Not content to make waves with the horrific contract he gave out to the Boogeyman, Glen Sather has apparently wasted a roster spot on Alexander Frolov. (Player card to be added later, when this is made official - or should it still be if? I certainly won't bitch about money until then but anything more than two million would be ridiculous. This guy should get Boogaard money; I wish that wasn't chuckle-worthy.)
Right off the bat, let's call this Nik Zherdev Part Deux. Anyone want to set the over/under for how long it will take the enigmatic Russian to land in John Tortorella's doghouse? Frolov is a bit older - 28 - and has two 30+ goal seasons under his belt but, like Zherdev, he doesn't live up to his potential and he is just as one-dimensional.
And that one dimension really isn't that great. Just 13 of his 51 points last season came on the power play despite averaging 2:24 of man advantage ice time each night. Well hell, no wonder we signed him. Frolov will fit right in with our current bunch of power play failures. If only we can bring Perry Pearn back ...
Frolov, like Markus Naslund before him, is coming to New York after three straight seasons of declining production. In Frolov's case, he has actually amped up the number of shots he has taken the last two years but it clearly did not help.
Don't get me wrong, Frolov should help chip in a goal or two this season. But, seeing as the team has zero chance at winning the Stanley Cup, the roster spot would be far better spent on someone who would have a future with the team. All this signing does is declare the Blueshirts will again make their annual run at the eighth spot in the conference.
Mediocrity, thy home is MSG ... the perfect place for Alex Frolov.
14 comments:
Scotty, it's looking like a one year deal so unless Glen pays over 4 million it's not that bad a move. Frolov has 23, 32 and 19 goals in the last 3 years which averages almost 25 per season. The law of averages says that at least one of the Rangers 20 goal players (Callahan, Dubi, Frolov, Prospal, etc.) will break out this year. At least into the 30's. If we're lucky maybe two of them. And if Frolov isn't a fit then he's gone next year. If Sather signs him more than a year that could be bad.
How u never seen him play? He plays on the 3rd line and still gets about 20 goals or more per season. He is good defensively and for a 1 year deal whats not to like.
The law of averages, I like that.
And I have seen him play, this year he was on the third line because he lost his top 6 spot.
One year, one year, one year. You are telling me you believe that there isn't a single young player in the entire franchise capable of stepping into the roster? The team would be better served giving any of them a shot over adding a mercenary. Frolov won't make the Rangers a contender. Hell, Gretzky in his prime wouldn't be able to do that. Let a kid get big time experience on a team with no pressure.
"Come on - MAN!"
Seriously - how can you possibly use the phrases "get big time experience" and "no pressure" in the same sentence when referring to MSG?
If this were Columbus, or Atlanta, or even Phoenix, I could agree with you. Normally healthy NHL players can crumble into weeping piles of gelatinous mass when the Blue Boo Birds get cranked up.....
roflmao!
Scotty, I've been pushing for the Rangers to give the prospects the chance to make the team more than anyone this offseason, but if the Rangers can bring in a potential 30-goal scorer on a cheap, one-year contract it makes all the sense in the world.
Plus they can still rotate some of the younger guys into the line-up as the season progresses.
No pressure at Cablevision, team is virtually invisible compared to major market teams. Among the countless empty seats and corporate Knicks fans that make up the announced sellouts Frolov can toil in compete anonymity and take the train with Redden to games.
Make some guys earn their spot. If frolov faulters, ride the pine. If Aasan isnt ready to make the leap, we dont have to sit by and watch. If someone gets hurt or prospol ages before our very eyes, we can have enough depth to suck it up. If frolov is a omplementary piece, he will dissapoint less than Zherdev, whom we tried to rely on.
I love your blog Scotty, but the negativity is weighing it down lately. Its free to dream of greener pastures in the summer (while withdrawing from hockey season).
I like the Boogyman signing too. at less than 2mil, he is the LEAST of our cap worries and fills a void, and is one of the best at what he does (overpaying by 300K is different than overpaying by 3 million ala kotalik, redden, drury). I really liked shelley, but shelley doesnt deter people with fear, and is older.
I just want to point out that there is negativity and there is being realistic. Take off the blue-coloured shades and look at a team that will enter the season looking an awful lot like the one that failed last year. I went to the Cup Final, I saw it raised inches away from me. I want to see it on Broadway at some point. And that point is certainly not coming anytime soon as long as management keeps going to the mercenary well summer after summer.
The suggestion of accountability is just humorous at this point.
And Kev, where can these kids be rotated in? Barring injuries, the only spot open for a youngster will be fourth line wing when Boogey sits. So Weise, Byers or Dumont should get a few games in - even if it will be six, seven minutes of action a night.
With Frolov coming in, the top nine spots are filled - leaving MZA and the skill kids (what few of them there are) on the outside looking in. They can jockey with the grit guys and we'll end up like last season, with Corey Locke getting four minutes of ice time.
Scotty--this is not that bad of a signing....financial numbers are plummeting by the minute, with comparisons to Afinagenov's deal with Atlanta last year being thrown about this morning.
A trade is coming....Rozi will be packaged with somebody, don't know who, don't know where, but a forward will be shipped out with Rozi to make a deal palatable.
Lastly, Frolov is a much better player than Nik Zherdev. To imply otherwise is to ignore statistics. Zherdev hasn't approached the level of consistency that Frolov has in 7 years in the NHL. He fell out of favor with LA last year and will contribute more than you're predicting this year for the Rangers. And considering all the other absurd moves that have been rumored (like Brad Richards) this will not damage their cap situation if Frolov's coming in on the cheap.
Zherdev was a pussy who couldn't handle NY, his coach, or Ranger fans. Frolov has played in LA for 7 years--even though they're an invisible franchise out there--at least he's got big-market experience. Zherdev came from a minor-league American city that didn't care at all about hockey, and his attitude reflected that.
And that's before you even mention that Frolov's arrival means NO MORE WADE REDDEN.
It's worth it already.
I think mindset has a bit to do with it as well. The article Gross put up indicates that Frolov is at a point where he's deciding if he wants to play another year in the NHL before going oversees. So we have a guy with declining numbers who's not looking forward more than 1 year. What's his motivation to do well? What's his drive to be a 30 goal scorer again? On top of which, the organization he is currently in, which is a poised contender, supposedly offered to take him back. Why does a guy who had a bad year in a good club decide to merc out his talents to another club, a .500 club at best, for a one year contract? Is it for a chance to play in NY? Is it for the chance to live and party in NY? It is because he thinks Sather will hire him for more money than LA? Is it because his ego won't allow him to play on the 3rd line for one more season? None of the answers to these questions have us coming out of the deal with a serious player who will possibly score 30 goals this season.
Plus there's the math. With 2.2Mil in cap space, and with a 2.9asking price in Frolov, something has to happen, especially to get Staalsie his 4+. While everyone else seems to think that it will come from sending Redden to siberia, I am not so sure. I have no faith that Slats is going to do the right thing.
Whatever happens, it's sure going to be interesting.
I guess it's a done deal. Wiki already says he's a Ranger:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Frolov
Fair enough Scotty..."blue coloured shades" indeed! i am definitley a homer through and through.
I know you were at the cup finals...its those types of things that keeps me coming to your blog. Insights i would not get from anywhere else. Keep up the good work. Just dont be too much of a realist or you'll make me depressed before the season even starts. The team will be a little different. No Jokinen, Higgins, Kotalik.... hopefully players who are becoming more familiear with each other and can build some chemistry. If Frolov does great, maybe he'll stay. If he doesnt, at least we had some scoring while the kids marinate and put on some muscle.
I think you all should just shut the hell up and see what happens. So What Frolov and Gaborik would still have a decent line with Anisomov. Lets see what happens when they mix this group together. Sather is a stupid fuck mind you but lets see if the team can prove him wrong
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