Michael Frolik
Michael Frolík (Czech pronunciation: ; born February 17, 1988) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). Frolík has also played in the NHL for the Florida Panthers, the organization that drafted him tenth overall in 2006, as well as the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he won a Stanley Cup with in 2013, and the Winnipeg Jets.
Michael Frolik Posters
Michael Frolik Poster
Michael Frolik Poster
Michael Frolik Poster
Michael Frolik Poster
Playing career
Frolík played two seasons in the Czech Extraliga for Rabat Kladno before being selected tenth overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Florida Panthers. While playing in Kladno, Frolík was nicknamed "The Baby Jágr" due to his similar playing style and appearance to Jaromír Jágr, who also played for Kladno earlier in his career. To add to his overwhelming resemblance, Frolík, who cites Jágr as his role model, wore #68 at the Panthers' rookie camp.
Beginning in the 2006–07 season, Frolík began his North American career playing at the junior ice hockey#Major junior level for the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
Frolík made his NHL debut for Florida during the 2008–09 season, in which he finished with 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points in 79 games played. During his third season with the Panthers, in 2010–11, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, along with goaltender Alexander Salák, in exchange for Jack Skille, Hugh Jessiman and David Pacan on February 9, 2011. Frolík scored his first goal as a Blackhawk on March 2, 2011, against the Calgary Flames. On April 24, he scored the first Stanley Cup playoff penalty shot in Blackhawks history against goaltender Cory Schneider of the Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
On July 15, 2011, Frolík signed a three-year contract extension with the Blackhawks at an annual average value at $2.333 million. During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Frolík played for Piráti Chomutov in his native Czech Republic. On May 27, 2013, during the 2013 playoffs, he scored the second post-season penalty shot goal of his career against Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, becoming the first player in NHL history to score more than one career penalty shot goal in the post-season. He ultimately scored ten points in the playoffs en route to the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory over the Boston Bruins in six games.
In the subsequent off-season, on June 30, 2013, Frolík was traded to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a third- and fifth-round pick at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. In the 2013–14 season opener on October 2, 2013, at Rexall Place against the Edmonton Oilers, Frolík scored twice in a 5–4 Winnipeg win. On July 29, 2014, Frolík and the Jets agreed on a one-year, $3.3 million contract. He finished with 19 goals and 23 assists on in the regular season, but was held pointless during the Jets' four-game sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 playoffs.
On July 1, 2015, Frolík, as an unrestricted free agent, signed a five-year, $21 million contract with the Calgary Flames at an annual average value of $4.3 million.
