L.A Replace Frolov
L.A took no time at all in replacing Frolov, who was traded to the New York Rangers, by acquiring Ponikarovsky from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Frolov was a big loss for the Los Angeles Kings, but no doubt freed up some vital cap space, although those mens xxl skates will be hard for anyone to fill. A 20 goal a season man, with plenty of assists to boot, Frolov was always going to be difficult to replace, what with all the best goal scorers in the NHL tied down to big contracts.
In Ponikarovsky, the Kings have managed to pick up a player built in the same mould as Frolov. A creative goal scorer himself, the 6-foot-4, 229-pounder finished last season with 21 goals and 29 assists in 77 games. The Kings will enjoy the physical presence that Ponikarovsky brings as well as his creative talent. The Kings managed to get Ponikarovsky on a one year deal worth three million. No doubt they want to make sure Ponikarovsky can cut it before they offer him a big deal and big money.
The L.A. Kings managed to reach the playoffs last season and performed well against Vancouver despite going out in the first round. With talents like Drew Doughty in the team, the Kings will most likely be thinking they can repeat last year’s achievements, perhaps going one or two stages further in the playoffs also.
At 30 years old, the Kings have lost two years by replacing Frolov with Ponikarovsky. However, the latter should be good for a few seasons yet and has showed that age has not stopped his goal-scoring ability. It will be interesting to see how this forward player fares in the more defensively strong Western Conference. The Kings have done well to replace Frolov so quickly and with such a proven and experienced player.
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