(Morgan) Frost warning: Electricity is in the air when Flyers rookie is on the ice | Sam Carchidi
The center is the sixth player in Flyers history to score a goal in each of his first two NHL games.
![Flyers center Morgan Frost (48) reacting after scoring his first NHL goal Tuesday in Florida. He also scored Thursday in Carolina.](https://www.inquirer.com/resizer/mf0TLup28uBxOKgWqEg20PBFvE0=/760x507/smart/filters:format(webp)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-pmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/UBSRYOWMLZEF7MX3CN3F33QUKM.jpg)
Back when the movie Grease was a mega-hit, John Travolta lost it when looking at a remade Olivia Newton-John as she went from girl next door to girl dressed in black leather.
Travolta, his voice cracking with excitement, sang that he had “chills" that were multiplying, and that he was “losing control 'cause the power you’re supplying ..."
And then, as he fell to his knees, he proclaimed, “It’s electrifying!”
Based on Twitter comments, Flyers fans had a similar reaction after watching center Morgan Frost’s first two NHL games.
Oh, those hands.
Oh, those sweet passes.
Oh, those hard, accurate shots.
Frost displayed all those attributes in becoming the sixth player in franchise history to score goals in each of his first two NHL games.
Yes, to borrow from Travolta’s character, Danny Zuko, he was electrifying.
And he’s only 20.
Impressive credentials
Based on his impressive resume in the OHL and (briefly) AHL, the kid looks like the real deal. It’s early, but it appears the Flyers hit the jackpot when then-general manager Ron Hextall traded Brayden Schenn to St. Louis for its first-round selections in 2017 and 2018. The 2017 pick turned out to be Frost, who was taken 27th overall, 25 selections after the Flyers chose Nolan Patrick. In 2018, they took Joel Farabee with the first-rounder they acquired.
For Frost, there will be the inevitable growing pains, the peaks and valleys, and some off nights.
But you get the impression he has the patient temperament, the high hockey IQ, and skills to make a name for himself in the NHL.
For someone so young, he has an amazing ability to slow down the game, survey his options, and make a great pass. (See his feed that set up Claude Giroux for the late game-winning goal in Carolina on Thursday).
He can be creative (see his filthy goal Tuesday against Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky) and a sniper (see his shorthanded one-timer that beat Carolina’s Petr Mrazek).
Frost has filled out from the scrawny kid who was drafted in 2017 to a solid 6-foot, 188-pounder who is not a blazer but has good speed.
Smart line placement
His superb start is also a credit to coach Alain Vigneault. Instead of burying him on, say, the third line, he put Frost on an explosive unit with Giroux and Travis Konecny, top wingers who know how to finish, know how to get open. He also had them on the first power-play unit, giving Frost a chance to thrive.
The trio’s quick chemistry has been eye-opening. The three were on the ice for Frost’s goal and created numerous chances in their first game together, and combined for nine points in their second game.
“I’m playing with two great players, and that makes it a lot easier,” said the soft-spoken Frost. “I’m getting more comfortable every shift. All the guys on the team have made it a lot easier for me. It’s been a smooth transition in that sense because everyone has been so nice and helpful.”
After scoring in his NHL debut in Florida, Frost met with his mother, father, and 15-year-old sister, who traveled from Toronto to be at his first game.
“My mom was in tears and my dad had a big smile on his face, so it was a really special moment,” Frost said.
When Frost was growing up, he went to games with his father, Andy, who worked as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ public-address announcer.
“It was a nice experience to have that available to me,” Frost said. “I think that kind of made me fall in love with hockey even more. It gave me a sense of what I wanted to do with my life.”
Though he didn’t look it, Frost said he was extremely nervous before his first game Tuesday.
“I tried to calm myself down. I was talking to myself a lot in my head and picturing plays, and after I got a shot on my first shift, I sort of settled in after that,” he said. “Eventually, it just becomes a hockey game and you just have to play hockey.”
As has become a tradition for players making their NHL debuts, Frost took a solo lap around the ice when the team came out for pregame warm-ups in Florida.
“You just want to make sure you don’t fall,” he said with a smile.
As he skated around the ice, “you have so many feelings. I just thought about the road I had taken. There have been so many times in my career where I could have hit a big roadblock, and I kind of overcame that," he said. "I thought about so many things, the people who helped me get there, and I just enjoyed the moment.”
Then he gave long-suffering Flyers fans several moments to cherish.
You could even call them electrifying.