BUFFALO, N.Y. — After things "didn't work out" in Calgary, forward Michael Frolik is excited about a fresh start as he joined the Sabres for his first practice with his new team on Wednesday after a whirlwind 24 hours.
"It was a long day yesterday. I had to wake up at like 6:30, go to the Embassy and have the visa there, then waited a little bit at the hotel, then picked it up around three or four and then had to drive here [from Toronto]. And with the traffic, it took almost three hours. I got here around 7:30 I think, and I skated at 8:30. It was just a quick skate, but I needed to feel the ice a little bit," Michael Frolik said after practice on Wednesday.
Even after all of that, he still wanted to get on the ice before his first official practice.
Last week, Sabres acquired Frolik from Calgary for a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 that they got from Montreal by trading defenseman Marco Scandella earlier that day.
The veteran forward brings experience and will hopefully provide a spark in the room and on the ice.
"Whenever you add something or you change something it adds a little bit of a spark. You could see it out there it looked like he was having fun and that kind of spreads around the team as well," Sabres center Marcus Johansson said.
Frolik skated alongside Johansson and Conor Sheary at practice on Wednesday. Head coach Ralph Krueger said Frolik will be in the lineup on Thursday for their next game in St. Louis. Krueger also said another big way they're expecting him to contribute is on the penalty kill that needs some help.
The Sabres penalty kill ranks 28th in the league at just 74%. The only teams with a worse penalty kill are Nashville, Detroit and Winnipeg. San Jose leads the NHL with an 88.5% penalty kill.
In these back-to-back wins the Sabres have against Florida and Edmonton, they haven't given up a power play goal, but they ended December giving power play goals in three straight games with 2 against the Lightning and Bruins and another one in Boston.
This is Frolik's fifth NHL team after spending time with Calgary, Winnipeg, Chicago and Florida. The Panthers drafted him 10th overall in 2006 and he won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013.