Blackhawks top prospect's first comments should be music to fans' ears

The Chicago Blackhawks had to add size to their forward group, along with a player capable of skating with Connor Bedard on the top line. The Hawks accomplished that by drafting Anton Frondell with the third overall pick.

Frondell's comes with a lethal shot, too. There are going to be a lot of nervous goalies if the Hawks have Bedard and Frondell on the same line, firing pucks on the net.

Drafting Frondell gets an A grade beyond just being a good potential linemate for Bedard.

Although it does help since Frondell can also play on the wing. The feeling is that playing right wing is how he will reach his ceiling in the NHL. He is 6-foot-1 and 204lbs, so he does have decent size to play center.

Either way, both he and Bedard have the positional versatility to play together since Connor can also move out to winger.

His game also translates into helping the Hawks do this thing called winning.

His game is compared to two-time Stanley Cup champion Aleksander Barkov. If the Hawks can get that same production from Frondell like the Panthers have gotten from Barkov, maybe Chicago will start climbing out of the rankings.

Frondell also checks a lot of boxes that the Blackhawks look for in the prospects they draft. He has solid grades when it comes to his skating and hockey IQ. The Athletic's Corey Pronman ranks his puck skills above average (subscription required).

Having better skating ability is what makes him the perfect fit for the Blackhawks over Porter Martone. Martone was another bigger forward who would have filled the Hawks' desire to add size. However, his skating is rated below average by many draft experts.

The Blackhawks may have also drafted the best forward available when they were on the clock. It would have been great for Michael Misa to fall to the Hawks since Misa was considered the best overall forward prospect in the draft.

Since the Sharks went with Misa over Frondell, it is fine that the Hawks ended up with the best international skater, according to the NHL's Central Scouting rankings. Some other draft experts have him ranked a bit lower, as there are some holes in his game. This is a teenager being talked about here, but he is generally regarded as a player who projects to skate in the top six.

Anytime the Hawks can add that to the organization, that deserves an A.