The Flyers’ future down the middle starting to take shape as this season nears its end

In the infancy of the Flyers’ season, coach John Tortorella compared center Morgan Frost’s inconsistent play to a toilet seat, referencing its ability to swing up and down.

Frost didn’t take the comparison personally. He laughed it off, got back to work, and continued to focus on the details in his game as he strived to achieve that elusive sense of consistency. Lately, it’s taking hold, as the 23-year-old Frost leads the Flyers in scoring since the All-Star break (18 points in 26 games). He has scored five goals in his last five games, including his third-career multi-goal game with two goals against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, and is riding a career-best five-game point streak.

» READ MORE: Streaking Morgan Frost is slowly winning over John Tortorella with his improved ‘200-foot’ game

“The Frost line was great again,” assistant coach Brad Shaw said after the game. “Frosty’s really starting to get a feel for how to have success at this level. And that’s a great sign for the future for him and for the organization.”

That future — in terms of who ought to be a part of the Flyers’ rebuild and who shouldn’t — is becoming increasingly clear as the end of the 2022-23 season draws closer. While Frost still is a work in progress, his improvement over this season (he will become a restricted free agent in the offseason) bodes well for him as the Flyers determine the prospective makeup of their center ice depth chart. Not only has his scoring — he has 19 goals and 24 assists in 76 games — stood out, but he’s also improved his 200-foot game, especially to Tortorella.

Tortorella has been testing Frost, and plenty of his other young players, with an increased workload to further evaluate him. In his last five games, Frost is averaging 19 minutes, 18 seconds of ice time, which includes power-play and penalty-kill responsibilities. That’s more than a three-minute increase over his season average.

If the Flyers decide to extend Frost a qualifying offer, which seems almost a certainty, he figures to slot in as the team’s second-line center next season. That top-line spot is expected to be occupied by Sean Couturier, who will not have played in almost two years by the time next season rolls around because of a pair of back surgeries. At 30 years old, Couturier may not fit the Flyers’ timeline of a rebuild, but given his hefty eight-year, $62 million contract (with a no-move clause) that only began this season and his long layoff, he’s likely to remain in Philadelphia. Before his injuries, the former Selke Trophy winner was one of the top two-way centers in the league and had averaged 0.91 points over his last four full seasons.

Tortorella said Saturday that he’s already envisioning the makeup of a roster next season that includes players like Couturier and winger Cam Atkinson (neck surgery) who are currently sidelined because of injuries and prospects like winger Tyson Foerster.

“I get excited about that,” Tortorella said. “But it’s been disappointing not to get involved with [Couturier] and watch him play. I watched him from afar for years. Always loved the way he’s played. I wish it didn’t happen. Nothing we can do about it.”

Then, there’s 24-year-old center Noah Cates, of whom Tortorella has spoken highly throughout the course of the season for being defensively responsible. The converted winger has made some uncharacteristic mistakes lately, including a defensive-zone turnover on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues that led to Jordan Kyrou’s first-period goal. But Cates’ body of work in his first full professional season speaks loudly and he could slot in on the third line next season.

Last week, Tortorella even went as far as to say that Cates checks boxes as a contender for the Selke Trophy, which recognizes the top defensive forward in the league. The numbers also back up Tortorella, as Cates ranks second among all qualified NHL forwards, one spot ahead of Selke favorite Patrice Bergeron, in even strength defense, a metric that measures defensive goals above replacement, according to Evolving Hockey.

“The Selke for me is that two-way guy that ... he’s not your top offensive guy,” Tortorella said. “But he’s a guy that I rely on in Noah Cates. He’s played against all the top players and all the main situations, key parts of the games. I think that’s what the Selke is.”

» READ MORE: Flyers hope Joel Farabee can carry his strong finish into next season

With Couturier, Frost, and Cates looking like the Flyers’ top three centers for next season and the versatile Scott Laughton potentially sliding back to left wing, that could leave Kevin Hayes as the odd man out. Hayes, 30, has three years remaining on his contract at $7.14 million per season. While he ranks second on the team in points this season (53), he hasn’t scored a goal in 23 games and doesn’t fit the timeline for a rebuild.

Tortorella said that he’s had plenty of conversations with Hayes regarding his future as his ice time dwindles (13:59 against the Blues, a three-and-a-half minute decrease from his season average) in favor of giving the young players more looks.

“I haven’t put him in as many situations as I have earlier in the year because I’m looking at other people,” Tortorella said before the Blues game. “And it’s kind of the process we’re in now as a team.”

The Flyers face a lot of tough decisions and have plenty to sort out this offseason, but things are starting to slide into place at center ahead of the 2023-24 season.