Frolik, Scandella, Reilly in separate trades

Michael Frolik was traded to the Buffalo Sabres, Marco Scandella was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, and Mike Reilly was traded to the Ottawa Senators in separate deals Thursday.

The Calgary Flames received a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft from Buffalo that originally belonged to the San Jose Sharks for forward Frolik.
Montreal received forward prospect Andrew Sturtz and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft from Ottawa for defenseman Reilly.
Buffalo received a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft from Montreal that originally belonged to San Jose for defenseman Scandella.
"He's just a very smart player in the way he manages his game on both sides of the puck," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "He can make a play with the puck but without it he's very strong in his decisions as far as positional play is concerned and being responsible for the team. He'll be an excellent penalty killer for us and also somebody who can mentor this group in managing leads and dealing with in-game situations that we're still learning to get better at that, in the end, decide the scores.
"We're excited about the wealth of experienced he's going to bring into our room and just the person that he is. I've spoken to a few of his coaches from the last few years and nothing but compliments on the human being that he is, which adds another person of character into this dressing room."
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Frolik had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 38 games with Calgary this season and 145 points (63 goals, 82 assists) in 319 games over five seasons. The 31-year-old has 380 points (158 goals, 222 assists) in 831 games with the Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets and Flames in 12 NHL seasons.
"We were trying to add to our forward group here, and with Michael we like his even-strength play. We think he's a very strong 5-on-5 player," Sabres general manager Jason Botterill said. "He's also a player that has championship pedigree. He's been in the playoffs before, won a Stanley Cup (with the Blackhawks in 2012-13). Then you look at how we've played over the last few weeks. I think we've played pretty well at 5-on-5, but our special teams have to be better. We think Michael can come in and help us on our penalty kill. We see him as a winger who can play up and down our lineup and we're certainly excited to have him."
Frolik said he's excited to join the Sabres and contribute, particularly on the penalty kill.
"I've been killing penalties for quite a bit,"he said, "and hopefully I can bring some experience in that department. ... I'm really looking for a new opportunity there. I'm really excited. It's a fresh start for me there. I'm really excited and really looking forward to meeting the guys and meeting the group.
"Being [in the Western Conference] for a long time, I don't know much about the East, but ... I just heard great things about their group and about the coaching staff. I'm just really looking to go there and be myself and we'll see how it plays out. Obviously looking forward to getting more ice time than I was getting here in Calgary, and prove to myself that I can be that player I used to be."
Scandella had nine points (three goals, six assists) and was plus-9 in 31 games for the Sabres this season, and 44 points (14 goals, 30 assists) in 176 games over three seasons. The 29-year-old played the first seven seasons of his NHL career for the Minnesota Wild and had 89 points (27 goals, 62 assists) in 373 games.
"He's a guy who's got a lot of experience as a pretty reliable defenseman," Montreal coach Claude Julien said. "He's probably known more for his defensive play, but he's still a guy that can offensively move the puck well, and to me just adds some stability to our blue line and his experience should be valuable to us."
Montreal led Buffalo by one point in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings at the start of play Thursday.

"We're in a situation here right now where we have to improve our own team, and we felt this was a trade that we wanted to make to improve our group here in Buffalo," Botterill said.
Reilly had four assists in 14 games with Montreal this season and 23 points (three goals, 20 assists) in 90 games over three seasons. The 26-year-old played his first three NHL seasons for the Wild and had 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 84 games.
"He's going to help us break the puck out," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "He can play on the power play, he can really skate. He's going to help us back there, for sure. And it's an opportunity for him. It's his third team and it's a real good opportunity for him to come in here and do something."
Sturtz has two points (one goal, one assist) in 14 games with Belleville in the American Hockey League this season. The 25-year-old was an undrafted free agent from Penn State.
NHL.com correspondent Heather Engel contibuted to this report