Alexander Alexandrovich Frolov (Russian: Александр Александрович Фролов; born June 19, 1982) is a Russian professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Daemyung Killer Whales of the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH). In an eight-year National Hockey League (NHL) career, he played with the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers. After Frolov's NHL career ended, he moved to the KHL with Avangard Omsk and CSKA Moscow.

Alexander Frolov
Born (1982-06-19) June 19, 1982 (age 42)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 231 lb (105 kg; 16 st 7 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Right
AL team
Former teams
Daemyung Killer Whales
Spartak Moscow
Krylya Sovetov Moscow
Los Angeles Kings
CSKA Moscow
Dynamo Moscow
New York Rangers
Avangard Omsk
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Amur Khabarovsk
National team  Russia
NHL draft 20th overall, 2000
Los Angeles Kings
Playing career 1999–2018

Playing career

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Frolov was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, 20th overall, in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He had been playing in Russia's third-tier hockey league with Lokomotiv-2 Yaroslavl, then stayed in Russia for two more seasons, moving up to the second-tier Russian Supreme League (RSL) and first-tier Russian Super League (RSL) with Krylya Sovetov Moscow.

Signed to a three-year contract with the Kings in July 2002,[1] Frolov made his NHL debut in 2002 for the Kings, scoring his first NHL goal, a game-winner, in his seventh game on October 25 against Mike Richter of the New York Rangers.[2] Frolov finished his rookie season with 14 goals and 31 points. After improving to a team-high 24 goals[3] and 48 points the following season, Frolov returned to the Russian Super League in 2004–05 due to the NHL lockout. He began the season with CSKA Moscow and finished second in team scoring to Nikolay Zherdev, despite completing the campaign with Dynamo Moscow.[4]

 
Frolov warming up prior to a Kings game in 2006.

Frolov became a restricted free agent before the 2005–06 season and after turning down a three-year deal, he signed a longer, five-year, $14.5 million contract in August 2005.[5] In the first year of his new contract, he scored his first NHL hat-trick on November 13, 2005, in an 8–2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.[6] Later that season, Frolov was named to Russia's 2006 Winter Olympic team in Turin, where he suffered a partially separated shoulder. He missed approximately a month with the Kings when he returned,[7] but still managed a 54-point season in 69 games.

In 2006–07, Frolov continued to improve and recorded a career-high 35 goals and 71 points, second in team point-scoring to Michael Cammalleri.[8] He finished second in team-scoring for the second consecutive year to Anže Kopitar in 2007–08 with 67 points,[9] despite missing 11 games due to a groin injury suffered in November.[10]

An unrestricted free agent after the 2009–10 season, Frolov signed with the New York Rangers on July 27, 2010, on a one-year, $3 million contract. On January 8, 2011, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the right knee after forward Brad Winchester fell over Frolov's leg. The injury forced him to miss the remainder of the 2010–11 season after he underwent surgery to repair the damage. Frolov registered seven goals and nine assists for 16 points, along with eight penalty minutes, in 43 games during his only season with the Rangers.

On May 12, 2011, Frolov left the NHL and signed a three-year contract with Russian team Avangard Omsk of the KHL.[11] On November 5, 2013, Avangard Omsk traded Frolov and Stanislav Egorshev to CSKA Moscow in exchange for Sergei Shirokov and Maxim Goncharov.[12]

On September 15, 2014, Frolov announced his retirement from professional hockey, citing the effect of knee injuries he had sustained since 2011. However, after a season out of the game, Frolov returned on July 7, 2015, signing a one-year contract with former club Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL.[13]

In July 2018, after seven seasons in the KHL, Frolov signed with South Korean club Daemyung Killer Whales from Songdo, Incheon of the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH).[14]

International play

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Medal record
Representing   Russia
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
  2009 Bern
  2010 Germany
  2007 Moscow
World Junior Championships
  2002 Czech Republic

Frolov represented Russia on two occasions as a junior at the 2000 World Junior U18 Championships in Switzerland and 2001 World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic, where he earned a gold medal. He scored a goal in the 5–4 gold medal game victory over Canada and finished with a team-high six goals and eight points in seven games.

After completing his rookie season with the Los Angeles Kings, Frolov debuted at the senior level with Russia at the 2003 World Championships and scored five points as Russia failed to medal. He made his second World Championships appearance in 2007, tallying an international personal best 11 points in nine games. Playing as the host nation, Russia earned bronze defeating Sweden 3–1 in the bronze medal game.

Frolov also competed in the 2004 World Cup, where he managed two assists in four games. He was selected to his first Winter Olympics for the 2006 games in Turin. However, Frolov was injured early in the tournament, suffering a partially separated shoulder in a round-robin game against Kazakhstan.[citation needed] He missed the remainder of Russia's games as they were defeated 3–0 by Finland in the semi-final game.

Frolov was selected as a reserve by Russia for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver should an injury occur during the tournament.[15]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–2000 Lokomotiv–2 Yaroslavl RUS.3 25 11 13 24 10
2000–01 Krylya Sovetov Moscow RUS.2 44 20 19 39 8 14 8 8 16 4
2001–02 Krylya Sovetov–2 Moscow RUS.3 2 0 0 0 4
2001–02 Krylya Sovetov Moscow RSL 42 18 13 31 16 3 1 0 1 2
2002–03 Los Angeles Kings NHL 79 14 17 31 34
2003–04 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 24 24 48 24
2004–05 CSKA Moscow RSL 42 20 17 37 10
2004–05 Dynamo Moscow RSL 6 2 1 3 2 6 2 1 3 0
2005–06 Los Angeles Kings NHL 69 21 33 54 40
2006–07 Los Angeles Kings NHL 82 35 36 71 34
2007–08 Los Angeles Kings NHL 71 23 44 67 22
2008–09 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 32 27 59 30
2009–10 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 19 32 51 26 6 1 3 4 0
2010–11 New York Rangers NHL 43 7 9 16 8
2011–12 Avangard Omsk KHL 54 12 12 24 16 21 2 2 4 10
2012–13 Avangard Omsk KHL 47 13 28 41 10 10 0 3 3 2
2013–14 Avangard Omsk KHL 22 3 8 11 4
2013–14 CSKA Moscow KHL 29 6 3 9 6 4 1 0 1 2
2015–16 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 47 6 13 19 14 8 3 0 3 4
2016–17 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 34 7 11 18 20 2 1 0 1 4
2017–18 Amur Khabarovsk KHL 47 6 4 10 35 2 0 0 0 0
2018–19 Daemyung Killer Whales ALH 32 16 12 28 12 3 0 2 2 0
NHL totals 579 175 222 397 218 6 1 3 4 0
KHL totals 280 53 79 132 105 47 7 5 12 22

International

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Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2000 Russia WJC18   6 5 1 6 10
2002 Russia WJC   7 6 2 8 4
2003 Russia WC 5th 7 3 2 5 6
2004 Russia WCH 5th 4 0 2 2 2
2006 Russia OG 4th 6 0 1 1 0
2007 Russia WC   9 5 6 11 0
2009 Russia WC   7 3 1 4 2
2010 Russia WC   8 0 1 1 2
Junior totals 13 11 3 14 14
Senior totals 41 11 13 24 12

References

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  1. ^ Crowe, Jerry; Foster, Chris (2002-07-16). "Ducks sign Chistov". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  2. ^ "Los Angeles vs. N.Y. Rangers". USA Today. 2002-10-25. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  3. ^ "2003-04 Los Angeles Kings [NHL]". Hockey Database. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  4. ^ "2004-05 CSKA Moscow [Russia]". Hockey Database. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  5. ^ Foster, Chris; Stephens, Eric (2005-08-13). "Frolov Signs Five-Year Deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  6. ^ Miller, Rusty (2005-11-13). "Kings batter Blue Jackets in 8-2 drubbing". Associated Press and USA Today. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  7. ^ "Kings beat Preds for first win under new head coach". Associated Press and ESPN. 2006-03-25. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  8. ^ "2006-07 Los Angeles Kings [NHL]". Hockey Database. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  9. ^ "2007-08 Los Angeles Kings [NHL]". Hockey Database. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  10. ^ Kredell, Matthew (2008-02-22). "Frolov Hot". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  11. ^ "Alexander Frolov in Avangard" (in Russian). Avangard Omsk. 2011-05-12. Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  12. ^ "Shirokov did not feel comfortable at CSKA - hockey agent" (in Russian). R-Sport. 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  13. ^ "Alexander Frolov in Torpedo" (in Russian). Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  14. ^ "S. Korean hockey club acquires former 30 goal scorer of the NHL". yhn.co.kr. 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  15. ^ "Kovalev, Frolov, Zubov and Kulemin added to Olympics squad - Russia at Olympics in Vancouver news, interviews, quotes, videos". Archived from the original on 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Los Angeles Kings first round draft pick
2000
Succeeded by