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

Frost, 23, has seven points in his last five games but it is the pending restricted free agent's play away from the puck that has caught Tortorella's eye of late.

Flyers center Morgan Frost celebrates his power play goal, the first of his two goals Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens.Read moreSteven M. Falk / Staff Photographer

by Giana Han

Published March 30, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

It wasn’t that long ago that coach John Tortorella was reluctant to give Morgan Frost praise without following it with criticism, going so far on one occasion to compare Frost to a toilet seat. But Tuesday night, Tortorella was impressed enough to call Frost a “200-foot player,” some of his highest praise for the forward to date.

The Flyers had just beaten the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, with two goals from Frost serving as the difference. The win wrapped up a 5-1-1 home stand for the Flyers and continued a strong run of individual performances from the 23-year-old center.

Frost’s first goal was set up by a beautiful cross-crease pass from Kevin Hayes, which found Frost ready to fire on the doorstep. His second goal was a solo effort. After intercepting a pass in his own end, Frost carried it the length of the ice and scored off the the rush with a well-placed wrist shot from the slot past Habs goaltender Cayden Primeau.

Winger Owen Tippett, who has played with and against Frost since juniors, wasn’t surprised by the skill Frost displayed, saying he’s seen plenty of those in practice and at other levels. But, considering Frost had Joel Farabee with him on the rush, it was a departure from Frost’s typical pass-first mentality.

“I was thinking pass, like I usually do most of the way,” Frost said. “And then I kind of saw that the second guy was going over to backtrack. So I switched it up last minute.”

Beyond his goals, Frost was impressive in all aspects of the game. He created opportunities for his teammates, drew a penalty, played solid defense, helped the power play look more dynamic, and won five of his nine faceoffs. His contributions were noticeable, and he was rewarded with 20 minutes, 40 seconds of ice time, his third-highest total of the season. Maybe his most eye-popping highlight of the night came on a play that didn’t result in a goal, Frost executing a perfect spin-o-rama to produce a backhand shot on goal.

But scoring two goals isn’t enough to garner praise from Tortorella. Frost had two four-point games earlier this season, and even then, Tortorella held back. Tortorella isn’t overly concerned that Frost has scored seven points (three goals, four assists) in his last five games, either. The current run is Frost’s most productive five-game stretch of his career.

Tortorella said he knows Frost has skill. He’s flashed plenty of that before, even if it’s been inconsistent. Instead, Tortorella has been impressed with Frost’s play away from the puck, from his positioning to his battling to his contributions on the penalty kill.

“We know he has skill,” Tortorella said. “We need to keep on seeing the skill. But for a coach to put a player on the ice that he’s still not sure of, that other stuff has to be sound. And I think he’s really improved there.”

And, people who have been around the organization longer than Tortorella have told him that Frost’s improvement going back several years is even more marked.

The 23-year-old was a first-round pick in 2017 (No. 27 overall), but his progression was derailed by shoulder surgery. After playing 20 games in the 2019-20 season, he played just two in 2020-21.

Last season, he shuffled back and forth between the NHL and AHL, tallying five goals and 16 points in 55 games. The consistency, as well as chemistry with Tippett and the freshly graduated Noah Cates, helped Frost play his best hockey of last season with four points over his final five games.

However, it still was far short of the organization’s expectations for the former first-rounder. Nevertheless, the Flyers brought Frost, who was a restricted free agent, back on a one-year, $800,000 “prove it” deal. Frost again will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season.

Between the end of his contract and his new coach’s comments about building through subtraction, Frost knew it was an important year to prove himself.

“I think a lot of guys have a lot to play for here, myself included,” Frost said. “And you know, I want to be here next year. I want to be here for the long run. So every game is important.”

Frost is well aware that one impressive game won’t sell him to Tortorella. The center has a laundry list of things he wants to get better at, from faceoffs (”My faceoffs have been pretty terrible all year”) to his entries on the power play (he’s been poring over video trying to improve in this area) to playing well, even if he doesn’t have a strong start to a game (”not needing something to happen for me to kind of get going”).

There are nine games left for Frost to prove he’s part of this team’s future. He’s already shattered his career highs in goals (16), assists (22), and points (38) through 72 games, including 13 goals and 32 points over his last 45 contests (0.71 points per game). More importantly, he seems to have worked his all-around game to a point where, as long as he continues on his recent trajectory, Tortorella would be willing to consider Frost a part of the young foundation that he’s trying to build here long-term.