The Chicago Blackhawks now have it all in their prospect pool after NHL Draft

The name of the game for Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson in past drafts has been speed. This draft however, the Hawks front office decided to take a very different approach. they still emphasized speed and skill, but the clear objective from up high was this: add some size.

This Blackhawks draft class is HUGE. In fact, the shortest player that the Hawks selected was Anton Frondell. He is no shrimp either at 6-foot-1.

I was very interested to see if the Hawks were going to target size in this draft, but I don't think that me or anyone else could have predicted how fervently Kyle Davidson would commit to drafting big bruising forwards. This is an excellent strategy as the Hawks prospect pool was severely lacking in big players like those drafted this past weekend.

Speed, size, skill, the Chicago Blackhawks now have it all in their prospect system.

They also have players who compliment the team's cornerstone players.

Davidson got specific players that project to fit into roles around Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar's skill sets.

Bedard and Nazar are quick footed, and quick-thinking offensive dynamos, but they lack the size and tenacity to win pucks away from much larger and more aggressive defenders in the tough areas of the ice.

That is precisely where a guy like Anton Frondell comes into play. He is already over 200 lbs as an 18-year-old, and he has been described as a tank.

He is a two-way aggressive forward with elite scoring potential to go along with a gritty and intelligent style of play. Honestly, I see a lot of Marian Hossa in Frondell. I think having him play wing with Connor Bedard at center would be a match made in heaven.

Frondell can chase down pucks, plow through defenders, and attack the net front, while Bedard dances through unwitting defenses and snipes pucks past helpless goaltenders. I think this is a terrific combination for the Hawks to play with for years, and Frondell is now the clear top prospect in the Hawks organization.

But the exciting thing is that Frondell isn't the only player to be excited about if you're a Hawks fan. The two other first-round selections that Davidson made are absolute monsters in Vaclav Nestrasil and Mason West both stand at 6-foot-6. If they pan out as Davidson is hoping, the Hawks could have two of the most punishing and brutal forwards in the NHL to play alongside their fast and offensively inclined scorers.

However, both players are more than just big bodies.

They both are very good skaters for their size, something Davidson has prioritized in the past. They also both have great offensive instincts. If you zoom out and look at the big picture of the Blackhawks, it is impossible not to get excited.

Of course, both Nestrasil and West are far from sure things. West, in particular, is extremely raw. He will take several years to develop before he sniffs the NHL, and in fact, he will still be playing football next year.

While this likely scared a few teams off from drafting West, Kyle Davidson saw the opportunity to hit a "grand slam," and he took it. The Hawks think that they've found their next great power forwards to complement the players that they already have in their organization.

Many of the young guys who are ready to take the jump to the NHL level are on the smaller side. Nick Lardis, Oliver Moore, Sam Savoie, Roman Kantserov, Nazar, and Connor Bedard measure under six feet tall. While many of those players project to be excellent (and fast) NHL players, you still need some big guys on your NHL roster to balance out your attack.

While speed is very important, it isn't the only aspect of the game that matters.

Matthew Tkachuk is one of the slowest players in the league, but he uses his incredible hockey IQ and his physicality to dominate games. You need a blend of styles to be successful as an NHL team, and the Hawks were becoming one-dimensional in their prospect pool. This Draft has helped to add a different flavor to what the Hawks had in their prospect pool.

Much has been made about the need for the Blackhawks to add proven NHL players via free agency or trades to help improve the team. And while I agree with the general sentiment that the Hawks need to begin adding pieces to help Connor Bedard along and to improve the quality of the NHL roster, it seems that those pieces just aren't there for the Hawks this free agency period.

That has made the development of internal players and prospects even more crucial to the Hawks' immediate success. The Blackhawks are hoping that their commitment to speed pays off with highlight-reel goals, an exciting play style, and tenacious forechecking.

Now they'll hope that their commitment to size pays off in a few years when they are competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and one of their large forwards is terrorizing opposing goalies and defenses in the net-front area.

The Blackhawks did well to diversify the types of players in their prospect pool. No longer are the Hawks' prospects undersized as a group. Now, the future Blackhawks look like they'll have a little bit of everything that they will need to win a Stanley Cup.