Its seems the consensus around the number one overall pick of the 2025 NHL draft is generational defenseman Matthew Schaefer being regarded as the best prospect in the draft, Saginaw’s Michael Misa being a close second, but Djurgardens power forward Anton Frondell could seriously give them a run for their money.
Frondell who is highly regarded as a top five prospect coming into this year's draft has had a sneakily good year in the Allsvenska, putting up crazy numbers better than the likes of William Nylander in their draft year. But with Schaefer and Misa taking the consensus top two, whoever has the liberty of choosing Frondell, could have themselves a hidden gem this year.
The 17 Swede has impressed coming off a tough injury at the start of the season, putting up some amazing numbers while showing off his spectacular NHL abilities. His lethal wrist and slap shots with a rapid release makes him one of the best out and out shooters in this year's draft class, and already has the intelligent shooting instincts of a 20-30 goal scorer in the NHL. His IQ and raw knowledge of the game at only 17 is showing why he is one of the smartest and well educated hockey players in the class, and is a massive reason why he could be argued to be the best attacking prospect of the class. Alongside his spectacular shooting abilities, his dangling and puck handling is second to none, and uses his IQ to dangle in tight spaces when necessary, both silky and smart for a player of his size.
Standing at 6 '1 and 200 lb, his abilities to dangle and weave his way in and out of tight spaces are mind blowingly good, and the smooth skating ability in tight makes him much more unique heading into the draft. Frondell is the perfect package an NHL team wants when drafting a power forward, and has made his case as to why he is better than the likes of Martone and McQueen, other power forwards in the draft. Despite lacking speed much like his draft compatriots, he isn't the slowest and makes up for his speed with his great edgework and physicality, a combo those like Martone often struggle with.
Despite being ranked as far as 13th in the draft rankings, Frondell has easily shown on the ice that he is capable of being the best player in the draft, and has highlighted the potential he really has during his spectacular year with Djurgardens. Alongside teammate Victor Eklund who is also in a similar spot as him, his loyal and hard working values will catch a number of NHL teams eyes, and could easily be considered a top three prospect in this year's draft.
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