Former 27th overall pick in 2017 Morgan Frost is one of the most polarizing players on the Philadelphia Flyers’ roster. He’s in year five of his NHL career and turns 25 in May and even after 213 games, Frost hasn’t exactly gained the trust of the coaching staff or taken his own game to a can’t miss level despite showing flashes of brilliance ever once in awhile.
With the Flyers overachieving expectations in 2023-24, attention turns to the offseason when the heat should rise on the front office to legitimize their on-ice play, and a desperate improvement at center is needed to fix the offense, powerplay, and the shallow depth throughout the organization.
The Flyers’ in-house options at center are limited at best. Their main roster group of Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Ryan Poehling and Morgan Frost may be among the least intimidating foursome in the league. Their prospect pipeline took a massive hit when Cutter Gauthier wanted out and that leaves Elliot Desnoyers, whose development has stalled big time during the 2023-24 season, as their best immediate option.
Of the four on the main roster, Frost is the only thing close to an offensively dynamic choice they’ve got. And yet, he’s not actually converting on most of his chances. He posted 46 points in 81 games last season, and is on a nearly identical pace in 2023-24 with 33 points in 55 games played.
And consistency has been big issue. Most of his points tend to come in bunches. He’s has 10 multi-point games this season for 20 total points and scored a single point in 13 games. It’s a similarity to last season where a combined eight points in two games against the Coyotes helped mask a mediocre start to the season.
Beyond the basic stats, it still doesn’t seem like Frost and Tortorella see eye-to-eye most of the time. He may not be getting scratched regularly like he was at the beginning of the season (which he can thank in-part to the lack of options down the middle) but it still feels like Frost is having to remain on his best behavior to be handed even just basic responsibilities, let alone break free of the short leash he’s been on for two years now.
If he were to get dealt to, say, Toronto and saw regular minutes with Marner and Nylander and powerplay time with Matthews and Tavares, he’s probably got enough raw skill to become a fine complimentary piece and reach point-per-game status.
But that’s an offensive scenario that will never be replicated in Philly. They’re never going to be a run-and-gun offensive team, certainly not under Tortorella, anyway. The Flyers are currently ranked 23rd in the league in goals scored on the season with 191.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Morgan Frost topping out as a middle-six, 50-point player. It’s a perfectly fine bar to hit as an everyday NHLer. It may not be what everyone envisioned when he was drafted, but he’s come a long way at the professional level from where he was when he debuted in 2019. The problem is a majority of the Flyers’ roster tops out as random middle-six 50-point dudes and Frost doesn’t have the favor of Tortorella to stand above the painfully average crowd.
Unluckily for the Flyers and their quest for upgrades, the 2024 free agent market doesn’t bear fruit. 34-year-old Steven Stamkos and 28-year-old Sam Reinhart are the two biggest names left, but both are playing on the wing at this point in their careers and there’s a good chance both end up getting re-signed anyway. Elias Lindholm is still around as well, but a two-way 30-year-old center on a massive contract isn’t exactly what the Flyers’ need considering Sean Couturier is still around for six seasons. Most other veteran options just aren’t more enticing than their current group of ragtag depth players.
But if the front office actually wanted to make an upgrade at center, Frost is the natural candidate to be the one to go. They just named Sean Couturier captain and he’s got six years left on his contract, they’ve refused to trade Scott Laughton during the 2023 offseason and again during at the 2024 trade deadline, so it’s safe to assume he sees out the rest of his contract here, and they just re-signed Ryan Poehling for… reasons. They seem committed to this group for better or worse, with Frost being the only outlier at center where an upgrade would be feasible.
Frost still has one year left on his contract at a palatable $2.1 million cap hit and remains a restricted free agent in the 2025 offseason. So that alone could provide value to any trade partner.
If the Flyers do make a trade for someone like Trevor Zegras this summer or make a worthwhile free agent signing like Sam Reinhart (both scenarios are admittedly unlikely as the organization doesn’t grasp forward progress) Frost would be a natural place to move or build the return around. And quite frankly a chance to start over elsewhere is probably best for Frost’s career as well. A place with no John Tortorella and maybe even another talented player or two that could elevate Frost’s raw skill is exactly what he needs to become the player folks like to pretend he is.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: NHL.com
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