It would be unwise to think a player in every sport is going to rock it all the time. Jalen Hurts has bad games from time to time. Joel Embiid will miss shots that he should normally make. Bryce Harper can crush it some games and then go on stretches where he is 0-4. Likewise, the same thing is true for every member of the Philadelphia Flyers. They can get hot and then be "not".
Nobody epitomizes these stretches for the Flyers more than Morgan Frost. Nobody scored more points after January 2024 last season than Frost. When he is hot, he can make a lot of stuff happen. At the beginning of the year, a lot of excitement was brewing as he and Matvei Michkov seemed like a pair made in Heaven. They were the first great one-two punch since Claude Giroux lined up with Jakub Voracek. We saw this manifested in the first game of the season when Frost scored a shootout goal in the season opener to clinch a victory.
Since then....meh. He scored his first goal of the season on Tuesday night. Other than that, he has five assists. Three of those came in the first three games. That's a problem. He's been lined up with Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Michkov to get his game going. Nothing. He's played top line, second line, and third line. Nothing. The Flyers desperately need a center and need to get him going.
Is it time for the Flyers to make a decision on Morgan Frost?
Thus, it comes down to John Tortorella. The head coach was much maligned last year for not playing him as the season began and the coach was trying to get more out of him. This year, the coach has tried anything to jumpstart him. For again, if you get Frost going, the linemates with him will go too. And it isn't as if he's not trying. His 28 shots on goal are tied for the third most on the team. He's just not getting anything in.
When asked how long he intends to stick with Frost, all Torts could muster was, "Trying like hell. Trying like hell."
In six years, the first-rounder in 2017 has just 40 goals. He also is notorious for starting extremely slowly every season. At some point, the Flyers have to figure out if he is worth holding onto or worth jettisoning.
The shame of it is that there is talent there. He has flashes where he can take over a game and move the puck well. Then he'll go through long stretches where you could put his picture on a milk carton because you can't find him or his game. Is he trying too hard? Is he not trying hard enoigh? It's hard to tell.
Maybe the answer is a change of scenery. The Flyers recently traded away Ronnie Attard because, no matter how talented he is, he just couldn't find his footing here. Maybe he is someone the Flyers could flip to another team for another questionable center, like Dylan Cozens in Buffalo. It's rare to see a one-for-one trade of young players nowadays, but it may have to happen.
With Frost also making $2.1 million as a pending RFA this year, he could be more desirable as a trade deadline deal where he could fetch high draft picks or top-level prospects. Or, if he continues to stumble, he could be someone the Flyers have to sell low on.
Either way, this is not something that the Flyers can continue to let fester for long. A decision will have to be made. Is he the center of the Flyers' future or is he trade bait? Is he the talented center they have been desiring or just another draft pick bust from 2017?