A recent interview with Andrew Gross of The Record revealed Alexander Frolov will in fact play on the top line alongside star winger Marian Gaborik.
If you failed to pickup my subtle hints during my last piece on Frolov, playing with Gaborik should put him back on the 30 goal plateau. In addition, both players also should make the center around them better as long as that player can keep up with them and distribute the puck. Gaborik plays a highly skilled puck possession game which make him either the playmaker or sniper at any time so one of Brandon Dubinsky, Todd White, Erik Christensen, Vinny Prospal or Artem Anisimov will benefit heavily from their surroundings.
Last season Dubinsky mostly played left wing on the top line and potted a career high in goals. The Rangers may want a 20 goal guy on the second line to even the scoring. Prospal played center at times last season and really gelled with Gaborik but lost his role to Christensen down the stretch. Coach John Tortorella seems hesitant to rush Anisimov and played him mostly on the third and fourth lines as well. Newly acquired White may be cut during training camp but put up good numbers in the past playing with Ilya Kovalchuk and is a former teammate of Gaborik in Minnesota.
Frolov may be a steal in the later rounds due to last season’s poor production.
If you factor in the fact that coach Terry Murray basically kept him in a defensive role all of last season his numbers look due for an increase. Expect at least 25 goals with the potential of a 65-70 point season if all parties are healthy.
