Flyers fans have been unhappy with center Morgan Frost’s performance. The hype was certainly there when he was drafted 27th overall in 2017. He had speed, slick puck handling, creativity, and great vision. His poor defensive skills and small size could be fixed over time.
Frost would have a very competent early career, with 26 goals, 43 assists, and 69 points in 158 games. His breakout year occurred when Tortella entered the building at the 2022-2023 season. Frost would record 19 goals, 27 assists, and 46 points in his 81 games. This would subsequently lead to signing the Canadian to a 2-year, 4.2 million dollar extension at the beginning of the 2023-2024 season.
It was clear that Tortorella and the Flyers’ coaching staff considered Frost a good stepping stone at the center position over the next couple of years as the team tried to put the pieces together to become a true contender.
Rising through the ashes
A quarter mark through the 2024 -2025 season, Frost seems to be anything but that rock the fans were hoping for in South Philly. He would start the season only tallying one goal and six points through his first 15 games, leading to a collection of recent healthy scratches. Frost struggled to control possession and the flow of the game. Furthermore, his advanced stats were lacking, like shooting percentage, expected goals, and plus-minus.
Unfortunately, this trend is nothing new with Frost. The 25-year-old has a history of starting the seasons out slow. Look at last season, where Tortorella benched Frost only two games into the year. Then there was the year before that when Frost was benched against his hometown Toronto early in Tortorella’s first season with the team. That same year saw Frost playing the majority of the season in the back shifts with wingers that struggled to aid Frost in offensive production, hindering his progress more.
However, Frost is smart, and his tenacity and intellect have only made him better following these drawbacks. In the second half of the last two seasons, Frost played well, even leading the team in scoring during the 2022-2023 campaign. Turn to this past Monday night matchup against the Golden Knights, Frost’s second game back after his recent string of benchings. He would tally both an assist and goal, while barely missing a second goal and a highlight play that arguably would have been the best play of the league so far this season. Fast forward to Wednesday in Nashville where Frost’s last-minute equalizer in regulation led the Flyers into an eventual overtime victory against the Predators.
Frost is finally starting to gain the consistency that we expected to see from the young center. Although it is a small sample size, Frost has seemingly gotten the message from his benchings this year and tough love from Tortorella. He is playing more freely and has improved awareness in the defensive zone. Most importantly, we see a marked difference in his grit and intensity, having a more killer instinct that has helped the Flyers establish the zone more effectively than they have all season.
What are the better options?
There is no doubt the Flyers find themselves in a pickle at the center position moving forward. Couturier is only getting older. Besides one breakout game this season against Minnesota, he has not contributed at a high enough level as the 1C should. Scott Laughton has only scored in two games this year (Seattle and Vegas ), and Ryan Poehling has only seen the back of the net once (Carolina). Noah Cates, who has played center on occasion this season, also has only scored once (Chicago).
Like it or not, Frost epitomizes this pickle. The writing on the wall would indicate that teams are not particularly interested in the young center. Furthermore, he won't get a valuable replacement in a trade deal and the best-case scenario would be a third-round pick for him (high second-round if lucky). The draft will also prove tricky as the Flyers most likely won't draft low enough to land a quality center like Hagens or McQueen. They have struggled to develop top-tier centers through the draft as it is.
The free agency selections are weak, to say the least, and as stated above, the team’s internal options are probably even weaker. Furthermore, cap space is a major issue for the Flyers. With some big contracts set to renew next year, this leads to little room left to play with. We can't forget about the dead cap hits of Kevin Hayes and Cam Atkinson set to flow into next year as well.
With the Flyers in full rebuild, the best plan forward is to see the end of Frost’s term. Focus on this year and leave the contract negotiations for the offseason. In my eyes, history will repeat itself and this recent string of benching will bring a spark to the young Canadian in the second half of the year. The Flyers have three first-round picks and three second-round picks in next year’s draft, and the black and orange will need reliable play at the center position while the newcomers get accustomed to the big leagues. Likewise, Michkov continues to flourish and the defense is finding its identity more and more every week.
Yes, the inconsistent play from Frost is a concerning trend. Encouragingly, Tortorella came out last week that he “cannot continue to go through the same process” with Frost and that he has been coaching him differently, a tactic that is, so far, seemingly paying dividends. I truly believe that the worst is behind us for the 25-year-old center and that Tortorella will unlock his much-needed potential with his tough coaching. We need to look past the poor start to the season and believe that he will take responsibility for his play moving forward.