The situation involving
Alexander Frolov and his being benched on Monday for the Los Angeles Kings game against the Dallas Stars has led to the return of rampant speculation about whether or not the Kings should do whatever is necessary to part ways with their enigmatic forward. But before I give my opinion, let me re-state what happened for those unaware of the situation.
But before I even do that, I need to quantify this piece by stating the following publicly: in the ten months that I have covered the Kings for
Examiner.com, I have never spoken to Frolov. I have never spoken to him individually; I have never been one of several reporters huddled around his locker following a game or a practice, and I haven't felt the need to do so. From what I've been led to believe, I know him to be an approachable guy, and someone who is a good guy in the room with teammates. I've never heard of him refusing anyone an interview, or any fan an autograph or a handshake. So for me to say that Frolov is a bad guy, in the mold of Sean Avery or Terrell Owens, would be a grievous mistake.
I have also never written negatively about him for Examiner. For one thing, it's not like he's a sullen malcontent; he always seems loose with teammates in the locker room and during practice. He isn't showing up on the police blotter, isn't showing up late for practice or being a disruptive force in the locker room. By all accounts, he is a good teammate and a good citizen. So, dear reader, do not read into this personal blog piece that I am simply running scattered-shot over a guy for any personal reasons.
Frolov is a talented forward who came to the Kings from Russia with skills as a first round draft choice in 2000. He made his debut with the Kings during the 2003-04 season, and scored 24 goals in 77 games. He played 48 games in Russia during the lockout, scoring 22 goals. He returned to the Kings for the 2005-06 season: in his last four full seasons, he has produced goal-scoring totals of 21, 35, 23, and 32.
But when you read all of the scouting reports ever produced about him, and talk with fellow members of the media, off the record with past and present management personnel and scouts, and with hockey fans in general, they all have the same relative conclusion. And that is that Frolov has an incredible and untapped scoring talent due to his great body size, his length with his stick, and his soft hands.
He's always been a no-brainer selection for Russia's national team when they compete in international competition. This is partly because of a love of country that is admirable in the most basic sense. The loyalty to winning for a country rich in historic hockey excellence is hard to ignore; if you've been brought up with a sense that winning a gold medal for your country is more important than winning a Stanley Cup for your team, it's hard to divorce yourself from that sentiment.
So if the Kings are intent on keeping him beyond this season, when his current contract expires, perhaps they should petition the league to allow him to wear his Team Russia jersey in games instead of his Kings sweater. In my humble opinion, when I've watched Frolov play for Russia in the World Championships the last two years, scoring eight goals in 16 games, you can see the full embodiment of his talent and desire to play at a high level. And I have no doubt that he will do so for Russia in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver this February.
And there's the rub. When playing for country, he is fully plugged in. But when playing for the team that pays his salary, which this season is $4 million, he becomes hockey's version of
Kevin McReynolds. Let me explain:
McReynolds was an outfielder for the San Diego Padres. Following the 1986 season, when the New York Mets won 108 regular season games and their first World Series title in 17 years, McReynolds was traded to new York as part of a trade to help bolster the Mets' chances in the future. Indeed, he produced great offensive numbers for that era, hitting 29 homers and driving in 95 runs in 1987, and following that up in 1988 with 27 homers, 99 RBI, and 21 steals, allowing him to finish third in the MVP balloting that year.
But any Mets fan watching the team every day like I did back in the late 80's cringes anytime McReynolds name is mentioned – that's because he would hit the most unimportant home runs ever. When he was at bat in a game with two on and two out trailing by one run, you could count on him to fail to drive the tying run home. But when the score was 11-2, in either direction, you could force your friends to buy rounds the rest of the night by predicting he would smash a home run. In other words, as I became known for saying around my Met friends and baseball friends, 'the next big home run Kevin McReynolds hits will be the first.' Not only that, but he was asked prior to Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS, a win or go home game against the underdog and inferior Dodgers, about his mindset for the game his response was something to the effect of, "I'll be happy either way; I'll either be going to my first World Series or going home to do some hunting and fishing."
So while I appreciate Frolov's talent, to me he is the Kevin McReynolds of the Kings –
the next big goal he scores will be the first. Hey, it's great that he has 24 career game-winning goals – but how many of those came late in the third with the score tied? How many has he scored to answer a goal by the other team, as a top three goal scorer should? Can Kings' fans honestly remember an important goal that he has ever scored for them?
To be fair, the fact that he plays well in the World Championships may not just be because of love for country. For all we know, he might be the next great playoff goal scorer, a guy that thrives on the big stage, a 'step up when money is on the table' kind of guy. We don't know for sure, because he hasn't participated in the Stanley Cup playoffs yet.
And therein lies the problem. The Kings have counted on him to be one of their top scorers his entire career. In order to make the playoffs this season, if he's here all season, they will need 30+ goal production from him. But at what cost? How can we measure whether he will step up his play in the playoffs if he can't help lead his team
to the playoffs?
Which is why, if I were made GM for a day, my first order of business would be to find a taker for Frolov. Despite this recent situation which forced his benching, his trade value has not diminished. If anything, the tease that is his unlimited potential and talent would certainly make any of the other 29 GM's around the league want to at least talk about making a deal, hoping that a change of scenery would help.
Atlanta would seem to be an ideal fit, if only to allow for him to play every night with his Team Russia linemate Ilya Kovalchuk. Chicago was rumored to be seeking his services just prior to the start of training camp, a club that has seemingly pushed all of their chips to the middle of the table to win the cup this season. Nashville and Minnesota have struggled out of the gate in both the victory and goals scored columns; perhaps they might be willing to shake things up for a scorer. In essence, this is a Jimmy Buffet style of trade: changes in latitude, changes in attitude.
The other issue in this trade conjecture is that the trade deadline is March 3rd. Why is that an issue? Because the Olympic break begins February 15th and ends on February 28th The season re-starts March 1, and is only 36 hours underway before the trade deadline commences. Many experts around hockey have surmised that there won't be a flurry of activity at the deadline, but rather just before the Olympic break.
But I wouldn't even wait that long. In a blog posting this past week on the
Los Angeles Times blog site
The Fabulous Forum, Kings television game analyst Jim Fox discussed the Frolov situation, and made great points on both sides of the argument. The most compelling in favor of Frolov was the fact that he isn't being utilized correctly on the checking line. The most damning came straight from Murray's meeting with Frolov before announcing the benching. In the meeting, Frolov apparently showed no emotion, no real reaction.
The quotes from Murray should suffice. When asked if Frolov was receptive to what Murray was saying about his play, Murray said following a long pause, "There's nothing coming back. That's the 10th meeting along those lines, and nothing ever comes back." When pressed about the response, Murray's response was most unflattering:
"That's been going on for seven years… I'm not the first coach, not the first GM and not the first in line in any of those categories… when he's on his game, he's a 30-goal scorer and a big part of our hockey club, but it has to come with that love for the game… you prepare to win games, is in the practice (and execution), and that's an area that I have to have him better in."Seven years and no one has reached him yet? Alcoholics Anonymous states that the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over again, hoping for a better result. At this point, if you still believe he's on the cusp of a breakout season where he scores 40+ goals, gets important goals, and plays night in and night out without taking shifts off, then it's time to check into rehab yourself. As one executive told me this summer, "…if you are expecting that from Alex, you're going to be disappointed."
So what am I saying? Look, for his own good, for the team's own good, maybe it's time to move him. Again, I'm sure he's a good guy, and means well. Call it addition by subtraction. Call it giving him a fresh start, maybe somewhere that the expectations aren't as high as they are here.
But whatever you do, call it time to trade him now, for everyone's sake.
