{"id":65147,"date":"2020-01-02T19:22:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T00:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=65147"},"modified":"2020-01-02T19:25:04","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T00:25:04","slug":"calgary-flames-trade-forward-michael-frolik-to-buffalo-sabres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/01\/02\/calgary-flames-trade-forward-michael-frolik-to-buffalo-sabres\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary Flames Trade Forward Michael Frolik to Buffalo Sabres"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Calgary Flames<\/a> have traded forward Michael Frolik<\/a><\/strong> to the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>. The Flames will acquire a fourth-round pick in the 2020 Draft. This trade comes just minutes after a trade<\/a> sent Marco Scandella<\/a><\/strong> from the Sabres to the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> in exchange for the pick included in this trade. Elliotte Friedman announced the trade Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

Flames Trade Forward Michael Frolik to Buffalo Sabres<\/h3>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/FriedgeHNIC\/status\/1212882076686376961?s=20<\/p>\n

Michal Frolik Traded to Buffalo Sabres<\/h2>\n

The 31-year-old Frolik has five goals and 10 points in 38 games in 2019-20. He had also contributed 19 hits and 11 blocks while playing averaging just 11:56 of ice time. This would have been a new career-low in ice time; his previous low was 12:31 as a 24-year-old playing with the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The former first-round pick in the 2006 Draft has played for four teams in his NHL career. Frolik has 158 goals and 380 points in 831 games played for the Florida Panthers<\/a>, Blackhawks, Flames, and Winnipeg Jets<\/a>. He will join a Buffalo squad that is trying to remain competitive in a tough Atlantic Division but has suffered multiple injuries. Frolik is not a top scoring option but will give Buffalo a player capable of 25-30 points and maybe more depending on his deployment.<\/p>\n

What This Means for the Future<\/h3>\n

Calgary was clearly looking to shed one of its moderately-expensive players in favour of a draft pick. They have high hopes that younger options such as Dillon Dube<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>will use the extra minutes Frolik was using to be more effective bottom-six options. Calgary ultimately felt trading Frolik was superior to offering him a new deal in free agency this summer.<\/p>\n

Buffalo will likely use Frolik in the bottom-six unless more injuries occur. He is currently projected to skate next to Curtis Lazar<\/a><\/strong> and Rasmus Asplund<\/a><\/strong> but a bigger role could present itself. Buffalo has already lost Jeff Skinner<\/a><\/strong> for several weeks and might want to try Frolik in an expanded role before he reaches free agency.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>