Red-hot Morgan Frost is reaping the rewards of a greater emphasis on getting to the net

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sitting in the visitor’s locker room at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Morgan Frost was asked about the mindset when facing a 6-foot-7 goalie. To complement Ivan Fedotov in goal, the Maple Leafs were starting their giant, Dennis Hildeby, that night.

“That’s a good question. Probably there’s some better goal scorers that might have a better answer for that than me,” he said Jan. 5, before adding that it would be smart to get the goalie moving and create traffic.

Frost didn’t score that night or two nights later in a rematch with his hometown team in Philly. But in the three games since, he’s buried the biscuit in each. It’s the first time he’s scored in three straight since December 2022.

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“Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but I don’t think that’s really my game. I’m more of a playmaker, so I think that’s what I mean by that,” Frost told The Inquirer after the win against the Florida Panthers.

It’s a fair introspection of the creative centerman’s game. In 269 NHL games, Frost has 83 assists to just 49 goals. But while he acknowledges that shooting the puck more is “not completely first nature” for himself, he’s working on it. On Monday night, he had nine shot attempts, including seven shots on goal. It’s the most he’s put on goal since Oct. 23 against the Washington Capitals.

The bench boss just wants him to do whatever is best.

“I want him to make the right play, not look to overthink it, and look to make plays if there’s [a chance to shoot],” coach John Tortorella said Tuesday. “... I don’t think he should be going in and defining who he is. I think he’s got to let the play dictate it to him because he could do both. He can shoot the puck and he can make a play, so I think he’s just got to play the game and hopefully make the right call in the situations.”

Frost’s three goals in the last three games aren’t via howitzers from the wing or snapshots from the slot. They’ve each been around the net — a rebound on a missed shot by Travis Konecny that bounced off the end boards; a goal off his skate; and jumping on a loose puck in the crease on a power play against Florida.

The two-plus seasons with Tortorella haven’t always been easy for Frost, but he seems to be making headway. Tortorella likes the center’s growing confidence whether playing against the top lines and his game away from the puck or his play around the blue paint.

The 25-year-old also has been working on being on top of the crease lately.

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“It’s kind of been an issue for me throughout my whole career. Sometimes I spend too much time on the perimeter, so [it’s] another thing I’m trying to focus on,” he said. “It’s my spot on the power play right now, so I think that kind of helps it translate to five-on-five a little bit more.

“If you want to score goals, it’s one of the most obvious things in hockey — go to the net with your stick on the ice. I don’t have the most power behind my shot from distance, so I think if I’m going to score more goals in this league, a lot of them are going to be closer to the net.”

Former Flyers defenseman and Sewell native Tony DeAngelo and SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League have agreed to mutually terminate his contract. According to the team’s X account, it was because he needed to return home due to family reasons. DeAngelo had 32 points in 34 games for SKA.