BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Nearly a week after acquiring him in a trade, Michael Frolik finally hit the ice as the newest member of the Buffalo Sabres.
"It's been a busy few days but I'm really excited to be here," Frolik said. "It seems like the group is a great group of guys and I'm glad I'm here."
Michael Frolik has arrived in Buffalo and is skating with #Sabres50 for the first time. We'll get to talk to the newcomer after practice. @WKBW pic.twitter.com/8Ve7Rsnx1K
— Jenna Callari (@jennacallari) January 8, 2020
Visa issues stalled Frolik for a few days but he was able to join the team Wednesday morning in his first official practice with his new teammates. He came into Buffalo Tuesday night and found some time to hit the ice and get back in the swing of things.
"It was just a quick skate, thirty minutes or so," Frolik said. "I needed to feel the ice a little bit before I jumped into it."
Frolik had played with the Calgary Flames since the 2015-2016 season. He appeared in 319 games with the Flames, scoring 63 goals and adding 82 assists. He hasn't had the best year offensively with just five goals under his belt, but he has contributed heavily when it comes to the penalty kill.
"He'll definitely be seeing some penalty killing time tomorrow," Krueger said. "It's one of the areas where we expect him to help our group and he'll be seeing some penalty killing time right off the bat."
During Wednesday's practice, Frolik primarily skated on a line with Marcus Johansson and Conor Sheary. Both players afterward saw really good things from the newcomer.
"He's an experienced guy, a penalty kill type guy," Sheary said. "I think he brings some good to our lineup and our line and I'm excited."
"I felt like we had some good chemistry out there already today and I'm not too worried about that," Johansson said. "We're just trying to get him to understand what we were doing and it wasn't too hard."
Frolik is expected to get some quality ice time with a number of key injuries to various Sabres players. Forwards Victor Olofsson and Jeff Skinner are currently out with prolonged injuries while defenseman Jake McCabe is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Lawrence Pilut was recalled from the Rochester Americans yesterday afternoon.
The Sabres will be back in action on Thursday night when the team takes on the St. Louis Blues.
