What Should The Philadelphia Flyers Do With Morgan Frost’s Next Contract?

So if Frost did all of that, why hasn’t he signed a new contract yet? It feels more like a matter of when than if. He clearly showed that with more opportunity, he could be the player that the Flyers drafted in the first round in 2017. He hasn’t quite lived up to his full potential, but he showed signs this last season. Any kind of holdup likely had to do with the length of his next contact. The Flyers could either bridge him like they did with Cates and York or bank on his last few months being the new norm and locking him in for four or five years.

There are plenty of benefits and risks on either side. If he signs a short team deal, he could continue to improve and his next deal becomes even more lucrative. The cap is expected to go up, though, so that may not necessarily be a huge problem. Players around the league appear to be signing shorter term deals in order to cash in after. However, the Flyers will have some important free agents coming up in the next few offseasons. Tippett is one of the largest names next offseason as he will certainly command a pay raise if his play from this last season carries into the next. If Carter Hart is still around, he will be in line for a new deal. Sam Ersson will also be at the end of his entry-level deal.

The following summer is when the likes of Cates and York will be up for new deals once more. And those are likely to come with their own raises as well. If the Flyers want to go long term on Frost, they would be holding a lot of faith that he has finally turned the corner. It would also be a significant raise from the $800K he played at this past year. It will likely cost them more than what they handed out to Cates (2.625M). They are expected to have over 9M in cap space with Ryan Ellis on LTIR. Not looking at a year or two from now, the money is currently there if the team wants to use it.

A longer term deal would buy out the rest of Frost’s restricted free agent years and a year or two of unrestricted free agency. Three years exactly would take him right to 27 years old, thus making him a UFA. So if the team is going to go long term, it would benefit them to go at least four or possibly even five years. It’s also about how the Flyers feel about Frost moving forward. Do they feel his scoring potential was just touching the surface? Do they thing he can turn into a top-six talent? Do they feel the other parts of his game can continue to develop and make him an effective NHL players at both ends of the ice?

If the answer is yes, a long term deal should absolutely be on the table. If they have an reservations in regard to those questions or even anything else, a bridge deal is likely where they should go. It could be better to get him at a cap hit around York and Cates now and hope he provides even more value than to sign him to a more lucrative deal and hope he doesn’t regress or that others don’t pass him on the depth chart. It’s the kind of risks you have to weigh with a player of his age.

The Flyers aren’t playing for now, they’re playing for the future. Saving money at this point won’t do them any good down the line if they end up spending even more once they are ready to contend again. There’s a lot of factors they have to consider. We should soon find out just what they think of Morgan Frost.