‘I know I need to get him in’: John Tortorella on Morgan Frost ahead of game vs. Cup champion Vegas

LAS VEGAS — There’s an old mantra that applies to a lot of different areas of life. Out here in the desert, a gambler on a hot streak would probably live by it.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The Flyers skated here Monday ahead of their Tuesday night game vs. the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, and it appears coach John Tortorella is a believer in the old rule. How it applies to the Flyers in this instance, is that it would appear that center Morgan Frost will be scratched for the fourth straight game.

Frost was fourth on the Flyers in scoring last season and tallied 32 points in 45 games in the 2023 portion of last season’s schedule. But after two not-so-good games to start the season, according to Tortorella, Frost was a healthy scratch for the home opener last week vs. Vancouver, and he hasn’t gotten back into the lineup since.

Of course, the Flyers (3-1-1) have played pretty well over their last three games. They shut Vancouver out, 2-0, in that home opener, rolled Connor McDavid and the Oilers two nights later, and then largely outplayed a Dallas Stars team with Stanley Cup aspirations on the road Saturday night.

“I’ll be honest with you, I know I need to get him in,” Tortorella said Monday. “I want to get him in. I just have not seen an opening for him right now.”

» READ MORE: Carter Hart is off to another strong start for the Flyers. Now, it’s about making it last.

The easy response — and if you’ve been following along on social media, you’ve seen this — is that the Flyers should put Frost in the lineup and sit one of the veteran wingers on the fourth line, Nic Deslauriers or Garnet Hathaway, who won’t be here through the rebuild as the Flyers try to figure out what they have for the future.

But Tortorella has shown that he’s not going to put players like Frost in roles they’re not supposed to be in. Frost is not a fourth-liner in the NHL. He’s an offensive-minded center. Tortorella reiterated that line of thinking Monday.

“I’m not going to put Frosty into a checking role, or playing a fourth line,” Tortorella said. “If I’m going to put him back in it’s going to be in an offensive situation. I’ve been thinking about it for days. I got to get him in, but right now I can’t. So we’ll see where it goes.”

The Flyers wanted this type of competition in their training camp and they got it. It’s fair to argue that Tortorella had a quick hook with Frost, but they also weren’t going to have Tyson Foerster or Bobby Brink up with the big club if they weren’t going to consistently play in games.

The problem here is that Frost, a 2017 first-round pick, can’t continue his development for the Flyers as a healthy scratch. It’s a reality Tortorella acknowledged. There’s also the balance of not crushing a 24-year-old’s confidence.

“It’s a big part,” Tortorella said. “It’s just me communicating with him. It’s all I can do with him now. I think about it a lot, because he has not done anything wrong. I don’t think he played that well. I think he’s admitted that. Other guys were playing better. I went with the other guys and I don’t think they’ve played poorly. It bothers me, but I also have to make the decisions for the right reasons. I think Frosty understands that. We’ll keep on communicating and see where it all goes.”

Things can change pretty quickly in this league. But for now, as the team readies for its toughest challenge yet, it’s where the Flyers are with their forward group.

» READ MORE: Defenseman Marc Staal out ‘weeks’ as the door opens for Flyers youngsters to get ice time

Tuesday night’s Flyers-Golden Knights game starts at 11 p.m.

Why so late? It’s the nightcap on a pretty unique night around the NHL. Dubbed “Frozen Frenzy”, all 32 NHL teams will be in action. There’s a tripleheader on ESPN starting at 6 p.m. with Toronto and Washington (and ending with the Flyers game). Besides that trio, 13 other games will be available on ESPN+ with staggered starting times of 15 minutes — starting with Anaheim at Columbus at 6:30.

ESPN’s John Buccigross will be joined by analyst Kevin Weekes for a whip-around show that runs from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. and will take viewers to action around the league.

The NHL launched a new website for player and puck tracking. Of interest: Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim has the hardest recorded shot speed from any defenseman at 101.49 mph. ... The Golden Knights are the first team to six wins and one of three undefeated teams along with Boston and Colorado.