As Chuck Fletcher answered questions about why no Johnny Gaudreau, the general manager mentioned the Flyers' youngsters at forward and needing to "see if they can play."
Morgan Frost definitely falls among that group.
The 23-year-old center will enter the 2022-23 season on a prove-it type of deal. He signed a one-year, one-way, $800,000 contract Friday. The 2017 first-round pick was a restricted free agent this offseason.
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The Flyers will be looking for Frost to take a step as a full-time NHLer. Last season, the club scored 2.56 goals per game, the second fewest in the NHL, and had a league-worst power play percentage at 12.6. Frost is a playmaking pivot who was an elite scorer at the junior level and has put up points in the AHL.
He's no longer waivers exempt.
"We'll see where we need to put the money and which young players will be a part of the future and which young players can't cut it," Fletcher said Wednesday about the upcoming season. "It's a make-or-break year for a few of them."
Before making his 2021-22 season debut at AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley, Frost had played only two pro hockey games over a span of 580-plus days. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in his second game of 2020-21. In 2019-20, his rookie year at the pro level was cut short because of COVID-19. He was on the Flyers' 31-man roster for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs but did not appear in a game.
NHL
Frost and the Flyers were patient with his game and confidence last season as he got back into the swing of things after missing a lot of game action during some crucial development time.
"I think toward the end of the year was probably where I was playing my best and starting to feel really good," Frost said in late April at his end-of-the-season press conference. "I’m happy with that and I think it’s a good building block going into next year."
Frost had five goals and 11 assists through 55 games last season. He finished with four points (two goals, two assists) over his final five games. His best performance of the season came during that final stretch when he put up a goal and an assist in a 4-1 upset of Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.
The Flyers will look for more of that early next season.
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