Photo: FHR

The Los Angeles Kings media guide lists Russian forward Alexander Frolov’s favorite NHL city to visit as New York, and his top arena to play in as Madison Square Garden.   Starting this fall, the 28-year old former King will get the opportunity to try the city and its famous arena out for more than a day or two at a time, thanks to the cap-friendly, one-year, $3 million dollar contract he signed with the Blueshirts on Tuesday.

According to reports, Frolov left as much as $20 million dollars on the table in the KHL in order to remain in the NHL and experience life New York.  Frolov discussed his decision to sign with the Rangers and his expectations for the new season in an interview with Sport-Express correspondent Alexander Shapiro on Wednesday.  A translation of their conversation is provided below.

- Many hoped that this summer you would return to Russia.  Why didn’t it come together?

– I actually had two good offers from KHL clubs, but at the same time there were opportunities to continue my career in the NHL, where a few clubs were also interested in me.  In the end I chose the Rangers, because that option seemed optimal.

- It’s generally known that you were actively invited to both SKA and Salavat Yulaev [Ufa].  It’s said that in Ufa they offered you a four year contract for the sum of about $20 million.  Is that the truth?

– I won’t hide that Ufa wanted very much to sign a contract with me.  I communicated with head coach Vyacheslav Bykov, and he talked about the interest the club had in my services.

- There wasn’t resentment towards Bykov after he didn’t take you to the Games in Vancouver?

– I already forgot about the Olympics a long time ago, and I don’t want to discuss that subject today.

- On SKA you could have become a teammate of [former San Jose Shark goaltender Evgeny] Nabokov, with whom you played in the same conference in the NHL.  Incidentally, were you surprised with his decision to move to Russia?

– Zhenka apparently thought that it would be better for him.  And it doesn’t seem right to me to discuss or criticize the action of any other player.  Each hockey player has the right to choose for himself where to continue his career.  I want only to wish him good luck: that in the KHL he will play as reliably as he did in the NHL.

- As I understand it, given the fact that you signed a one year contract with the Rangers, your return to Russia next summer isn’t ruled out?

– In our lives anything is possible.  For now I’ve been offered good conditions with the Rangers.  I want to play for this distinguished club and live in New York.

- Did you consider the option of remaining in Los Angeles?

– I spent seven years on that team, and felt that it was time to change something.

- Have you already had a conversation with the leadership of the Rangers?

– Yes, I communicated with them before signing the contract.  It was very important for me to understand in what capacity they would count on me.  I heard that on the Rangers I’ll receive a lot of playing time, will regularly be on the ice during the power play.  Most likely, I’ll play on a line with the leader of the team, Gaborik.  In New York they want me to create a high-powered offensive unit with Gaborik.

– Last season your peer Gaborik was the unconditional leader of the Rangers and scored 86 points (42+44) in 76 games.  What can you tell us about this player?

– He’s very talented, fast, sees the ice well, can both score and set up.  I think that Marian is one of the best players in the NHL today.

- One other Russian, Artem Anisimov, plays on the Rangers.  Perhaps that high-powered line will be the threesome of Frolov – Anisimov – Gaborik?

– And that, in my opinion, would make a very good line.

- For the last five seasons the main goaltender of the Rangers has been Swede Henrik Lundqvist — one of the best goaltenders in the world.  Have you managed to score on him?

– Henrik is indeed a very high class goaltender.  It’s just that right now I can’t remember if I scored on him or not.  When I get to New York I’ll by all means ask him if he can remember (smiles).

- Rangers head coach John Tortorella is famous for not entirely standard behavior.  Everyone remembers the episode, when during a game he flung a bottle at a fan.

– I don’t need to get used to it (laughs) [i.e. I'm already used to it]. The most important thing for me is that the coach lets me play.

– You’ve spent your whole NHL career on a team in the West.  Now you’ve moved to the East, where your countrymen Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, and Malkin play.  You understand that there will be heightened attention on you?

– I don’t think about inter-Russian competition (smiles).  For me the main thing is to adapt to the new club as soon as possible and start to be of use to it.  I’ll do everything possible to score a little more.

- By the way, didn’t you have the desire to sign a long-term contract, like Kovalchuk did?

– I was offered an agreement for several seasons, but the terms didn’t suit me.

- The pre-season still hasn’t begun in the NHL, are you planning to come to Russia?

– Most likely I won’t be able to get home this summer.

UPDATE 7/27/2010: The Rangers have announced the signing of Alexander Frolov.  As expected, it’s a one year deal and will pay him $3 million.

In an interview with Sovietsky Sport, Alexander Frolov’s Russian agent, Sergei Isakov, claims that his client is close to signing a one-year deal with the New York Rangers.  Here’s a quick-and-dirty translation of the pertinent parts of their conversation:

His Agent Sergei Isakov makes no secret: “Alexander Frolov is just about to sign a contract with the New York Rangers.   He’s made the decision that he’ll play another season in the NHL.  And then we’ll see where he’ll continue his career.”

- Did Los Angeles also want to keep Frolov?  After all, he spent seven seasons with that team…

- The Kings have once again begun slow-moving negotiations with Alexander.  I think  Los Angeles is still concentrating on signing Kovalchuk.  There’s a great chance that Ilya will once again become an unrestricted free agent.  So it turned out that Frolov’s fate in Los Angeles depended on someone else’s.  And that’s unpleasant.

- Especially since the Kings openly spoiled Alexander’s last season, criticizing him harshly, sending him from the first line to the third, sitting him on the bench.  That doesn’t allow you to show your normal game.

- Don’t you really know how they treat people in the NHL?  If a player is in the last year of a contract, they need to spoil his season in order to subsequently not [have to] sign him for big money.  That’s what they did with Frolov.

- It was kind of tough.  You as an agent understand that Frolov’s price on the market has fallen sharply now.

- Naturally. Therefore the contract with the Rangers is only for one season.  In general this situation is similar to that which happened to Maxim Afinogenov last year, when he signed a contract with Atlanta.

- A forward worth a few million dollars played for 800 thousand.

- Clearly.  But one needs to sacrifice something to get something in the future.  I think that Afinogenov had a great season.  And now his price on the market has increased.

- It’s unlikely Frolov himself was burning with desire to play for Los Angeles in the presence of such attitudes towards him.

- I didn’t have that conversation with him, so I can’t categorically say.  Especially now that Frolov is already almost in New York.  He’s gone from one major American city to another, only in the East.  A big metropolis, with a lot of temptations.

- Did Alexander consider the option of returning to Russia seriously?

- I negotiated with a few clubs.  But you must respect the decision of the player.  God willing, Frolov will make his career in the NHL.

Stay tuned…

A pair of tweets set the Rangersphere aflutter late Sunday night with word that the New York Rangers were interested in talented Russian winger Alexander Frolov.  The first came from Genadi Boguslavski (@GenadiB), a Montreal-based reporter for the Russian publication Sovietsky Sport, who tweeted the vague statement “New York Rangers talks with Alexander Frolov agent.”

The second tweet, a few hours later, came from fellow Sovietsky Sport correspondent Dmitry Chesnokov (@dchesnokov), who shared: “Frolov’s agent said the #NYR are very interested in Frolov. Agent also said in the last 2 days the Kings also made inquiries.”

Both reporters’ tweets stem from an interview with Frolov’s Russian agent, Sergei Isakov, which appeared on Russian web site Sportsdaily.ru Sunday night and was picked up by other sports publications shortly thereafter.

It’s too late and I’m too tired to translate the interview word-for-word, but here are the highlights: Isakov says that, although they’ve talked, there have been no serious negotiations with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL regarding his client, and that for the time being all negotiations with Russian teams have been suspended while Frolov concentrates on a possible return to the Los Angeles Kings.  According to Isakov,  the Kings have shown a renewed interest in his client in the past two days, and Frolov’s North American agent Don Meehan is currently negotiating a new contract with the club for which Frolov has played each of his previous seven NHL seasons.

However, Isakov also throws in the following: “The New York Rangers have also showed great interest in Frolov. It’s quite possible that Sasha will continue his career in New York.”

Now, my gut says that Los Angeles is Frolov’s prefered destination and that this little tidbit about the Rangers’ interest was merely dropped in to help his client’s case in negotiations with the Kings.

But it could also be the other way around.  There have been rumors of the Rangers’ interest in the two-time 30+ goal scorer for weeks.  It could be Frolov’s camp isn’t getting the money or term they’re looking for from the Rangers and are simply trying to up the ante with claims of the Kings’ renewed interest.

Then again, maybe an agent is just being one hundred percent honest and forthright regarding interest being shown towards his client.

Nah…