level; he wears it a little differently, but he is so hard to knock off the puck.”

Coined the best shooter and goal scorer in the draft by Peters, this past season Frondell notched 11 goals and 14 assists in 29 games for Djurgårdens IF in Sweden’s second-best men’s professional league, HockeyAllsvenskan. His 0.86 points per game was the best mark for a 17-year-old player in league history — ahead of superstars William Nylander and David Pastrňák. Among all 17- and 18-year-old seasons, Frondell’s mark ranks behind only those of successful NHLers Patrik Berglund, William Karlsson, Elias Pettersson, and Filip Forsberg.

Frondell added another three goals and seven points in 16 qualification games, helping his Stockholm-based club get promoted to the SHL next season. Was he celebrating the next day? No, he was in Texas and playing for Sweden at the Under-18 World Championships. He didn’t have the best showing in Frisco, finishing with a goal and three points in five games, but can you blame him?

Aside from hopping on a plane, and dealing with a seven-hour time difference, by the time he finished the tournament, he had played in 76 games between Djurgårdens IF’s men’s and junior teams, and skating for Sweden at several events, despite missing time with the aforementioned knee injury. Only two of those games came before Oct. 9.

“It was a lot of hockey. If I had to choose, I would have chosen even more. It’s what I love to do. It’s the best thing I know, and it doesn’t matter how much I’m playing, I love it,” he told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine.

“The season overall was good.”

There’s a lot to be said about a kid who didn’t even turn 18 until May 7 to play like he did this past season — his first season where he predominantly played against men at the pro level.

It helped that he was at home with his parents and sisters in Trångsund, a section of Stockholm. It helped that he had 41-year-old former NHLer Patrick Thoresen, who Frondell was quick to point out has kids older than him, to keep an eye out and show him the way as a pro. And it helped he had his buddy Eklund, a fellow top prospect in this year’s draft, who started as an opponent when they were kids.

“I remember playing him and he made a move on me,” Eklund said. “It was between my legs, and I just can’t forget that. He says he doesn’t remember that, but I kind of knew [then] he was good.”

“I actually do remember that move,” Frondell jabbed back. “It was really good.”

The dynamic duo may be teenagers, but they helped propel Djurgårdens IF forward as linemates. Crafty decision by the coach? Nope. Credit can go to Eklund for seeing how their friendship off the ice would translate on it.

“It’s been pretty easy to play with Anton,” Eklund said. “We didn’t get to do it in the start of the season, but then we had to tell the coach that we needed to play [together] and we did. I think we did freak him out.”

Umm … probably?

“Yeah, I think I told him 10 times,” Eklund added when asked if he truly went and told the coach he needed to play with Frondell. Eklund said that the bench boss initially brushed him off, but after Christmas, the two were paired up.

» READ MORE: Flyers mock draft 3.0: Center James Hagens’ size shouldn’t be a concern at No. 6

“I just knew from the beginning that if we get the opportunity, we’ll take it and we’d be the best line,” said Eklund, a winger who compares himself to Flyers forward Travis Konecny and had 19 goals and 31 points in 42 regular-season games, before adding another two goals and seven points in 16 qualification games.

“I think we did pretty good. Our coach probably got sick of me asking, so they finally put us together.”

The two best buds — who should be drafted together because they are a dynamic duo on and off the ice — also did the scouting combine’s physical testing as a pair. More than 85 of the NHL’s top draft prospects showed off several feats of strength: grip, VO2 max (as they ride a spin bike, the resistance increases and a player rides until they cannot keep up the required revolutions per minute), and Y balance on Friday, and vertical and horizontal jumps, the bench press, and the Wingate bike test the next day.

“We asked to do it in a pair because we love to compete against each other,” Frondell said about the second day. “We felt like, if we go together, it will probably give us both our high scores.”

It worked because Frondell put those questions about his fitness to bed by finishing tied for second in the Wingate with 16.8 watts of power per kilogram of body weight after tying atop the board for the VO2 test with fellow center Cole Reschny.

“We switch turns to whoever goes first. So he started at pullups, and he did nine, so I make sure that I beat him,” said Eklund, who did 11.

Now that he’s shown off his talents on the ice and off, the biggest question mark is whether Frondell will even be available at No. 6.

Peters has him listed as the fourth-best prospect heading into the first round on June 27 (7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN+) in his final Top 100 rankings. He was the top-ranked international skater, as determined by the NHL’s Central Scouting.

“You talk to every single Swedish player, they think he’s a demigod,” Peters said. “It’s unbelievable. Because they’ve seen him growing up, and he’s always been the best player in their age group.”

That’s not a bad thing for a guy who wears No. 14 and models his game after two-time Stanley Cup champion Aleksander Barkov, the captain of the Florida Panthers.

Frondell does seem to excel skating alongside not just his bestie Eklund, but with older players. It helps him play a big game, like Barkov.

» READ MORE: NHL draft: Could the Flyers keep it in the family with two-way ace Caleb Desnoyers?

“I have good size,” said the 6-foot-1, 205-pound center who also played some wing this season. “I’m strong. I always compete. I work hard in all three zones. I’m good defensively and like to protect our own net and don’t let in goals. It’s important to score goals, but even more important to not let in goals. So take that defensive responsibility, also.

“But I like to be offensive also, and I love to shoot. I like to score.”

There was a big smile from Frondell when he said that, which should bring that same grin to Flyers fans. After all, there’s a lot of chatter that the guy the Flyers take at No. 6 will be the center paired up with Matvei Michkov.

Could Frondell be that guy? Could he and Michkov be the building blocks to the Legion of Doom 2.0?

Well, he did say with another smile: “I know Philadelphia is historically a really tough team, and plays tough. I think my game works really well for that.”