Frolov Now Signed- What Does It Mean For The Youth Movement?

The Rangers agreed to a one-year three million dollar deal with Russian forward Alexander Frolov today. Frolov is a two time thirty goal scorer, however he saw his number slip this last season in Los Angeles, thus allowing the Rangers to sign him for a very affordable price. He will undoubtedly be put on the club's top line with star right winger Marian Gaborik, who had 42 goals last season. Frolov adds another dimension to the team's anemic offense, and will either allow Gaborik to score by drawing attention away from him, or will score himself due to the defensive pressure applied to Gaborik. Though the signing is a very intelligent one, from both a personnel stand point, and a fiscal perspective, his presence raises a multitude of questions.

Firstly, how does his acquisition affect the chances of prospects like Evgeny Grachev and Dane Byers to come up to the big club? The Rangers currently have four left wingers in Brandon Prust, Derek Boogaard, Sean Avery, and Alexander Frolov. Additionally, they also have three players in Vinny Prospal, Brandon Dubinsky, and Erik Christensen who can play either center or left wing. They also have centers in Chris Drury, Brian Boyle, and Artem Anisimov, and right wingers in Marian Gaborik, and Ryan Callahan. Now Boogaard won't be playing every game, so that could leave space for a player like Dane Byers or Brodie Dupont to come up and have a good number of games on the big club roster. That leaves twelve roster spots and twelve forwards to fill them (thirteen if you have a prospect take Boogaard's scratch games).

Still, there are roughly 614 prospects who are NHL ready in the system and want to take a crack at the roster this summer in camp. Derek Stepan, Evgeny Grachev, Mats Zuccarello Aasen, Dale Weise, Dane Byers, and Brodie Dupont, all want a crack at the roster this year. To make matters worse, coming through the pipeline are players like Christian Thomas, Ethan Werek, Chris Kreider, and Ryan Buorque, all of whom should be good players in the league. That means there's almost an entire roster worth of prospects who are NHL bound, and approximately -7 roster spots for them. Now if the Rangers are to truly develop into a competitor, then they must make room for their younger players to get time on NHL ice. I personally would move Brian Boyle down to the minors to make room for Stepan, and maybe move Drury to make room for Weise, and to free up cap space. Although I would trade Drury, not demote him- he's been a hard working captain and an all around good guy who doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. Still, his production is not worth his cap hit, and he should be moved to make way for the youngsters. Though that leaves the Rangers very young at the pivot, they still have a veteran in Vinny Prospal. I would then bring up a thirteenth forward to take over Boogaard's scratch games. Grachev is the best prospect at left wing, but he's young and another year in the AHL wouldn't hurt. A guy like Byers or Dupont, on the other hand, are aging and need to get out of the minors before it's too late. Besides, their style of play (especially Byers') is a lot more conducive to fourth line time than Grachev's. Putting Gravhev on a fourth line would not help him develop, he's going to be top six guy, and he needs to be in a role where he can try and score.

Thus, here are what the lines will probably look like for next season.

Frolov- Prospal/Christensen- Gaborik

Christensen/Prospal-Dubinsky-Callahan

Sean Avery- Artem Anisimov-Brandon Prust

Derek Boogaard/Dane Byers- Chris Drury- Brian Boyle


To be completely honest, I hate these lines. I like the addition of Frolov, however these lines are not winners, the bottom six are just a hodgepodge of assorted players who happened to be on the team's roster.

Here's what I would have the lines be:

Frolov- Christensen- Gaborik

Dubinsky - Prospal- Ryan Callahan

Dane Byers- Artem Anisimov- Brandon Prust

Evgeny Grachev- Derek Stepan- Sean Avery

I would be sure to give the third line and fourth line equal time. Yes I know that I have to think about Boogaard, but I doubt he'll really be playing that many games this season, considering Tortorella doesn't even know what an enforcer is. Stepan and Grachev need to be on the same line together- they click so well, and they will most likely be on the team's top line together someday. Byers will replace Shelley on the killer line from last year that featured Anisimov and Prust. Both lines feature young talent in need of development, and thus both of them must see equal amounts of ice time. Still, these are lines that can provide offense, they aren't just pluggers, and therefore Torts should want these guys out on the ice, even if just for the sake of development.

In this scenario Drury gets traded to a team with a lot of cap space, either the Isles, the Thrash, the Oilers, or one of the other many teams with adequate cap space. Boyle, on the other hand, will be demoted. It's a shame because he has size and I think he could be good if he figured out how to utilize it, however, the youth movement can't be stalled on behalf of one minimum wage plugger. Will the Rangers be competing for the Cup this season? No. Are they on the right track? Absolutely. And the additions of Frolov and some of the youngsters will make this a very worthwhile season, no matter what.