Morgan Frost, the now 25-year-old former 27th overall pick in 2017, is one of the more polarizing figures on the Philadelphia Flyers’ roster today. Depending on who you ask, he’s the greatest hockey player to lace up a pair of skates since Wayne Gretzky, while others will tell you he’s a dime-a-dozen average dude who, after all these years, still haven’t carved out a niche in the NHL.
He posted 13 goals and 41 points in 71 games in 2023-24, both totals less than his 2022-23 output. He’s got one year left on his contract with a $2.1 million cap hit and is still a RFA in 2025.
His skills have improved year over year and he’s, by default, the “best” option the Flyers currently have down the middle, mainly because 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, and their prospect pipeline took a massive hit when Cutter Gauthier wanted out and that leaves Elliot Desnoyers, whose development stalled big time during the 2023-24 season, as their best immediate option.
Now, 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.
The obvious question when it comes to trading Frost is what is his value on the market? The reality is that it’s probably pretty low if the Flyers were going to sell him individually. A 40-point 25-year-old isn’t exactly a hot commodity for most teams, unless they see him more as a rehab project, but even still, that isn’t prime value in a trade.
Their best bet is to bundle him with someone like Joel Farabee, whose contract is going to be a big hinderance from getting peak value for him and hope that two younger players with ceilings that aren’t materializing in Philly could be enough to at least snag one player that’s a better fit for the Flyers’ immediate needs.
So do the Flyers trade Morgan Frost this summer? Of all the players on the roster, he’s definitely one of the more likely candidates if the team seeks change in the trade scene.
Center is the position the Flyers need to consider upgrading beyond all else, and it’s highly unlikely they deal Couturier, Laughton or Poehling, leaving Frost as the odd man out if they actually choose to identify and fix main roster problems, which is an entirely different question in and of itself.
There still appears to be a power struggle between Frost and head coach John Tortorella, and if there’s one thing we know for sure about the Flyers’ organization right now, it’s that players who end up on Tortorella’s bad side are likely to get shipped out of town during the summer.
At some point, both the front office and fanbase need to get over the love affair with mediocre, unexceptional players. Does Frost have more to give at the NHL level? Possibly. The flashes of raw potential are there from time to time, but he’ll never achieve his peak in this lineup with this coach, and the Flyers won’t make progress relying on the mythical two-point-per-game pace he had in juniors to materialize at the NHL.
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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