[News] Jan 3 UPD: Frolik's agent complains about his ice time

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by JT96912

Package up him and Neal and send them on there way. I like Fro but at this point I don't see him fitting in so much. Defensively I like him, but in today's game we need scoring. If we could dump him and Neal and let the hungry young guy's play on the bottom lines, I see progress.

I would rather keep our 2019 1st and prospects.
The CHL pool is rather shallow, and the Flames have traded away a lot of recent 1sts.

Frolik and Neal might not be the best, but it wouldn't be smart to trade away more of the future just to "send them on their way".

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by heep223

Doesn’t try, wtf? Frolik has his warts but trying has never been one of them. He’s consistently in the top few guys in fitness testing as well.

Fitness testing does not equate to trying man.

You’re going to sit there and tell me this year he’s been trying his best?

You know how I know he hasn’t been? I watched him before the Boston game. He was useless and then healthy scratched. He returned to the Boston game and (literally) was the best player on the ice all over the place. Creating chances using his body making plays... and then he got hurt not long thereafter. And he’s been back a few games and has been back to invisible Frolik.

So we have seen when he actually does what he can do. And we have seen when he doesn’t. Thus he doesn’t appear like he tries. It’s kinda like Iginla in the twilight years with the Flames.

[442scotty]

I think its getting harder for some older players, Frolik and Neal are good examples, to bring their "A" game to the rink. The game is faster, they are older and they may not even notice their game slipping away until the coach sits them and they go wtf! with bruised egos. Both Frolik and Neal need to crank it up a notch. Neal has been better the last couple of games so theres renewed hope for him...

[Karl]

Originally Posted by 442scotty

I think its getting harder for some older players, Frolik and Neal are good examples, to bring their "A" game to the rink. The game is faster, they are older and they may not even notice their game slipping away until the coach sits them and they go wtf! with bruised egos. Both Frolik and Neal need to crank it up a notch. Neal has been better the last couple of games so theres renewed hope for him...

And some players (not trying to talk about Frolik and/or Neal) don't have the ability to crank it up much anymore because they no longer can physically do what they used to be able to do.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by getbak

The Flames record this season with Frolik in the lineup: 12-9-1
The Flames record this season without Frolik in the lineup: 11-3-3


I'm sure if there was a trade market for him, Treliving was exploring it. This isn't going to help.

Originally Posted by dino7c

This pretty much says it all

Frolik isn't terrible, also not good enough to scoff at being scratched or ice time...I have my doubts an agent just says something like this without consulting the player

No, it doesn't say anything. It is a function of the fact that Frolik was injured while the Flames were rolling. It's not like he is being moved in and out of the lineup, and each time he is, it is affecting the team's performance.

Frolik is not a downgrade on the other bottom 6 players that get bumped out of the lineup for him to get back in. He isn't making the team worse. And his presence in the bottom 6 doesn't change the team from a .735 team to a .568 team.

It is simply a coincidence of timing.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

Nic Petan would likely be involved. Outside that no point in guessing.

The Flames would have zero interest in Petan. Frolik is an NHLer, Petan is an AHL bubble player.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

You don't trade Frolik when your team is going to the playoffs. Injury depth is a thing.

He should probably be in the lineup, but then again, he should probably be removing all doubt about that when he does get in the lineup.

[Kasi]

It’s clear Peters is searching for solutions in the bottom 9. The opportunity is there for Frolik to seize it, he just has to. Peters has clearly sent or messages that you need to both compete and be smart or you’ll lose your spot. Frolik clearly should be in that mix, but he’s been fairly inconsistent this year. Compared to someone like Hathaway who is less talented but brings the effort more consistently.

[kyuss275]

Meh. Agent just doing his job. When you hire Walsh as your agent this comes with the territory.

Hard to fault Peters when flames are in 1st place. That said IMO if Frolik was given the same amount of leeway that Neal has been given, i have no doubt that Flames would be better defensivly, and that Frolik would have more points than what Neal has put up. Neal has been nothing short of horrible.

[DeluxeMoustache]

The Flames have been trying really hard to get a few things going - Neal, Ryan, and low cost players in the rest of the bottom 6.

Hathaway is still a dud offensively but has carved out a niche as an effective PK-er

Guys like Dube, Czarnik, and Mangiapane have shown a bit here and there but really not anything too memorable.

I think there is some attempt to save face by trying to get something out of the Neal and Ryan investments, as they are Tre’s marquee pickup and the coach’s guy, respectively.

I don’t really blame Frolik and his agent. He is not really worse than any of those guys, but the two new signings are where the team has invested, and they are looking to backfill on the cheap.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Peters asked to bring in Ryan, the conversation with Tre was that they had a Swiss Army knife in Frolik, and Peters assured Tre that there is no worry about making Frolik expendable aa Ryan brought everything Frolik brings to the table, plus faceoffs! And he can play the PP too! Ugh.

[Kasi]

Ryan is good at face offs, good defensively and is a RH shot. It’s pretty clear why he gets the assignments he does. Frolik can’t replace what Ryan gives them so he doesn’t get as many opportunities, despite his slightly higher offensive upside.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Meh. Agent just doing his job. When you hire Walsh as your agent this comes with the territory.

Hard to fault Peters when flames are in 1st place. That said IMO if Frolik was given the same amount of leeway that Neal has been given, i have no doubt that Flames would be better defensivly, and that Frolik would have more points than what Neal has put up. Neal has been nothing short of horrible.

That is a given. All it would take is a single point.

Frolik in 22 games has the same number of points as Neal has in 38.

Frolik’s 7 points are all goals, but Neal is the “sniper”.
Frolik is a +3 and Neal a -10

Brutal return on the Neal spend so far.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Kasi

Ryan is good at face offs, good defensively and is a RH shot. It’s pretty clear why he gets the assignments he does. Frolik can’t replace what Ryan gives them so he doesn’t get as many opportunities, despite his slightly higher offensive upside.

Shot handedness is the kind of logic that saw Brodie play his uncomfortable side.

I’m not sure it is clear how Ryan gets PP assignment. Sure he may win an extra faceoff out of every 20, but does that offset his very limited playmaking and scoring ability? I think the Flames would be better off losing an extra draw every 20, losing 15 seconds of time while the other team dumps it down ice, and the coming back up ice with a guy who isn’t an offensive black hole.

[Kasi]

I think handedness is a lot more important for forwards than defencemen, especially on the pp which is what we’re talking about. Tbh it’s not like any of the other options are better in that role. We’re not comparing Ryan to the top five but to other players in the bottom 7. The one possibility is Jankowski, but like Bingo has said the eye test and stat test shows him as a guy who easily gets hemmed in his zone. I don’t think he is going to be much of an improvement there. Czarnik was supposed to be the offensively gifted rh specialist to play the PP, but he’s so weak off the puck that he keeps getting benched.

[neo45]

I get why he is frustrated. There have only been 8 forwards better than him this year, MAYBE 9 since Hathaway has been good in his limited role. I don’t think it makes sense to ever have scratched Frolik in favor of Neal, Czarnik, or any of the AHL call ups.

He has out performed all of them offensively and is more responsible defensively. I’ve never seen a lack of effort out of the guy either.

[dammage79]

Like it or not, that's exactly why Ryan is on the 2nd PP unit. For a RH shot. For strong side faceoffs, spreading the D coverage etc.

What is funny is the critique the team gets when it's been so successful. We're splitting hairs at this point. Who cares as long as the team wins. The team keeps winning when Smith power naps through a couple of goals, keeps winning despite Neal not really contributing on the scoresheet, keeps winning despite Ryan being on the 2nd PP, keeps winning without the super efficient Frolik.

Trust Peters.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Kasi

I think handedness is a lot more important for forwards than defencemen. And tbh it’s not like any of the other options are better in that role. We’re not comparing Ryan to the top five but to other players in the bottom 7. The one possibility is Jankowski, but like Bingo has said the eye test and stat test shows him as a guy who easily gets hemmed in his zone. I don’t think he is going to be much of an improvement there. Czarnik was supposed to be the offensively gifted rh specialist to play the PP, but he’s so weak off the puck that he keeps getting benched.

One thing I have noticed about Czarnik is that he gets stripped of the puck from behind A LOT. He simply doesn’t have good awareness. His speed, hands, shot etc are all fine and he seems to hustle, but he is way more of a give away machine than I expected.

[dammage79]

Reminder that half of Froliks goals have come in the form of an empty net. Lets not inflate his 7 points in however many games any higher than it should be. He's struggled as much as anyone even when healthy. And that goes back to last season.

[Toonage]

^ and one off Anisimov's stick that was supposed to be a pass

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Like it or not, that's exactly why Ryan is on the 2nd PP unit. For a RH shot. For strong side faceoffs, spreading the D coverage etc.

What is funny is the critique the team gets when it's been so successful. We're splitting hairs at this point. Who cares as long as the team wins. The keep keeps winning when Smith power naps through a couple of goals, keeps winning despite Neal not really contributing on the scoresheet, keeps winning despite Ryan being on the 2nd PP, keeps winning without the super efficient Frolik.

Trust Peters.

Keeps winning, eh?

Don’t look now, but they have lost 4 of 5, and the PP has been a problem.

Peters has done well so far but his dump stinks too, you know.