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This morning
I speculated the New Jersey Devils were a potential landing spot for Michael Frolik, who will likely be a casualty of a tight cap situation in Calgary.
Funny enough,
Elliotte Freidman later echoed that idea in his final 31 Thoughts column of the season.
7. Calgary was looking at options for Michael Frolik. That could happen before July 1. New Jersey is a possibility.
Frolik, 31, has one more year left on his deal at $4.3 million.
He spent the better part of the last three seasons playing the right side on a line with Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund – and enjoyed great success doing so.
His on-ice numbers – 56.22 CF%, 53.84 xGF% – were very strong and, while not a prolific offensive player by any stretch, his individual production was respectable.
From 2016-19, he averaged 1.56 points per 60 at 5v5. That's more than Ryan O'Reilly, Vincent Trocheck, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Drouin, Travis Zajac, Alex Galchenyuk and Tyler Toffoli over the same span.
He's not going to pile up the points but he'll chip in. He is also an excellent forechecker and defender.
To me, he would be an excellent fit on the 3rd line with Blake Coleman and Travis Zajac. All three players have experience playing top competition, and all three have shown they can handle themselves when doing so.
They could do the heavy lifting defensively and free up Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Kyle Palmieri, et all to play softer minutes and focus on creating offensively.
Given the Flames' cap situation, I don't think the Devils would have to give up much of worth to land Frolik. The value for Calgary would be freeing up cap space – much like we saw from Nashville with the P.K. Subban trade, although that was a deal of greater magnitude.
While I'd prefer signing Joonas Donskoi in free agency, Frolik is a player I like and have no doubt he'd fit in quite nicely.
We'll see what the Devils elect to do.
numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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