Rovers Retain Frolov

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

Restricted free agency has ended for the Rovers, but not without a price. Alexander Frolov will be returning to the defending champions, but with a significantly richer contract than expected. Hoping to re-sign Frolov for something in the $1M range, the T-Men had other ideas and signed him to a $1.75M offer sheet. Compensation was discussed, with the Rovers reportedly targetting T-Men winger Corey Perry, but ultimately the offer sheet was matched and Frolov will return to the team with his new found fortune. The term of the contract has not yet been disclosed.

“We never wanted to lose Alex”, GM Stringer said. “We were disappointed that we weren’t able to meet his initial demand due to league rules, as we would have definitely offered him an extension. When he was signed to the offer sheet we had to explore every option, but in the end decided that Alex was too important to our plans for this season and beyond. We’re very glad to have him locked up for a long time”.

Rovers Complete Dynamic Duo

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

Batman had Robin. Shaq had Kobe. Now, once again, Draper has Maltby. Silent until now during free agency, the Rovers inked their first unrestricted free agent Friday night by signing Kirk Maltby to a one-year, $1M contract. A premier penalty killer, Maltby will team once again with Kris Draper, with whom he played for many years in a rival professional league years ago. “I’m really excited to be joining the Rovers”, Maltby said when reached by phone. “They’re obviously the defending champion, and I’ll get to play with a good friend of mine in Drapes. I hope I can add a lot to their team, especially on the defensive end”.

“We knew we needed another forward or two going into free agency, but to get a guy of this quality is great for the team”, GM Stringer said. “I’m confident we can score goals as a forward group, but you can never have enough glue guys, those guys that can go out and kill off a penalty late in the third when you’ve got a one goal lead. Kirk is one of those guys”.

The Rovers may look to add one or two more forwards before free agency is over. Then they will figure out their numbers going into training camp.

Dressed To The Nines

St. John’s, NL (CP)

The Rovers wrapped up their prospect camp in St. John’s this weekend, and the coaching staff felt it was a great success. They saw the potential of many would-be Rovers and were able to make a number of evaluations about who among them are closest to making an immediate impact. “I think we saw a few guys stand above the rest”, said Ulf Dahlen, Rovers newly-appointed director of player development. “We’re looking forward to seeing a few of these players making an impact in the main camp and competing for jobs this season. The message to the rest of the prospects is that this is the level you need to reach to compete for an RHL job. We will continue to monitor their development with their respective junior, minor-league and European clubs”.

Meanwhile, it was announced that nine players were invited to the main training camp. Forwards Evgeni Malkin, Travis Zajac, Brian Boyle, Troy Brouwer, and Mike Glumac, defensemen Christoph Schubert and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and Yann Danis will all compete for jobs on the RHL18 Rover roster. Of the nine, Evgeni Malkin is the closest to a slam-dunk as possible. Malkin is expected by all scouts and by his performance in prospect camp to step into a top-six forward role and not look back. There also seems to be room on the roster right now for Zajac and Vlasic, although center and defense are the two deepest areas of the team. As well, the make-up of the roster may be different after free agency, which opens this week.