The Chicago Blackhawks landed an immediate lineup impact when top prospect Anton Frondell joined the club following the end of the SHL season. Frondell scored nine points in the first 12 games of his NHL career and operated at his best away from star Connor Bedard, helping to bolster the club’s top-six. While his ability to continue that performance will represent the highest potential for Chicago’s 2026-27 season, the club is also brimming with excitement over young KHL star Roman Kantserov, general manager Kyle Davidson told Scott Powers of The Athletic. Davidson said:
[Kantserov is] a major piece that we’re just really, really excited about. [We] have a lot of faith in what he’s going to do for us.
Kantserov has been a true terror for the KHL’s Magnitogorsk Metallurg since he debuted in the league at 18. Then the 2023-24 season, Kantserov’s rookie year was marked by quiet production – 15 points in 53 regular season games – until he broke out in the 2024 Gagarin Cup Playoffs. The teenager managed 13 points in 23 postseason games that year, fourth-most on the team and above NHL talents like Danila Yurov and Nikita Grebenkin, as Metallurg pushed for their first championship in eight years.
That breakout performance carried over into his age-19 season, when Kantserov finished second on the team with 38 points in 47 games. He also tied for third on the team in goals with 13. Even in a down year for Metallurg, Kantserov’s ability to bring confident and explosive offense to every shift stood out. As the club honed their offense for the 2025-26 season, so did Kantserov, who climbed to a team-leading 36 goals, and a second-ranked 64 points, in just 63 games. In total, his 117 points in 164 career games is the fourth-most ever achieved by a KHL player under the age of 22 – behind only Kirill Kaprizov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Kantserov ties Kaprizov for the highest points-per-game average (0.71) among the group.
That success won’t automatically make Kantserov a standout, though. He holds some disadvantage as a 5-foot-9 winger. So far, his leg speed and lightning-quick thinking with the puck has proven strong enough to keep him free from worry, but Kantserov knows the NHL will be a different challenge. He told Powers:
My teammates tell me, Roman, the NHL is a different league. Everyone’s faster, stronger. You need to think faster. I’m staying on practice for extra time and, yeah, I’m trying to shoot faster, quick shots and trying practice on this stuff… I understand it’s a different league… I understand that it’s going to be fast, so I tried to do everything quickly, even in my league.
The Blackhawks have already seen positive signs from the 21 year old. Head coach Jeff Blashill praised Kantserov’s understanding of the game and commitment to the process. He also said that Kantserov should get an early chance to fill the bumper role on Chicago’s power-play, a spot Blashill thinks the young Russian could be uniquely fit for – akin to the likes of Brayden Point and Ivan Barbashev. Blashill said that Kantserov has clearly studied what works for NHL forwards in that role and already stands out as someone capable of bringing movement, and changing angles, to the position.
Chicago’s power-play has posted the ninth-lowest success rate (19 percent) since the 2020-21 season – but 2026-27 could be the year to want a feature role on the top unit. Bedard, Frondell, and Frank Nazar will likely fill out the remaining forward positions – each boasting a clear ability to both create and finish scoring chances. Kantserov could be the final touch to Chicago’s high-powered top unit, taking some stress off of the team’s search for a defenseman who can quarterback the power-play. That company could also quickly elevate Kantserov to prominent scoring, if he manages to play quick enough to stick in the role.
Plenty of uncertainty still exists around Kantserov’s NHL future. Kapriov and Matvei Michkov (66 points in 91 career games) are the only players with Kantserov’s small frame to break into prominent NHL roles. One of them has reached the upper echelon of the league while the other – once a star prospect – is fighting to figure out exactly where he fits. The challenge of adjusting to NHL speed and physicality will be an uphill battle for Kantserov, who will face the fight while rostered on one of the team’s struggling clubs. But if he finds his stride, the young Kantserov could truly be one of the greatest X-factors of the 2026-27 season – a fact the Blackhawks seem well prepared for.
If Kantserov truly is the missing piece of the PP and then Lardis can be the option on the 2nd PP then that whole unit can go from a minus to a plus. With Mikhayev and Dickinson gone from the PK now they have to re figure that part out. Mikhayev deseves a longer deal and it’s just too bad that the Hawks are holding that spot for Nestrasil. I wonder if KD is reevaluating that position and will cave to Mikhayev hoping that maybe later he can still move his contract if he has to? I’d definitely give that some consideration. If the PK and PP are solid it just makes the whole team better.