The Montreal Canadiens have signed free agent forward Michael Frolik to a one-year contract worth $750K. Frolik is coming off a five-year, $21.5MM contract signed in 2015 and spent last season with the Calgary Flames and Buffalo Sabres.
You might think $750K is extremely inexpensive for a 32-year-old with nearly 400 points and 850 NHL games on his resume, but Frolik was one of the most disappointing players in the entire NHL last year. After recording double-digit goal totals for six straight seasons, he struggled at the start of the year with Calgary and registered just five goals and ten points in his first 38 games. A deal to the Sabres didn’t help matters, where he added just one goal and four points in 19.
Frankly, it might be over for Frolik, who was once a lock for 40 points but hasn’t reached that mark since the 2016-17 season. But if it’s not, if he has anything left to give even in a depth role, why not take a risk-free near-minimum chance to find out if you’re the Canadiens. Frolik now pencils in as the team’s 13th forward, a luxury for head coach Claude Julien who will attempt to navigate the All-Canadian division this season and take Montreal back to the playoffs. The team has added depth at every position, bringing in names like Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson and now Frolik upfront, Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov on the blueline, and Jake Allen to serve as the backup to Carey Price.
That’s a lot of experience and talent added to a group that already shocked the Pittsburgh Penguins in a qualifying round and stole a couple off the Philadelphia Flyers. The Canadiens should be a much more successful team in the upcoming season, if only because of how deep their roster will be.
Great depth/value signing by the Habs. He’ll really help improve their PK.
He’s a good person to add to the team, he can fill a 4th line spot and help the PK a lot, I don’t think anyone should expect many points out of player on a 1 year 750k contract but as a 13th forward who helps on the PK plus a decent human sound addition